Washington, D.C
D.C. police investigate assault of gay model as a hate crime
A 22-year-old gay man was assaulted by multiple people in Washington, D.C., early Sunday morning after not saying “excuse me” to one of the assailants, according to a Metropolitan Police Department report.
The incident occurred on the block of 14th Street and U Street, in the city’s upscale Logan Circle neighborhood, after 1 a.m.
Sebastian Thomas Robles Lascarro was out at the nearby queer night clubs Crush Bar and BUNKER on Saturday night before the incident. In an interview with NBC News, Lascarro and his husband, Stuart West, said they frequent the neighborhood, which is popular with the city’s LGBTQ community.
“This is an area that we visit almost every weekend,” said West, who was not with Lascarro at the time of the incident.
Before going home, Lascarro stopped at a McDonald’s located across the street from the two bars. While at a self-service checkout, he decided that the restaurant was too crowded, so he canceled his order.
When he turned around to leave, Lascarro said, he was confronted by a woman in line behind him, who remarked that he needed to say “excuse me.”
He said he avoided the confrontation and headed for the exit, but multiple people blocked the doors, insisting that he needed to apologize.
According to the police report, Lascarro was then called a homophobic slur multiple times, including by one suspect who said: “I’m going to teach you how to say sorry, f—–.”
Lascarro said he refused to apologize, which led to multiple people beginning to attack him and “punch him all over.”
As many as 10 to 15 suspects, both men and women, were involved in the assault, according to the police report.
The alleged assault spilled onto the sidewalk outside the restaurant, where Lascarro reported that he was continually punched, called a homophobic slur and had garbage thrown at him.
The restaurant was not reachable by phone Wednesday, and the McDonald’s corporate office did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Police are investigating the case as a hate crime, classifying the offense as a simple assault with an anti-gay bias motivation, according to the police report.
After the assailants left the scene, two pedestrians who encountered Lascarro helped him call 911. He was transported to Howard University Hospital to be treated, the report said.
On Wednesday, Lascarro said he felt “tired and frustrated” and is experiencing headaches in addition to continued pain, swelling and bruising on his face.
Lascarro, who is originally from Colombia, moved to Washington, D.C., last year and became a permanent resident of the U.S. this year. He said he is having a hard time recounting the incident to his family, with whom he struggled to come out as gay.
“I feel overwhelmed by it all and lost,” he said.
West added that Lascarro works as a model, and the combination of fear to commute to work and damage done to his face has had “a devastating effect on his ability to be successful right now.”
The couple are in contact with local officials about the case, West said, and he is also reaching out to “every possible local government contact that you can think of” to raise the issue of protection for the city’s LGBTQ community.
In August, a gay man accused a group of Shake Shack employees of beating him after he kissed his boyfriend at the restaurant’s location in Dupont Circle, one of D.C.’s most historically LGBTQ-friendly neighborhoods.
Washington, D.C., is set to be the host of WorldPride in 2025.
WASHINGTON (7News) — The Catholic archbishop of Washington, D.C., Cardinal Robert McElroy, on Wednesday removed a well-known priest as an exorcist of the archdiocese after he made public comments suggesting that UFO sightings were the work of demons.
McElroy said the archdiocese also was cutting ties with the St. Michael Center for Spiritual Renewal, a Washington-based nonprofit headed by the priest, Monsignor Stephen Rossetti.
The archbishop said Rossetti’s statements “linking UFOs to demonic presence and the Center’s recent use of social media gravely undermine the Church’s very precise teaching on the devil, demons and exorcism.”
“There’s a danger here,” Rossetti said in a May 29 video posted on his Facebook page addressing UFO sightings and the existence of aliens. “As an exorcist I wanted to raise that danger. And that is that demons like to hide. … They don’t want us to know what they’re doing because they’re more effective when we don’t realize it.”
“They can kind of get into your head, you know, and manipulate things in the world to influence us to do evil.”
