Catholic high school coach fired ..., by Charlene Adams, Daily Mail (UK) (September 18, 2014)

Catholic high school coach fired after 'being identified as part of mob' that brutally beat gay couple in Philadelphia

A Philadelphia Catholic high school basketball coach has been fired after he was allegedly identified as being part of the group that brutally attacked a gay couple.

Fran McGlinn, 25, is said to have been among about dozen men and women in their twenties who participated in the attack on a 28- and 26-year-old gay couple, according to Philadelphia Daily News.

One of the victims told CBS Philadelphia that three men started 'pummeling' him and knocked him to the ground.

The two men were walking near 16th and Chancellor streets in the Center City area of Philadelphia just before 11pm on September 11 when the group of men and women confronted them, the 28-year old told CBS Philadelphia.

His 26-year-old boyfriend said that the men in the group asked if the two were a couple and, when he confirmed, the men began to pummel them both.

The 28-year-old had to be hospitalized with a large cut on his face. His jaw had to be wired shut due to severe fractures. The 26-year-old boyfriend suffered bruises to his face, CBS Philadelphia reports.

Kenneth Gavin, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, told the Daily News that McGlinn has been fired and prohibited from working at any archdiocesan school.

Gavin said that McGlinn had been serving as a coach on a 'contract basis' at the high school and was not a teacher.

McGlinn graduated from Wood High School in 2007 and was a key member of the school's men's varsity basketball team, the Wood Vikings.

The Daily News reported that McGlinn continued to be a member of the basketball team, AAU teams as well as attending practices despite suffering from a debilitating heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

McGlinn wrote in an online profile that after being diagnosed, doctor's told him that he could 'never play basketball again.'

People have taken to social media to aid authorities in the search for the 'persons of interest.' After news of the attack spread, internet sleuths used social media to help identify the people said to have been involved in the incident.

Particularly, CBS Philadelphia reported, that one Twitter user utilized his more than 6,000 followers to identify the alleged attackers. One follower tweeted a photo of the group at a restaurant prior to the time of the attack as a result of the user's efforts.

The Twitter user told CBS Philadelphia that he would use photos his followers would send him and match them to a surveillance video released by authorities.

Since the investigation began, social media users have uncovered that the group dined at a Center City restaurant called La Viola just before the time of the attack.

The surveillance video shows the group walking near Rittenhouse Square.

The restaurant itself has since come under fire from social media users even though its officials say they were in no way involved in the attack.

CBS Philadelphia reported this statement from the restaurant's officials: 'We were horrified to learn any of our patrons could have been involved in such a crime. Our thoughts are with the victims and we wish the gentleman a speedy recovery.'

Daily News reports that though the incident was initially investigated as a hate crime, the District Attorney's Office say the case may not fit that standard.

Under current law, a hate crime includes incidents motivated by race, ethnicity, or religion -- not sexual orientation.