Ken Fox appeared at a press conference Thursday at his lawyer Gloria Allred's Los Angeles office to announce the lawsuit alleging assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, violation of civil rights, negligence, loss of consortium and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
In a choked voice, Fox described what he said O'Neal did to him and the consequences he is still suffering. He said he was minding his own business, dragging a wheeled laundry basket to a nearby laundromat, when he saw a young man approaching dressed in a hoodie and carrying a bottle in a paper bag.
Fox said the man snarled, "What are you looking at," adding a common gay slur. "I was not dressed provocatively. All I did was look up when I saw him approach me."
Fox said the slur the man used amounts to "hate speech" and is "just one of many offensive terms used to make gay men feel ashamed of themselves."
He said the man, later identified by police as O'Neal, rushed at him, bashed him on the nose with a beer bottle, then stood over him as he lay on the ground bleeding. He said the man continued to taunt him with slurs, throwing punches and threatening to hit him with the bottle.
"I felt trapped, like a wounded animal. I literally thought I was going to die," Fox said. "All I could do was scream until he just walked away."
Fox said he filed his lawsuit to hold O'Neal accountable for beating him and for expressing violent homophobia in violation of state civil rights laws. He said O'Neal should not expect to get off just because his parents are famous.
"He appears to be an unrepentant repeat offender who has had his parole revoked for doing drugs in a rehabilitation center," Fox said. "In my opinion he is competent enough to know exactly what he was doing. He wanted to hurt an old, weak, defenseless gay man. He wanted to hurt me. And he did hurt me."
Fox described a litany of medical and psychological woes stemming from the attack, including having his nose re-broken and reset. He said he is seeing numerous physicians for various issues, as well as a psychologist for counseling.
"There must be serious consequences for anyone who engages in violence against innocent victims and particularly where the victim is victimized on account of his status as a member of a minority which has a long history of persecution and violence against them on account of their sexual orientation," Allred said.