Brooklyn man gets 20 years for hate killing of O'Shae Sibley

A Brooklyn man was sentenced on July 16 to 20 years in prison for the fatal stabbing of O'Shae Sibley, a 28-year-old Black gay dancer, in a 2023 attack prosecutors described as a hate crime. Dmitriy Popov, now 20, was convicted last month of first-degree manslaughter as a hate crime, along with other charges including menacing and weapon possession. Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Dena Douglas also ordered five years of post-release supervision.

The incident occurred on July 29, 2023, at a Mobil gas station in the Midwood section of Brooklyn. Sibley and his friends, having spent the day at the beach, were refueling their vehicle when they began voguing and dancing to music, including songs from Beyoncé's Renaissance album. Their actions drew the attention of Popov, who was 17 at the time, and his friends.

According to trial testimony and prosecutors, Popov and his group approached Sibley's friends and hurled racist and anti-LGBTQ slurs. Prosecutors stated that one member of Popov's group said, "Get that gay s--- out of here." A confrontation ensued. Surveillance video showed that while most of the individuals involved began to disperse, Popov continued the altercation, eventually...