Cadien P. Shaw III is a hockey aficionado, a die-hard Boston Bruins fan and he is also openly gay. According to Shaw it was his sexual orientation and not his loyalty to his beloved Bruins that led to his being assaulted outside a popular sports bar in downtown Denver opposite Ball Arena the last week of January.
In social media posts, Shaw detailed the incident that occurred just outside the sports bar Brooklyn’s at Ball Arena after the match-up on Jan. 26 between the Colorado Avalanche and his team – which lost.
According to Shaw, what had initially been “sports fan” banter and smack talk turned ugly as the three began to aggressively attack Shaw at first verbally over his sexual orientation. In an interview with local Denver ABC News affiliate KMGH News Channel 7, he recalled “At first, it was more of a hockey banter type of thing from them, ‘Oh you lost.’ That type of thing. I remember saying something along the lines of, ‘We’ll get you next time.’”
Shaw says the exchange escalated and was no longer about hockey, but rather focused on his sexual orientation.
“It turned to aggressive homophobic slurs,” Shaw added.
The Denver Police Department confirmed their Bias Motivated Crime Unit is investigating the matter.
