False hate-crime report landed innocent man behind bars, cops say - New York Daily News

He’s the man who cried gay-bashing.

A 50-year-old man who claimed he was the victim of an anti-gay bias attack outside Madison Square Garden has been arrested — not only for making up the incident, but also for attacking the man who was arrested for the bogus crime, officials said Friday.

Curtis Campbell told police that 26-year-old Grant Leach kicked him in the groin and hurled anti-gay profanities at him and two friends on Seventh Ave. near W. 33rd St. about 8 a.m. on March 12, authorities said.

Cops arrested Leach nearby and charged him with assault and harassment, police said. The charges were ultimately dropped when detectives looked over surveillance cameras in the area and learned that the clash never happened. That’s not all; Campbell allegedly grabbed a metal object and swung it at Leach, according to court papers.

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Police arrested Campbell on Thursday, charging him with filing a false instrument.

At Campbell’s arraignment, Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Jonathan Horn said Leach spent five days in jail “as a result of the defendant’s self-serving lies.”

A judge ordered Campbell held on $2,000 bail.

His attorney, Kevin Morgan, contended that Leach did attack Campbell, but the video didn’t record it.

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“All of what he indicated is true,” Morgan said about his client.

Leach said he was glad that the truth is finally out.

“It’s really unfortunate that somebody would go as far as he did to create a hate-crime hoax,” he said. “(This) false report truly does a disservice to the LGBT community. Not only does it look bad on him personally, but more importantly it has the potential to make future hate-crime reports look fabricated.”

In an interview with the Daily News after the purported attack, Campbell claimed Leach went berserk after asking his friend if she was a man or a woman.

“Out of nowhere he just started physically and verbally assaulting us,” Campbell said.

Tags:

hate crimes

madison square garden

midtown

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