Gay man Burke Burnett stabbed, burnt in Texas

A gay man was attacked, stabbed and burnt in Reno, Texas over the weekend, in an attack that left him with severe bruising and second-degree burns. Burke Burnett, 26, has told local media that he thinks the men were trying to kill him.

Burnett was at a party at 1am on Sunday morning when four men started hurling homophobic abuse at him, then stabbed him with a broken beer bottle and threw him onto a fire. He says he knows who the attackers are, and that police are investigating the incident as a hate crime.

Some of Burnett’s friends were able to slow down the attackers so that Burnett could escape. He was then driven to a local hospital, to which he is due to return later this week to see how his injuries are healing and to learn whether any of them might be permanent.