10
COURIER LIFE, APRIL 22-28, 2022
BY XIMENA DEL CERRO
A suspect has been arrested
for starting a fire that injured
two people at Bushwick’s Rash,
a popular nightclub within the
city’s LBGTQ+ community.
John Lhota, 24, was captured
on security video purchasing a
red gas canister at a service station
and filling it with gasoline,
on the evening of Apr. 3, the
US Department of Justice announced
on April 14.
He then went to Rash, on the
ground floor of a multi-story
building at 94 Willoughby Ave.,
where he allegedly poured gasoline
over the floor of the bar.
Security video then shows him
tossing a lit cigarette on the floor,
but the gasoline did not ignite. In
the video, the arsonist is seen using
a cigarette lighter to ignite
the gasoline, causing an explosion
and a fire.
Two employees of Rash were
injured in the blaze, including
a 25-year-old who was sent to
Wyckoff Hospital with minor
burns and another person who
was checked for minor shoulder
burns. The bar had not yet open
at the time of the attack.
“This Office strongly condemns
such acts of violence and
will vigorously prosecute this
case,” said attorney Breon Peace
in a statement. “The victims, and
all LGBTQ+ New Yorkers, should
be able to enjoy their nights out
in peace and without fear of such
a dangerous attack.”
According to New York’s latest
Criminal Justice Research
Report, anti-LGBT crimes accounted
for almost 15 percent
of the hate crimes reported between
2015 and 2019.
Much of the club, located on
the ground floor of a residential
building, was destroyed by the
fire. It remains closed until further
Bushwick LGBTQ friendly venue, Rash, remains closed after an arsonist set the place on fire earlier this month.
Instagram
notice.
In addition to starting the fire
at Rash, Lhota stands accused of
assaulting a woman in his apartment
building just three days
before the attack, according to
court documents.
If convicted, Lhota faces a
mandatory minimum sentence
of seven years’ imprisonment or
a maximum of 40 years. The government’s
case is being handled
by the Office’s General Crimes
Section. Assistant United States
Attorney John O. Enright is in
charge of the prosecution.
“This makes me feel a lot
safer,” bar co-owner Jake Sillen
told Brooklyn Paper. “We’ve been
living in fear.”
Rash’s owners have launched
a GoFundMe page to raise money
for staffers who’ve suddenly lost
wages, as well as for the forthcoming
process of rebuilding the
bar. The fund has so far hauled in
more than $108,000 toward a goal
of $200,000.
“We’re definitely going to
come back from this,” Sillen told
Brooklyn Paper’s sister publication
Gay City News after the incident.
ACTING RASH
Brooklyn man arrested for
arson at LGBTQ-friendly Rash