He was confronted by a group of men who thought Sibley was being too gay — and should stop dancing.
Sibley was stabbed in the chest Saturday night and rushed to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead at 11 p.m. He died as Beyoncé was performing “Renaissance” at nearby MetLife Stadium, in New Jersey.
On Wednesday morning, she mentioned him on her website with the message: “REST IN POWER O’SHAE SIBLEY.”
“The sad reality is that even in New York City, LGBTQ+ people are still subjected to increased violence, simply for being themselves,” Beverly Tillery, executive director of the Anti-Violence Project, an LGBTQ advocacy group, said in a statement. Her group has tracked at least 45 anti-LGBTQ+ hate incidents just this year, three of them homicides.
“They murdered him because he’s gay, because he stood up for his friends,” Otis Pena, one of Sibley’s best friends, said in a heartbreaking Facebook live video hours after the incident. “His name was O’Shae, and you all killed him. You all murdered him right in front of me.”
Arrests have not yet been made, but the police have confirmed that the hate crimes unit is currently involved in the investigation. We may not know for some time if hate crime charges will be filed, but we do know that this incident follows violent attacks that are regular in this country, even as LGBTQ visibility is at historic heights.
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