Teen Mauled, Bullied In School For Wearing Pride Flag In Homophobic Attack

A Defiance, Ohio teen student has revealed harrowing details of the brutal homophobic attack he suffered at school on Thursday after a video of the ordeal gained traction online.

The victim Tristen Torrez, 14, an eighth-grade student at Defiance Middle School, told WTOL 11 that he was proudly wearing a pride flag around his neck, which was draped over his shoulders on May 27 to celebrate the last day of classes, when he was brutally assaulted.

Video footage shows Torrez, who was with his friends standing on the bleachers, being approached by another student who he didn't know that well. The bully proceeded to dump water on Torrez before throwing him down against the bleachers and grabbing the flag off of the victim's neck to rip it in front of him.

The attack did not stop there. The violent student went on to beat Torrez with the defiled pride flag, choking and hitting him with it several times before spitting slurs, according to Queerty.

The entire ordeal was captured on a video that has since gone viral on social media platforms Snapchat and Facebook.

"I was wearing [the pride flag] to state a message, and state just because one person is who they are, proud of who they are, doesn't mean others shouldn't be proud of who they are," Torrez said. "This was my official way of saying I was gay and not trying to hide it."

According to Crescent-News, the victim had prepared himself for possible slurs and bullying when he decided to go to school carrying the pride flag. However, he had not expected to get mauled for it.

Torrez suspected that the attack was a mere dare between his classmates after he was accused of saying a racial slur, which he denied doing so. He further alleged that he was bullied by other students to get back at him for being gay.

Aside from a terrible headache, the teen student sustained bruising to his collarbone and a scraped ankle from the attack.

"I woke up to my son coming home and telling me he was roughened up today," Brianne Torrez, Tristen's mother, lamented. "He's so used to the bullying it was kind of nothing to him, but to me, it was heartbreaking."

A lot of people have since reached out to the family following the incident, offering support for the 14-year-old and his bravery.

Defiance Middle School officials have reassured the community that they were briefed about the attack against Torrez, vowing to sanction his attacker.

“We are aware of this situation and it was dealt with swiftly with school administration and local law enforcement. Situations like this are taken seriously. We appreciate you bringing it to our attention,” Superintendent Bob Morton said in a statement.

The recent attack occurs on the eve of pride month as the LGBTQ community is continuously gripped by a spate of homophobic attacks running rampant in the U.S.