A New York City man captured on video smashing a wooden chair over the heads of two men inside a Dallas BBQ restaurant last year has been sentenced to nine years in prison in the high-profile attack.
The sentenced handed down to Bayna-Lekheim El-Amin by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arlene Goldberg Thursday follows his convictions of assault and attempted assault in May by a state Supreme Court jury.
The Daily News reports El-Amin, 32, had about two dozen supporters in the courtroom during sentencing and did not apologize to the victims.
Video of the May 2015 attack inside Dallas BBQ in Chelsea shows El-Amin flinging a chair over his head, then smashing it on the skulls of two men he had gotten into an argument with. Horrified bystanders scream as he walks calmly out the door.
The attack was so brutal that bystanders said they were afraid to confront the assailant.
Prosecutors said the 25-year-old victim was knocked unconscious and the 32-year-old victim collapsed onto a nearby chair. Both men suffered head, back and neck pain.
El-Amin turned himself in to police about a month after the attack.
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The victims, who are gay, told media outlets at the time that El-Amin, who has also identified himself as gay, hurled racist and homophobic slurs at them. El-Amin's lawyer previously said his client was attacked first.
El-Amin may have been slapped by one of the victims with a canvas bag but wasn't justified in reacting so viciously, Goldberg said Thursday, according to The Daily News.
