Vicenza, Italy: Man Says He Was Attacked After Dating App Meetup

An Italian man says he was violently beaten after a meetup arranged through a dating app, with nothing stolen, and suspects a homophobic motive.

Nothing was stolen. That's exactly the detail that struck the victim, an office worker from the Vicenza area, once the attack was over: if the goal wasn't to rob him, what was it?

According to his account, the assault happened after a meetup arranged through a dating app. He now believes he was targeted because of his sexual orientation — a suspicion he isn't alone in holding: after reporting his attacker's profile on the app, two other users replied that they had upcoming meetups scheduled with the same person.

He filed a formal report with the carabinieri, who showed him images related to the ongoing investigation.

His account echoes a pattern documented elsewhere in Europe, notably in Belgium and the UK: individuals creating fake dating-app profiles with no intention of forming a real connection, purely to lure and then attack their victims — pointing to a motive behind these ambushes that has nothing to do with theft.