by Shaun Knittel - SGN Staff Writer

King County Prosecutors have filed malicious harassment charges against two men for an alleged anti-Gay attack outside a South Seattle community center. The charges fall under Washington's hate crimes statute and are considered a felony.

Charging documents allege Adnan Basher Osman, 22, and Abdinasir Ahmed, 21, attacked another man at a Somalia New Year's Party on January 3, at the Filipino Community Center on Martin Luther King Jr. Way and South Juneau.

According to court records, at about 1:30 a.m. on January 3, Seattle police were called to the community center following a report of a fight. Arriving at the center, officers were told a man had been attacked during a community celebration there.

The man told detectives he was walking with his friends when two men, Osman and Ahmed, jumped him on a path outside the center. Prosecutors allege both men shouted "you Gay motherfucker" as they assaulted the victim.

Court documents say a security guard working the event witnessed the assault. Osman was arrested at the scene, while Ahmed was able to escape before police arrived. The security guard told police Ahmed allegedly yelled "I wanna beat your ass, you Gay-ass motherfucker," as he fled the scene.

"The victim reported to the police that in his Somali culture, Gay men are stoned to death for being Gay," Senior Deputy Prosecutor Michael T.J. Hogan said in court documents.

Police booked Osman into King County Jail and later arrested Ahmed at his home in New Holly.

Court documents allege Ahmed had "been telling others in the Somalian Community that he is going to kill [the victim] because he is Gay."

According to charging documents, the victim told detectives he was "so afraid of his assailants that, prior to the attack, he had stopped attending his mosque - required by his faith - to avoid them."

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