Days after a man claims he was the victim of a hate crime on Miami Beach, community leaders came together to reassure residents and tourists that they are safe.
Tuesday evening's meeting at police headquarters comes as investigators are still looking into the alleged attack, and revealed another attack that happened Sunday.
In the most recent case, the victims says an argument started inside a Burger King on 11th Street at Washington Avenue.
"He tells me 'Hey f---ot. Ok I'm not done with you yet.' And then when I turn around he throws his drink in my face, and then it just escalates from there. 'How'd you like that f---ot, how'd you like that' and he kept repeating it," the victim said.
When the victim walked outside the suspect followed him, called him the "F-word" and attacked him.
The 39-year-old victim, who didn't want his name released, says he was hit in the face.
"So I did attempt to swing at him and I swung at him with the bags that I had in my hand, and actually I kind of felt like I was Wonder Woman with a lasso, and I was doing that and I hit him with a bag," the victim said. "He hit me in the forehead and I have the video where you can see that the chin is really bad, and then he hit me in the nose and that's when I'm bleeding profusely. Like a faucet, like a water faucet."
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He said he was with his 77-year-old father, who felt helpless.
"To be honest with you I don't want something like that to be repeated again. I feel frustrated sitting in the car seeing that my son had been attacked," the older man said.
In another incident, Kenneth Wilcox says he was attacked and beaten up last Friday while walking with his dog in the area of 14th Street and Meridian Avenue. He told police it was a hate crime.
"[They] were using all sorts of slurs, said 'we're here to make sure you all f---ing die, and today is your turn to die,'" Wilcox said. "The main injuries are lacerations to my head, this one went really deep. Just a lot of kicks and punches to my body which are now bruising and uncomfortable."
Detectives are investigating Wilcox's story and are looking for video to confirm what happened or hoping witnesses come forward.
"We unfortunately can't prevent all crime, but we rely on the public to immediately report all instances of crime so that we can effectively investigate that," Miami Beach police officer Ernesto Rodriguez said.
As a result of the alleged attacks, the community called for a meeting with police to address hate crimes against the LGBT community on Miami Beach.
"After the event that occurred on Friday evening, the alleged event, we received some community concerns so we more than willingly decided to host this meeting to reassure the community of their safety," Rodriguez said.
The number of hate crimes on Miami Beach is trending down, but so far nine have been reported in 2017. Four have been related to sexual orientation and five related to religion.
On Memorial Day weekend the beach will host three big events, including the World Out Games, Urban Beach Party and an air show. Police say they are prepared to handle the challenges and that safety is their No. 1 priority.
"We hope tonight's meeting is great dialogue between the community and our officers to reassure them that Miami Beach is a very safe place to be," Rodriguez said.
