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A second suspect has been arrested in the alleged violent Saturday assault of a man in St. Catharines, Ont.

But whether or not it is decided what happened there was hateful will have to be up to the court.

“Detectives have identified the second involved male as 36-year-old William Rider of St. Catharines,” say Niagara Regional Police in a news release, adding the suspect “has been charged with aggravated assault.”

Earlier, the NRP arrested 41-year-old Samantha Jacobs of St. Catharines and charged her with assault causing bodily harm.

The charges against the two accused have not been tested in court, and both are now out on bail and are considered to be innocent until proven guilty.

This is a strange case that has stirred a lot of emotion, from the mayor speaking out about being “disgusted,” to comments from the St. Catharines Pride organization expressing concern. People are right to raise the alarm bells but also must be careful to not get ahead of the evidence.

From the beginning, Niagara police got the right tone in how to tackle this — going where the evidence takes them or doesn’t take them.

A hateful crime does not necessarily qualify as hate

An updated news release also says that “detectives with the 1 District Criminal Investigations Bureau (CIB) are investigating whether this incident may be hate-motivated” and “if evidence establishes that hate was a motivating factor, it may be considered by the court as an affirmative factor during sentencing” if there is a conviction.

Victim Carson MacDonald’s friends and family have gone to GoFundMe with a campaign to help him with medical recovery with a headline calling it a “hate crime” and the commentary that “Carson is a 25-year-old Niagara College student who was targeted for his affiliation/connection with the LGBTQIA+ community,” and is “now suffering from an orbital fracture entrapping his eye muscles requiring plastic surgery (consult later this week) as well as a concussion, PTSD and anxiety – not including multiple abrasions and hematomas throughout his body.”

But in their investigation, the NRP have now determined that while they allege homophobia rearing its ugly head in this incident is still part of the probe, it is not believed to have been the catalyst for the original alleged assault.

  • WARMINGTON: Young man hospitalized after shocking alleged homophobic attack in Niagara

Homophobic slur on video

NRP Media Relations officer Const. Jessica Martin tells the Toronto Sun that there was a verbal exchange between the victim and the alleged two suspects, but it is not believed to be related to his perceived sexual preference. What happened at the end of the melee is under investigation for an anti-gay phrase that was alleged to be used toward the victim, who is not being charged in this incident .

“A (homophobic) slur was picked up in a video,” said Martin.

While not garnering a hate crime charge on its own, this may be something that would come up in trial or in sentencing should there be a conviction. Of course, the most pressing concern is how Carson recovers from this. All eyes will be on him if and when he goes to court to testify about how it went down from his perspective.

While those charged for this crime are free on bail, Carson remains in hospital awaiting more treatment and potential plastic surgery.