“It’s my personal belief that probably many if not most of these UFO sightings are in fact demons,” Rossetti added.
Rossetti also said that people can be good Catholics and believe there’s life on other planets, though he does not personally believe life exists elsewhere.
In a statement posted on the St. Michael Center website, Rossetti said he was saddened by the action of the archdiocese.
“I ask forgiveness for any ways that I have not been faithful to the teachings of the Church’s Magisterium, particularly in the cited video on ‘aliens and the demonic,’” he said. “I believe it is of the utmost importance to be obedient to the Church and I will continue to endeavor to subject all that I do and the Center to be thus obedient.”
Rossetti, who has over 148,000 followers on Instagram, is a prominent psychologist as well as an exorcist. His center has specialized in offering spiritual healing for priests troubled by various difficulties.
In 2023, he told The Associated Press there was increasing and renewed appetite for information about demonic possession and exorcism.
Washington, D.C
Nurses at Washington D.C.’s largest hospital call on leadership to reverse planned cuts to maternal health
RNs at MedStar Washington Hospital Center say closure of postpartum unit will disproportionately harm marginalized and underserved communities
Union nurses at MedStar Washington Hospital Center (MWHC) in Washington, D.C. are demanding that management stop the planned closure of an entire postpartum unit, announced National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU). The hospital notified the union on May 26, 2026 of its intention to eliminate 11 maternal health beds and displace eight nurses by July 26, 2026, leaving MWHC with one postpartum unit.
In a follow-up town hall with staff nurses, Chief Nursing Officer Ariam Yitbarek confirmed the closure. Other leaders have additionally informed staff that the hospital will strictly limit scheduled C-sections and inductions for patients from numerous D.C. maternal health organizations. The list of organizations includes many that primarily serve low-income patients, immigrants, and patients of color, all communities with significantly higher risks of maternal mortality. Additionally, staff were informed that Kaiser Permanente, which notably insures a large number of DC city employees and even many of MWHC’s own workers, will see a strict limit on scheduling inductions and C-sections for their patients as well.
“Closing postpartum unit 5F will gravely impact those most affected by health disparities,” said Stephanie Sims-Coates, RN in the neonatal intensive care unit. “Our low-income families and families of color will be most affected by this closure. Families trust the medical staff at MWHC and plan to come to us for their care. In a city where Black women make up 90 percent of pregnancy-related deaths despite being only half the population, the hospital’s decision to close this unit is a significant mistake.”
Community leaders and healthcare workers are joining the call for MedStar to put patients before profits and keep the unit open. This past weekend, nurses met with D.C. mayoral candidate and Ward 4 councilwoman Janeese Lewis George about the planned closure and the impact it would have on DC’s most vulnerable residents.
“Maternal mortality is a crisis for Washington, DC, and our healthcare system needs to address the crisis immediately, rather than exacerbate the challenges that birthing parents face,” said Councilwoman Janeese Lewis George. “Now is the time to invest in health care, rather than make cuts. I want to work with the hospital to identify solutions that work for patients and the provider.”
“In my time at Washington Hospital Center, I’ve seen the hospital tout its Safe Moms, Safe Babies program and host a community baby shower specifically designed to call attention to the maternal mortality crisis,” said Marcqueata “Tiya” Butler, RN in the Mother/Baby unit. “Their current plan to shut down 11 postpartum beds betrays the hospital’s stated commitments. They are aware of persistent inequities in access to care. We are calling on the hospital to consider the impacts on the community, safeguard the mothers and infants of DC and commit to addressing the maternal mortality rate.”
In 2024, MedStar Health, a registered non-profit, reported $9 billion in operating revenue.
NNOC/NNU represents more than 2,200 registered nurses at Washington Hospital Center.
National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States with more than 225,000 members nationwide. NNU affiliates include California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, DC Nurses Association, Michigan Nurses Association, Minnesota Nurses Association, and New York State Nurses Association.
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