SEATTLE — A 34-year-old Bremerton man has pleaded guilty to shouting anti-gay slurs has he threatened to stab a man in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood.
Troy Deacon Burns was charged under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act and entered his plea in federal court on Friday.
According to the plea agreement, three gay men were walking on East Pike Street on Jan. 25 when Burns came up behind them and shouted homophobic slurs. He was holding a knife and raised it over his head in a stabbing position.
The plea agreement says the men started running but Burns caught one and threatened to stab him while still screaming. Another man pulled the friend away and Burns was arrested.
Burns was under the influence of drugs and alcohol and claims he doesn’t remember what happened.
His sentencing was set for Nov. 10.
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