NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — A man accused of attacking several men with a chemical irritant in a Washington, D.C. park due to their sexual orientation was arrested in Norfolk in July 22.
Fast forward more than two years later, Maryland resident Michael Thomas Pruden was found not guilty on Sept. 27, 2024 in U.S. District Court.
A federal grand jury indicted Pruden on five counts of assault on federal land, one count of impersonating a federal officer, and hate crimes sentencing enhancements, according to a release from the DOJ.
The indictment alleged he attacked four of the victims because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation.
Prosecutors said the attacks happened on five separate dates from 2018 to 2021 after dark at Meridian Hill Park, aka Malcolm X Park. It’s informally known in the area as a meeting place for men seeking consensual sex with other men, the DOJ says.
Before he would attack the men with the chemical, prosecutors said the suspect pretended to be a Park Police officer and shined a flashlight in victims’ faces while giving them police-style directives.
Pruden faced a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years for each assault count and a three-year statutory maximum sentence for impersonating a federal officer.