A man and a woman who were mistakenly suspected of buying Bud Light were the victims of assault and “anti-homosexual slurs” in a”possible hate-motivated incident” outside a Canada liquor store, according to a police report.
A report from the York Regional Police said that “one of the suspects commented on the male victim’s choice of alcohol.”
A police spokesperson told Global News that the suspect believed the victim made a Bud Light purchase, and “uttered anti-homosexual derogatory slurs as he approached the victim.”
“Two more suspects got involved,” and the 26-year-old male victim was then knocked to the ground as the 27-year-old female victim was assaulted, the police report explained.
The “female victim required hospital treatment for her injuries” after the attack, which took place on May 6 outside of an LCBO liquor store on Jane Street and Major Mackenzie Drive West in Vaughan, Ontario.
Although the assault was triggered by an alleged Bud Light purchase, the male victim “actually didn’t have Bud Light,” a police spokesperson told Global News.
It also wasn’t revealed what type of beer the male victim purchased at the Vaughan, Ontario, liquor store.
Police said the attackers may have thought the rainbow coloring had to do with Bud Light following the beer brand’s recent controversy involving transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
“I guess there were some rainbow colors on the cans and so it was initiated that way,” the spokesperson said.
The three male suspects fled the scene in a black Nissan Rogue.
York Regional Police released two photos of just one of the suspects.
He’s pictured wearing a black Adidas jacket and jeans with visible tattoos on his jawline and hands.
Suspect No. 2 was believed to be wearing a red Cristiano Ronaldo soccer jersey, and the police didn’t release any description of Suspect No. 3.
The identities of the suspects and victims have yet to be released.
“It is believed there was a crowd of people nearby at the time of this incident,” the police report read, asking any other witnesses who were at the scene to come forward.
The York Regional Police didn’t immediately respond to noti.group’s request for comment.
In early April, a photo of Mulvaney’s face printed on a single Bud Light can sent the internet into a culture war over the brand’s woke marketing move.
It then prompted a boycott of the Anheuser-Busch-owned beer, leading to a 23.4% sales drop across the US versus a year ago in the week of April 29, according to Bump Williams Consulting and NielsenIQ data.
The figure is worse than the 21.4% decline in the US Bud Light suffered the week earlier.
It’s unclear how much Bud Light sales have dropped in Canada since the onset of the controversy.
However, since Anheuser-Busch has seen sales plummeting across its entire portfolio of beers — Budweiser and Michelob Ultra sales were down 11.4% and 4.4%, respectively, the week ending April 29 — Bud Light competitors have taken the opportunity to flaunt their patriotism.
Just this week, Yuengling launched limited-edition red, white and blue cans to support veterans in a timely marketing move.
The cans boast a desert camouflaged print and a Team Red, White & Blue (Team RWB) logo, which is the military-supporting nonprofit Yuengling created the cans in partnership with.
Yuengling debuted the ultra-patriotic release in an Instagram post Monday.
“Our summer fit is back. Rock the Stars & Stripes with us,” the caption read.
[Written in collaboration with other media outlets with information from the following sources]
