ATLANTA — An Atlanta man who was the victim of a videotaped attack is taking steps to help other victims now that two of the accused have agreed to a plea deal.
You may remember the video of the men yelling gay slurs and attacking Brandon White. The men later posted the attack video online.
Channel 2's Ryan Young broke the story earlier this year and was in court Tuesday when two of the attackers took a plea deal.
"It's been a journey. I've been down," White said outside the courtroom, after Tuesday's hearing.
White said he finally got to see the faces of the men who attacked him and then uploaded the video onto the Internet for the world to see
"It's kind of a scary thought, especially because I've never even seen the guys' faces. It's a very scary thought cause now I get to see who my attackers really were," White said.
Jay Abt, a lawyer for one of the suspects, indicates his client, Doraine Moragne, may still face federal hate crime charges despite taking a plea in court Tuesday afternoon, along with Dareal Demare Williams.
Williams and Moragne admitted that they beat White because they believed he made a pass at one of them.
"As long as the person stands up for their responsibility and admits they did something wrong, then I have nothing bad to say about the person," White said.
Two other men are charged but have not admitted to the crime. One of the remaining suspects indicated he would take the plea deal as well, but needed to talk to his lawyer first.
"(What) we've committed to is to bringing awareness to other gays and lesbians in the state of Georgia that this here is a continual problem. And so again, in the past week, we've had two incidents of black gays being physically attacked, and both cases, ended up in the hospital," gay rights activist Greg Smith said.
Smith said White is brave for standing up against his attackers. Now, they both are working to help others.
"(We're) creating an online reporting system where you can report hate crimes," Smith said.
They're hoping White's case will help other people understand there is justice and people in Atlanta will work with them to show victims the system works for everybody.
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WSBTV
