CHICAGO — Prosecutors have filed hate crime charges against a South Side man who allegedly shot at because he thought they were gay. No injuries were reported in the incident, which escalated into a SWAT standoff when the accused man barricaded himself inside his home and refused to let his mom go outside, officials said.
Hugh Simmons, 30, was arrested this week to face charges in the November 26 altercation. Judge David Kelly detained Simmons pending trial.
Prosecutors told Kelly in a detention petition that Simmons had made Facebook Live videos mentioning the two victims’ sexual orientation “numerous times” and repeatedly used “derogatory language” to describe them.
Simmons allegedly shot toward the men as they left his neighbor’s home in the first block of East 103rd Street around 11 p.m. A Chicago police report said one of the victims was 47, but the other man’s age is not listed.
According to the petition, responding officers summoned a SWAT team to the scene after Simmons refused to come outside and also refused to let his mother leave the home. His mother ultimately escaped by jumping from a window.
Simmons is currently on probation for two felony gun cases, according to court records. He also received probation for a misdemeanor gun violation in 2018, the records show.
He faces two charges of hate crime and two counts of aggravated firearm discharge.
