Wilmington South Carolina Police Investigate Possible Hate Crime While Internal Affairs Investigates Department Handling Of Bias Attack

21 year old Michael Nelmark says he was the victim of a hate crime in downtown Wilmington, South Carolina last weekend, according to a report by WECT-6. As a result, two investigations are currently underway. Lucy Crockett, who is a spokesperson with the Wilmington Police Department, said detectives are investigating the crime and Internal Affairs officers are investigating how it was handled. Nelmark was celebrating his 21st birthday and after going to clubs, he ended up at the Trolley Stop for some late-night food. He said three men followed him out of the eatery and came up behind him near downtown's so-called "wall of keys", where they started brutally beating him. "I pretty much just remember feeling someone hit me on the back of the head and I covered my face and fell straight to the ground," he said. One of the men reportedly yelled a derogatory gay slur – which is why Nelmark thinks this was a hate crime. Two good samaritans pulled the attackers off of Nelmark, as his friend called 911. Nelmark claims the police who arrived on the scene questioned the men who beat them, then, let them leave the scene. He has complained to the department over the way the incident was handled. Thursday, a police detective interviewed Nelmark and some eyewitnesses. The three men who beat him are still on the loose and signs of the savage beating are still all over Nelmark's body. He has eight staples in his head along with bruises and a bloodshot eye.