A 36-year-old New York City man has been arrested in connection with the fatal beating of two homeless people in downtown Miami early Thursday morning, police said Friday, and the county’s Homeless Agency director has issued a statement to law enforcement in connection with the attack. called for an investigation. Hate crime.
Here’s what happened, according to Miami Police.
At approximately 5:45 a.m., Miami Police responded to a report of a man armed with a stick assaulting people in the area of North Miami Avenue and Northwest 6th Street. The man, later identified as Brenton Clark, 36, was arrested after a brief foot pursuit.
Investigators said Clark, of Inwood, New York, was first seen at about 5:06 a.m. walking near a man who was sleeping on the sidewalk. He left for a while and returned a few minutes later with a metal rod.
Clark then turned his attention across the street, where the two were sleeping together on the sidewalk. He started attacking them with his cane.
A few minutes later, Clark returned to the first man sleeping on the sidewalk and attacked him. He stole his belongings and fled west.
According to police, the man returned and attacked the fourth person with a metal rod, bludgeoning him to death. The man then attacked the couple and the first man again, but police pronounced them dead at the scene. The couple suffered serious injuries and were taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center, police said.
After four attacks, a witness armed with a weapon confronted Mr. Clark, forcing him to flee.
Miami police have not identified the victim or said why Clark was in Miami.
“Several people were attacked and all of them were homeless,” Miami Police Chief Manny Morales said Thursday.
Clark was arrested around 6:10 a.m. near Second Avenue Northwest and Fifth Avenue Northwest after a police officer spotted him running erratically on the street. He was wearing a white tank top, blue jeans, and white shoes, clothing consistent with the description in the surveillance footage. Officers noticed blood stains on his clothing.
“The officers at the scene and the Miami Police Department are appalled by this unprovoked act of violence,” Morales said Thursday. “Investigators will take great care to hold this individual accountable to the fullest extent of the law. I will try my best to do so.”
Hate crime?
Ron Book, president of the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust, called the attacks “a series of senseless murders,” calling the organization “dedicated and determined to get everyone off the streets and into safe housing.” “We continue to do so,” he said.
Book said Friday that he expects Miami police and the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office to investigate the incident as a hate crime.
A hate crime is a crime that targets an individual based on the perpetrator’s bias or prejudice against the victim, including those related to race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. Although a hate crime is not a standalone crime, if prosecutors determine that the act is a hate crime, the convicted offender faces harsher penalties, said Ed Griffith, a spokesman for the state attorney’s office. Ta.
Want the latest news delivered to your inbox?
Subscribe to our free news alert newsletter
Receive real-time updates on critical issues and events in Tampa Bay and beyond.
Everyone is registered!
Want more free weekly newsletters sent to your inbox? Get started.
consider all options
“In the more than 30 years that I have been chairman of the trust, I have never seen a more heinous and vicious attack on homeless people anywhere in America than what this gentleman did,” Book told the Miami Herald. No,” he said.
Book said there were no signs the man was homeless and had only been in Miami for about a week. Police have so far identified four victims, but Book believes there may be more.
Police said Clark refused to talk or provide a motive.
Clark is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder and armed robbery with a deadly weapon. He was being held at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center as of Friday morning. Jail records show his bond status is “to be set.”
Morales said Clark has no criminal history in Miami, but “has some minor criminal conduct with police in New York.”
According to a 2013 crime report from the news site New York Patch, a man named Brenton Clark, 25, of Inwood, was arrested on charges of robbery for an incident that occurred on Dawes Avenue on October 12, 2013. He was indicted.
Miami Herald writer David Goodhue contributed to this report.
