O’Shae Sibley was stabbed to death for the crime of being ‘Black, gay and dancing’

O’Shae Sibley, a 28-year-old dancer, had dreams of making it on Broadway. He was stabbed through the heart in a homophobic attack at a Brooklyn gas station. Bevan Hurley writes

O’Shae Sibley suffered fatal stab wounds at a Coney Island gas station after being targeted in a homophobic attack (GoFundme)

O’Shae Sibley had been out celebrating a friend’s birthday when the group stopped at a Mobil gas station in Coney Island in Brooklyn on 29 July.

On a steamy Saturday night, the 28-year-old professional dancer took off his shirt and was “voguing” — a dance form popularised by the LGBT+ community — to Beyoncé’s Renaissance album with a friend on the station forecourt.

Just after 11pm, a separate group of young men allegedly began hurling homophobic insults saying that they didn’t like “gay dancing” in their neighbourhood, according to eyewitnesses.

Sibley confronted the men, surveillance footage recovered from the gas station shows.

After briefly separating, the clash turned violent, and Sibley was stabbed in the heart during a scuffle.

His friends tried to apply pressure to the wound, and police arrived at 11.15pm to find Sibley bleeding heavily on a sidewalk.

He was taken to Maimonides Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly after.

A 17-year-old suspect who allegedly fled the scene was later identified as Dmitriy Popov.

O’Shae Sibley with fellow students from the the Ailey Extension dance school in Manhattan (Whitney Brown / Alvin Aliey)

Mr Popov was arrested on Friday 4 August and has been arraigned as an adult on murder and hate crime charges. He has pleaded not guilty.

Eyewitnesses told the NYPD that Mr Popov had told the voguing group that their dancing offended him as a Muslim.

Mr Popov’s lawyer Mark Pollard told The Independent in an interview that his client was a “good Christian boy” who regularly attended church.

“I have no idea where that came from. I just know he’s not Muslim. It’s very strange,” Mr Pollard told The Independent.

The killing attracted national attention due to its alleged homophobic nature, as attacks on the LGBT+ community are increasing.

Beyoncé, who was performing nearby at New York’s MetLife stadium on the night Sibley was killed, paid tribute to the dancer, choreographer and model, who family say was cut down “in his prime”.

A funeral for Sibley is being held in his home city of Philadelphia on Tuesday 8 August.

What happened?

Otis Pena, who was with Sibley when he was killed, said in an emotional Facebook video posted on the night of the stabbing that a group of friends were celebrating his birthday when they had stopped a few blocks from his home to fill up their car.

He said he and Sibley were “just pumping gas and listening to [Beyoncé’s album] Renaissance and having a good time”.

Mr Pena said that as the confrontation ensued, he saw Sibley wobbling on his feet after being stabbed, and rushed over to try to administer care.

“I’m trying to put pressure on the wound, and there’s blood squirting everywhere… I’m covered in his blood,” Mr Pena said through tears. “They killed my brother right in front of me.”

“O’Shae was just trying to tell people ‘we may be gay’ and they stabbed him right in the heart,” he continued, breaking down.

“They murdered him because he was gay, because he stood up for his friends. All because he wanted people to know that we are gay.”

The duo had been close friends for 15 years, he said, and had always had each other’s backs.

“O’Shae was the salt to my pepper, the peanut butter to my jelly, and y’all killed him. Y’all killed my bro. O’Shae was a beacon of light that influenced everybody.”

An NYPD spokesperson said in a statement they responded to a 911 call at the Mobil station at 11.14pm on 29 July.

“Upon arrival, officers observed a 28-year-old male with a stab wound to the torso. EMS responded and removed the victim to Maimonides Medical Center, where he was pronounced deceased,” the spokesperson said.

Who was O’Shae Sibley? 

Sibley grew up in North Philadelphia and was one of nine siblings.

The youngster had been teased from a young age for his love of dancing, and found refuge at the  Philadelphia Dance Company, known as Philadanco, as a 13-year-old, founder Joan Myers Brown told the Philadelphia Inquirer.

After starting out dancing hip hop and other modern dances, he learned ballet and classical forms at the company’s apprentice programme D/2, she said.

Ms Brown told the Inquirer that opportunities were limited for young, Black dancers in Philadelphia, and Sibley moved to New York about three years ago.

“I just want to be famous,” Ms Brown recalls the young dancer telling her.

She introduced him to another former Philadanco student Iquail Shaheed, a dance professor who teaches at the Alvin Ailey School in New York.

Sibley joined the school’s dance company Ailey Extension, where he was “cherished” by his fellow students, the group wrote in a Facebook tribute.

