RENO, Texas - His injuries are hard to look at.
Burke Burnett, 26, has a black eye, stab wounds to his body and was burned multiple times at a friend's party earlier this week.
Burke, who's from the East Texas town of Paris, said he was assaulted by a group of men, who he claims shouted gay slurs at him as he was beaten.
"The things they were screaming and the things they were saying, there is no doubt in my mind it was because I was gay," he said.
Reno Police arrested three men this week.
25-year-old Micky Joe Smith, 31-year-old Daniel Martin and 31-year-old Tray Laster have been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Prosecutors will not comment if they plan to consider it a hate crime.
Burnett said he knows one of the suspects from living in Paris his whole life, but there were no previous arguments.
He said the men attacked him from behind as he sat in a chair.
"I ended up getting stabbed, burned and beaten pretty badly and I'm convinced they were trying to kill me," Burnett said.
The 26-year-old has been openly gay since he was 15 years old.
It was a secret he hid until the death of Matthew Shepard. The Wyoming man was tortured and killed back in 1998 because he was gay. His murder sparked outrage and new legislation to protect those who are targeted based on their sexual orientation.
"Matthew Shepard is one of the reasons I came out of the closet," Burnett said. "I'm so glad my fate did not end up like his."
E-mail ccivale@wfaa.com
