Savannah resident Andrew Quade (pictured) was beaten to a pulp for walking with his African-American girlfriend, Olufisayo Bakre, in the town’s square shortly before midnight last Friday, reports WOTC 11.
According to the 23-year-old, he and Bakre were leisurely strolling through the town’s square when suddenly they were approached by three black men who began barraging them with racial slurs.
“One of them was making racial comments at us and one of them was blowing kisses. It was very aggravating,” Bakre said.
Quade tried his best to ignore the comments. “I didn’t want to freak out on them because I thought they were saying something about me and my girlfriend. I wanted to get more information and understand the situation. But before I could, I was knocked out,” Quade said.
“He was basically left for dead. I don’t want to go into all the gory details, but they could have stopped, but they kept going,” said Bakre.
Quade says that when he came to, he found himself inside of an ambulance.
The couple says that they have certainly been subjected to stares, whispers and even blatant comments about their pairing but have never been the actual targets of a hate crime. Quade and Bakre are baffled by the level of violence that was directed at them.
Police are now investigating the case by scouring surveillance tapes and speaking to witnesses. Although the state of Georgia does not have a hate crime law in place, if police investigators can produce enough evidence against the perpetrators of the crime, the case can be escalated to the FBI who would it take over.
Police are asking for help with the case. If you have any information or saw anything on the night of the alleged assault in Ellis Square, please call CrimeStoppers at 912.234.2020.
