NEW YORK CITY: NYPD Releases Name Of Suspect In Chelsea Restaurant Attack

The NYPD has released the name of the still-at-large suspect in the chair-smashing incident that happened earlier this month in a Chelsea restaurant. Via Gawker:

The man who hit another man over the head with a chair at the Chelsea Dallas BBQ earlier this month in a supposedly anti-gay attack that was captured on video and went viral has been identified by the NYPD as Bayna El-Amin. “I have him identified, we are seeking him now. He’s been identified for about a week. We will see if we can get him in,” said NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce. “He is a career criminal. We believe he has fled the state.” A cursory internet search reveals several clues into El-Amin’s criminal past. In 2005, he was arrested for violating probation and for failure to appear in court. In 2006, he was locked up for about three months on a forgery charge, according to Mugshots.com, which also lists invasion of privacy, credit card fraud, a violation of Georgia Controlled Substance Act, and a miscellaneous misdemeanor. That site lists his height at 6’6” and his weight at 325 lbs.

The day after the fracas went viral, New York City-based blogger Waddie G claimed to know that El-Amin is gay himself, casting doubts on whether the attack was an anti-gay hate crime. El-Amin's Facebook page has apparently been deleted, but Gawker found a YouTube comment attributed to his name on a video about competitive vogueing. That's certainly not conclusive proof, but it does jibe with Waddie G's claim that El-Amin is well-known in the "Harlem ballroom scene."