Sibley had been auditioning for Broadway shows, and had also worked as a choreographer and model, according to Ms Brown.

He was also a popular member of the ballroom dancing community, friends said.

They kept in touch via weekly calls and texts, and Sibley would tell her about his latest auditions, she told the Inquirer.

Tondra Sibley, the victim’s aunt, told the New York Times his death was a “senseless crime”.

“O’Shae has always been a peacemaker. All he wanted to do was dance,” she said.

O’Shae Sibley was a talented dancer who had dreams of making it on Broadway (Facebook/Otis Pena)

In an email shared with the Inquirer, Mr Shaheed wrote that Sibley was killed “just because he was Black, gay and dancing”.

Sibley had “wanted to make a life for himself in and through dance. Yet, his young life was snuffed out by bigotry and hatred,” Mr Shaheed wrote.

He was living in an apartment in Strauss St, Brownsville, in Brooklyn, at the time of his death.

Beckenbaur Hamilton, a neighbour and friend, told NBC 4 New York that he had texted Sibley on the morning he was killed out of concern for his safety.

He described their neighborhood as “very homophobic.”

“We have to live stifled,” he said. “We live here in a community where we have to pretend to be somebody else.”

Sibley’s father Jake Kelly wrote on a GoFundme page that his son’s life had been cut “in his prime” because of his sexuality.

“O'Shae not only was the glue to this family, he was a great dancer and performer for the majority of his life. His spirit lit up every room he stepped in,” Mr Kelly wrote.

Philadanco has also set up a fundraising page to raise funds for Sibley’s family.

Suspect arrested

Dmitriy Popov, 17, allegedly went on the run for a week after the killing, before surrendering to detectives on Friday.

Mr Popov has been arraigned as an adult on murder and hate crime charges and ordered to be held without bail during a court appearance on Monday 7 August.

He had reportedly claimed he was Muslim during the deadly confrontation with Sibley and his friends over their shirtless “voguing” dance moves.

Court records obtained by the New York Daily News allege Mr Popov said: “Stop dancing here... we are Muslim. Get that gay s*** out of here.”

Mr Pollard told The Independent that his client denied making any racist or homophobic statements.

“I have met his family, he has Black family members. I’ve met his friends, he has Black friends. He denies hate being a part of anything regarding this.”

Mr Popov’s grandmother said outside court that he acted in self-defence, while his mother read a statement expressing sympathy for the Sibley family.

“My heart goes out to the family of Mr Sibley,” she said, according to the Daily News.

She said her son was a “good boy” and regular churchgoer.

‘Gay joy is not a crime’

There was anger, grief and despair among Sibley’s friends and fellow students in tributes posted to social media.

Beyoncé paid tribute to the dancer in a statement on her website, writing simply: “Rest in power O’Shae Sibley.”

In a statement to Advocate, LGBT+ advocacy non-profit GLAAD said the shocking murder followed a “disturbing rise in violence and harassment against LGBTQ people across the US”.

“This cannot continue. No one should have to fear for their safety just for being themselves. Politicians spewing lies and proposing policies filled with disinformation, and media repeating their false and dangerous rhetoric unchallenged, are creating an incredibly hostile environment that endangers all LGBT+ people and all queer people of colour.”

Sibley’s dance studio, the Ailey Extension, said in a statement that he was a “cherished and devoted student”.

“He had incredible energy in the studio and was loved by instructors and fellow classmates.”

New York state senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal said he was “heartbroken and enraged” to learn about Sibley’s death in a post on social media.

“Despite homophobes’ best efforts, gay joy is not a crime. Hate-fueled attacks are,” the senator tweeted.

A memorial for Sibley is being held at the LGBT Community Center on West 13th St on Saturday 5 August.

What is voguing? 

Voguing is a modern style of house dancing that evolved from the Harlem ballroom dance scene, and was predominantly performed by LGBT+ Black and hispanic men as an imitation of fashion models.

Willi Ninja, godfather of voguing, in 1994 (Isabelle B83/CC BY-SA 4.0)

Voguing was named after the fashion bible Vogue, and is characterised by exaggerated poses, angular movements and fluid transitions.

It first gained mainstream attention after the release of Madonna’s Vogue 1990 music video and the documentary Paris Is Burning.

The film focused on drag queens living in New York City and their “house” culture, and won a Grand Jury Prize at the 1991 Sundance Film Festival.

Willi Ninja, the “Godfather of voguing”, was honoured by Google with a “doodle” logo on its homepage on 9 June, which featured several performers recreating his iconic dancing style.