Jerusalem man threatens gays with baseball bat

Man arrested after yelling 'there will be murder here today' and 'I will burn you all' during screening of film sponsored by gay community

Noam (Dabul) Dvir|Published: 07.24.12 , 13:08

A 58-year-old Jerusalem resident was arrested early Tuesday on suspicion of threatening a group of people who attended a screening of a move sponsored by the local gay community.

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The movie, titled "Jerusalem is proud to present," was screened at the "Shabazi" coffee shop in the Nachlaot neighborhood ahead of next week's Gay Pride Parade in the capital.

The film depicts the events surrounding the pride parade which was held in the capital in 2006.

Eitan Schechtman of the Jerusalem Open House for Pride and Tolerance, said that during the screening a woman yelled from her balcony "Why are you showing gay movies here?" At some point, he said, a man, apparently the women's husband, shouted "there will be a murder here today" and "I will burn you all."

A few minutes later, Schechtman said, the man appeared with a baseball bat and began waving it at the some of the people who attended the screening. He was restrained by neighbors.

"Then he went back up to the balcony and continued to yell and threaten," Schechtman said. "He threw objects at us – and one of them almost hit me."

Three police squad cars were alerted to the scene, and the man was arrested overnight after Open House filed a complaint against him. During the interrogation, the suspect linked himself to the incident.