Second victim of corner store attack comes forward: I don’t want this to happen to anybody else

Trey Caudle is terrified to sit on his front porch.

Trey Caudle was one of three gay men attacked on Friday morning.

He is one of three gay men who were beaten Friday morning outside of a 7-Eleven at 3rd and Broadway in Denver by a group of black men.

Caudle said he visited that corner store almost every night for either cigarettes or food and now he’s afraid to go back.

“I moved to Denver from Tulsa, Oklahoma,” he said. “I was very afraid to out by myself there. But living in Denver, I used to walk to that store at 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning. I was never afraid.”

Caudle said he and his friends were paying for cigarettes and food after a night of partying when one of the men he believes to be a part of the group that attacked the trio started calling them faggots.

“Some guy walked in behind us and while we were paying, he started to slander us,” he said. “Faggot this, faggot that. He just slandered us for no reason.”

Caudle said he was intoxicated and doesn’t remember his actions clearly, but said he confronted the man who was verbally assaulting them.

“I turned around and asked him what his problem was,” Caudle said. “He got a rise out of me.”

Caudle said the next thing he knew he and his friends — one of them William Babcock, another who asked not to be identified for fear of being outed publicly — were jumped outside the corner store. All three suffered concussions. Babcock’s jaw was broken in two places.

Caudle said he didn’t know if the men who attacked him were associated with the man inside the store, but he believes the lone man’s mission might have been to provoke one of the three in order to make the attack “justifiable.”

The Denver Police Department is investigating the attack. But spokesmen from the department told media outlets including gayzette they don’t believe this was a bias-motivated crime. Caudle has yet to file a police report, but he begs to differ.

“The whole issue arose when someone used the term faggot inside the store,” he said. “He started slandering us the minute he walked in the door.”

Caudle said none of the attackers attempted to steal anything.

“They didn’t attempt to take anything from us,” he said. “They just kicked the shit out of us and that was the end of it.”

Caudle said he believes some of his attackers followed him, Babcock and their friend to his home four blocks away.

“I remember a car following us,” he said. “And I remember someone yelling at me as I got out of the car to unlock the door while [my friend] and Will tried to find parking.”

Caudle said he’s not only afraid of a rash of similar attacks on gay people but of violence in his neighborhood. He’s heard of several attacks happening in the same area.

“This shit needs to stop,” he said. “Why is it necessary to slander someone for something they can’t help?”

Caudle who works at The Compound, a gay bar at 2nd and Broadway, hosts a drag show there every Wednesday. He said he’ll be planning a fund raiser to help raise money and awareness to fight homophobia and hate crimes.

Caudle said he wants his friends and community to be aware and safe in the future. He also suggested to keep your cool when faced with possible homophobia.

“Be careful when you’re out at night: when you’re by yourself or with a group,” he said. “Learn from what happened to us. Don’t let them get a rise out of you.”

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