Two Slovaks Murdered

Juraj Vankulič and Matúš Horváth

A couple of weeks ago, two Slovaks, Juraj Vankulič, age 26, and Matúš Horváth, age 23, were shot at the entrance of Tepláreň, a gay bar in downtown Bratislava on 12 October.  A third person, a woman was injured but she survived.

The shooting took place just after 19:00 and the local police initiated a manhunt.  The perpetrator was later identified as Juraj Krajčík, the 19 year old son of a far-right politician.  Prior to the shooting he posted anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-Semitic posts on Twitter.  He was found dead at around 7 am the next day.  He apparently committed suicide by shooting himself in the head.

The police began investigating the murder as a hate crime but deemed it an act of terror after it appeared that the killer was planning to target other people including the prime minister.

Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová and Prime Minister Eduard Heger posted messages of support on Twitter in both Slovak and English.

Rallies were held in Bratislava and also in Prague.

Slovakia offers less protection for gays and lesbians than Czechland does.  While sexual orientation and gender identity are covered with comprehensive anti-discrimination laws, it doesn't permit same-sex marriage or even civil partnerships.  Since 2014, Slovak law defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.  However, due to the EU, the country does have to recognise same-sex marriages established abroad.

Here's a one-minute video I found on YouTube of the Slovak President addressing a memorial rally in Bratislava.

©news.com.au

Here's a 3,5 minute video about following the aftermath.  The video is only in Slovak but you get the idea.

©Refresher SK

Aside from the sheer horror of people being murdered for being gay, the other thing that stands out is that it involved a gun.  Over here a gun murder is big news because it just doesn't happen.  In the USA, this would be just another shooting.

The gun homicide rate in the the USA is way, way higher than in other high-income countries.  What I still don't understand is that if guns made people safer, then America should be the safest place in the world.