A Religious Hate Crime at Baltic Pride Event in Tallinn: Finnish Pastor Attacked by Russian Citizen

“A religiously motivated hate crime took place in Tallinn today,” said a post on the Facebook page of the Estonian Gay Christian Community. “Estonian gay Christians supported the “Baltic Pride” event – a meeting with a Finnish pastor.”

The record says that the event started at 14 at a popular downtown LGBTQ+ bar. There were no other people in the room during the event. “At one point, a well-dressed and sober Russian-speaking young man entered the bar, sat down at a table of ten participants and asked who was speaking.”

“He then attacked the pastor, beat him and threw a knife at him. Bystanders (more than half of whom were women) and bartenders stopped him and detained him until the police and two ambulances arrived. Three people were taken to the ambulance. Two of them released after first aid and the Finnish pastor is still in hospital.

The culprit is a Russian citizen. He repeatedly yelled that God hates homosexuals and other insults,” the post said.

The police have confirmed the attack, stating that the attacker was 25 years old, and the victim was 30.

According to the police, a 49-year-old woman and another 30-year-old man were also injured, who defended the victim from the attacker. All three were taken to a medical facility by the ambulance crew.

The police detained a 25-year-old man and initiated a criminal case.