Couple Assaulted Outside Liquor Store Over Suspected Bud Light Purchase

A couple was reportedly assaulted outside of a liquor store after being confronted by a group of men over their suspected purchase of Bud Light beer, police suspect.

The incident took place on Saturday night in the city of Vaughn, Ontario, a suburb located just north of Toronto in Canada. York Regional Police said in an official statement that a couple was accosted by a group of three men after leaving a liquor store located on Jane Street and Major Mackenzie Drive West, allegedly targeting the 26-year-old male victim's supposed purchase of Bud Light and using various homophobic insults.

When one of the men approached the male victim, the female victim, 27, tried to step between them and keep the situation from escalating, at which point the suspect physically assaulted her. The two other men then got involved and the group began attacking both victims. The group of attackers fled the scene after a bystander intervened. The woman was brought to a nearby hospital for treatment of her injuries, while her partner sustained only minor injuries and did not require medical attention.

The Bud Light beer brand became a flashpoint of controversy amongst conservatives after its parent company, Anheuser-Busch, sent a commemorative Bud Light can to Dylan Mulvaney, a popular transgender social media influencer, to commemorate her 365-day transition to "girlhood". Despite the fact that the so-called "partnership" between the beer brand and Mulvaney only amounted to a short social media video, the reaction swiftly escalated, with conservatives threatening to boycott the brand and destroying cans of the product on video, while others allegedly called in bomb threats to Anheuser-Busch facilities.

"One of the suspects commented on the male victim's choice of alcohol and uttered anti-homosexual derogatory slurs as he approached the victim," the York Regional Police's statement explained.

Police also noted later that the victims had not even purchased Bud Light that night, but rather a different, unspecified product that the attackers mistook for Bud Light.

"But it wasn't. He actually didn't have Bud Light," a spokesperson for the department told Global News. "I guess there were some rainbow colors on the cans and so it was initiated that way...Then upon further determination as to what they purchased, they still weren't happy with that. Let's just put it that way. And the insults continued."

A photo of one of the attackers was released on Twitter in a bid to solicit public help in identifying them. He is described as a 25- to 35-year-old man with a slim build, a buzz-cut hairdo, a tattoo on his jawline, and more tattoos on his hands. At the time of the attack, he was wearing a black Adidas jacket with white stripes on the arms, blue jeans, and a pair of black and white sneakers with orange on the heels.

The second suspect was described as a man with black hair and a full black beard, wearing a red Cristiano Ronaldo Portugal soccer jersey during the attack. A description of the third attacker has not been released, aside from the fact that he is also male. The suspects fled the scene in a vehicle with an Ontario license plate bearing the number, CLHL733.

"The nature of this incident is concerning, not only because of the physical injuries inflicted but also because of the comments that were made," a York Regional Police spokesman wrote in a statement to Newsweek.

"It's unacceptable that anyone would be accosted and assaulted because of their choice in a certain brand of beverage. It's especially concerning when the crime may possibly be motivated by a hatred, bias, or prejudice toward anyone's sexual orientation. Our #4 District Criminal Investigations Bureau is working on this case, and our Hate Crime Prevention Unit is also involved. The investigators are following up on tips from the public and asking for anyone with information or video footage regarding the incident to contact them as soon as possible."

Update 05/15/2023 3:20 p.m. ET: Added York Regional Police response.