A Seattle man has been charged with a hate crime after yelling anti-gay slurs and , spit in the face and stabbing a man for holding hands with another man in the gay friendly section of Capitol Hill.

Shortly after 10:00 p.m.  on Sunday July 22, the two victims were walking together holding hands when they were approached by Castor Kwak, 33, who started calling them “faggots” and  “queers”.

The couple approached Kwak over the slurs and a verbal altercation ensued, police said. As bystanders held Kwak and the victims apart, Kwak allegedly spit in one the victim’s faces. The victim then punched Kwak, and the two engaged in a physical fight.

Kwak was holding a glass bottle during the fight that broke on the ground. He allegedly used pieces of the broken bottle to stab the victim  A Seattle police officer passing by noticed the fight and broke it up. He found the victim with cuts to his face and body, but he refused to be taken to the hospital.

According to the police report, after the men were separated, the suspect told police multiple times he was attacked the victims only because the men are gay.

Hate crimes in the United States have increased to a point not seen in recent history since Donald Trump took office, according to a new statistical report released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.