On Saturday 1st August 2015 thousands of people traveled to Brighton to enjoy Brighton Pride and most people had a brilliant day out.

However, a gay man travelling with a group of friends was punched unconscious in an unprovoked attack.

Can you help identify the suspects involved?

Photos of the two suspects involved have been handed to the British Transport Police who are now investigating. Can anyone help to identify these people?

The British Transport Police officer dealing with the case is T/DS Sarah GARDEN CID CROYDON/BRIGHTON

If you can provide any information please contact the Police on 101, alternatively you can contact CrimeStoppers 0800 555 111 and provide information anonymously.

We are appealing to anyone who witnessed the incident, or who encountered any abuse travelling, during or after Brighton Pride to report what you have experienced.

You can contact the British Transport Police or report via the national police website TrueVision. The local police service for the Brighton area is Sussex Police

Why is reporting important?

Sadly we live in a world where some think that it is okay to commit hate crimes – it is not – and many of us are working together to get that message across.

There is still a lot of work that needs to be done to tackle all the abuse and prejudice that many in our communities face on a day to day basis (Disablism, anti-faith (anti-Semitism, Islamaphobia), Transphobia, Racsim, Biphobia, Homophobia, Sexism, and other forms of hate).

Sadly today we learnt that one of the six people stabbed at Jerusalem Gay Pride – a sixteen year old girl has died from the wounds she sustained during an unprovoked attack. BBC Report here.

We know police resources are limited – which is why it is important to report what you experience so that future policing arrangements for these events can take into account where incidents have taken place and allocate resources appropriately to prevent them happening again. If you don’t report what happens – it makes this task much harder!

We want to make it impossible for those who cause trouble to get away with it.

Support for victims of hate crime

If you have been a victim of hate crime then there are organisations who can provide independent advice and support like Victim Support 08 08 16 89 111. Victim Support provide a generic advice and support service covering all the hate crime strands (Disability, Faith, Gender Identity, Race and Sexual Orientation), they can also provide information about the specialist support organisations that are there to help like the Community Security Trust, Tell Mama, Galop (pan London LGBT anti-hate crime charity) and other organisations.

There is a list of organisations on the True Vision website here.

The power of social media

The great thing about social media today is that it is so easy to take a photo or video and capture pictures of those suspected of being involved in these types of attacks but it is important to stress that people think about their personal safety first – don’t put yourself at risk – the best thing to do in an emergency is call the Police on 999 as they are in the best position to respond to these events – use 101 if it is not an emergency.

With photos and videos we can help the police identify, arrest and hold these people to account and at the same time it will make others think twice – hopefully deterring others from committing these horrendous attacks.

The case of the Chelsea football fans involved in the racist incident in France earlier this year shows how effective social media can be – used as a tool to bring those responsible to justice. The incident where a black man was prevented boarding a train by racist football fans was quickly shared across social media leading to the arrest and conviction of those involved – let’s hope that we can do the same here and bring these two suspects to justice too.

Looking at the Brighton Pride website we can see no information about what to do if people attending the event experience hate crime – this needs to be improved so clear advice and information is given – not just on the Brighton Pride website but on all our community websites.

These types of attacks are thankfully on the decline – most people attending have a great day out and that is how it should be – but at the same time we need to be vigilant and look out for each other. #WeStandTogether #NoPlaceForHate #SafePlaceForAll.

17-24-30 No to Hate Crime Campaign is a small charity set up to help organise and facilitate the April Acts of Remembrance #AAR for those killed and injured during the London Nail Bomb attacks of April 1999.

In October 17-24-30 organise the annual National Hate Crime Awareness Week #NHCAW in partnership with Stop Hate UK to encourage politicians, local authorities (police and council) and communities affected by hate crime to work together to raise awareness of hate crime – to prevent it where possible, to encourage reporting and improve victim access to support, and to improve the ‘operational response’ to hate crime incidents in line with the Government’s national Hate Crime plan “Challenge it, Report it, Stop It” (launched March 2012, updated May 2014).

This year’s National Hate Crime Awareness Week takes place between the 10th October to the 17th October 2015 and will be launched with a special service at St Paul’s Cathedral on the 10th October. We are also working with the Mayors Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) to promote the “London Hate Crime Reduction Strategy” (launched Dec 2014).

More details about the St Paul’s Cathedral Service of Hope and Remembrance available here.