Marcos Machado, a 52-year-old makeup artist and resident of São José do Rio Preto, reported having been the victim of a homophobic attack with a machete last Saturday (29).
“He [the attacker] kept shouting that he didn’t like people like me [homosexuals] and that he was going to kill me,” Marcos reported in an interview with the G1 portal.
He was returning from the market when three men passed by on horses. At first the three went straight, but when they got a little further forward, one of the men came back and started stabbing Marcos.
“The whole time he was on top of the horse. In the second stab, I put my arm in front of the machete and he hit me again in the knee, because he was nervous about defending me. At the time I didn't understand anything, I just thought I was being attacked for something I hadn't done”, he said.
As a result of the attack, Marcos Machado suffered injuries to his head, arm and an open fracture in his knee. He remains hospitalized at the Rio Preto Base Hospital.
The victim opened a police report and reported that he did not know the attacker, nor did he know his friends. Police arrested a 19-year-old man believed to be responsible for the attack. The case continues to be investigated.
