Spain's PM to convene hate crime commission after suspected homophobic assault

FILE PHOTO: LGBT activists protest against homophobic crimes in Madrid, Spain, July 11, 2021. The signs read "I don't want to die while being shouted faggot" and "There will not be another Salem". REUTERS/Javier Barbancho

MADRID (Reuters) - Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will chair on Friday an urgent meeting of Spain's commission against hate crimes amid an uproar over a suspected homophobic assault on a 20-year-old Spaniard in central Madrid.

The young man was returning home on Sunday afternoon when eight people wearing hoods managed to surround him in his building's hallway and verbally abused him while threatening him with a knife, a police source said.