Authorities in Washington, D.C., have dropped a hate crime charge from a case involving a suspect who allegedly assaulted a gay man while using homophobic slurs.

As the Washington Blade reports, D.C. police initially arrested 26-year-old Dean Edmundson on February 7, charging him with simple assault with a hate crime designation.

Related

2025 was “one of the most dangerous years on record” for LGBTQ+ people in America

In a February 9 statement, police said Edmundson encountered the victim around 7:45 p.m. on February 7 while both were out walking in the city’s Northwest neighborhood. Edmundson “requested a ‘high five’ from the victim. The victim declined and continued walking,” the statement reads, according to the Blade. “The suspect assaulted the victim and used homophobic slurs.”

Officers responding to the incident were quickly able to apprehend Edmundson.

Never Miss a Beat

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today

According to the Blade, anarrest affidavit filed by D.C. police in Superior Court states that the victim told officers that after he refused to high-five Edmondson, “Defendant Edmondson started walking behind both the victim and witness, calling the victim, ‘bald, ugly, and gay.’”

The victim alleges that Edmundson then shoved him with both hands. “The victim stated that they felt offended and that they were also gay,” the affidavit reads.

While police initially applied a hate crime designation to Edmundon’s charge — which, under D.C. law, could lead to a greater penalty than the underlying simple assault charge — the Metropolitan Police Department’s initial statement noted that “A designation as a hate crime by MPD does not mean that prosecutors will prosecute it as a hate crime.”

According to the Blade, Superior Court records show that prosecutors with the Office of the U.S. Attorney for D.C. have dropped the hate crime designation.

“We continue to investigate this matter and make no mistake: should the evidence call for further charges, we will not hesitate to charge them,” a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office told the outlet.

The Blade notes that prosecutors have been known to drop hate crime designations out of concern that, without enough evidence to prove a crime was motivated by hate, a jury might find a defendant not guilty of the underlying charge.

Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.