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Police arrest suspect in anti-gay tirade in downtown Vancouver

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A Chilliwack man has turned himself in to Vancouver police to investigate a viral video of a man launching a homophobic tirade against a gay couple in downtown Vancouver.

Vancouver police opened an investigation Tuesday after a 27-year-old man posted a TikTok video of the chilling incident, which was recorded outside the Burrard SkyTrain station last Saturday.

A video posted by Jamie Pine on social media showed an identified man yelling at him and his friend.

“This guy followed my friend and I on the Skytrain the whole way and stood over us,” Pine said. He said the man looked at them and followed them up the platform, up the escalator and down the sidewalk near the bus stop.

In the video, the man could be heard using a homophobic slur, accusing the couple of not being “normal”, telling them to “get a bad hotel room” and throwing a can of beer on the floor.

He also asked Pine’s friend if he was in Canada. When he said no, he wanted to know where he came from. After someone said, “It’s okay,” the man yelled, “because I don’t want these f—ing s— in my fucking country.”

“He’s the person I love,” Pine said calmly to the man. “He’s my friend and we deserve to be able to behave normally in public.”

While Pine kept his cool, he said the experience was frightening and “a reminder that the hate against us is alive and kicking…and a little drunk”.

On Saturday, Vancouver police said the suspect was a 34-year-old Chilliwack man who came under investigation for VPD hate crimes on Thursday.

He was arrested for his role in the alleged incident and an unrelated firearms offence. Police have not released his name as no formal charges have been filed.

The man has since been released pending a March 29 court date.

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