Photo by Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie.

The 19-year-old that police arrested in connection with an attack on a group of lesbian women outside the Columbia Heights Metro station on July 30 has now been charged with a hate crime. The Post reports that D.C. resident Christian Washington, who was arrested on August 9 and charged with assault, was one of two men who stands accused of violently beating five women after berating them with homophobic slurs.

When crimes are classified as hate crimes inside the District, penalties assessed upon conviction can be increased up to 50 percent. (For example, if a crime calls for a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, a hate crime classification would allow a judge to increase that sentence to 15 years.)

Earlier this week, Lanier said that several police officers who allegedly refused to take a report of the crime after responding to the scene could be fired from the force, pending the result of an internal investigation.