Hate Crimes Team Investigates BK Nightclub Arson Attack

BROOKLYN, NY — The arson attack at a popular Brooklyn nightclub earlier this week could potentially have been an anti-LGBTQ hate crime, according to police.

The NYPD's Hate Crimes Task Force is looking into the Sunday fire at Rash nightclub in Bushwick given that the bar is frequented by the LGBTQ community, top brass said Wednesday.

It is unknown whether the arson attack was a hate crime, but it is possible that is the case, officials said. The Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives team and joint arson explosion team are also leading the investigation, police said.

Police revealed Wednesday that they have found a video of the suspected arsonist filling up a canister with gas, which he later poured onto the floor of the nightclub and lit with a match, according to police.

The flammable liquid caused an explosion that set the bar up in flames, sending those inside running out of the fire covered in ash and soot, according to police and witnesses.

Two people hurt in the fire were sent to the hospital, authorities said.

The NYPD had not yet released video of the suspect to the public as of Wednesday afternoon despite showing it on screen at a press conference that day.

The potentially-targeted blaze has already sent shockwaves through a neighborhood known for its nightlife and queer spaces, particularly given a spate of other incidents at similar venues.

A GoFundMe set up to help the venue had already raised more than $50,000 as of Wednesday.

The Rash fire comes only a few months after a fire in an upstairs apartment shut down Bossa Nova Civic Club, a similar nightclub just down the block. Bossa Nova had just updated their security in the fall after a stabbing inside the club, according to reports.

Last fall, the Bed-Stuy queer bar C'Mon Everybody found a brick thrown through its window.

Rash first opened in the fall of 2021 as a venue for live jazz and electronic DJ shows, according to reports from the time.