They claimed self-defense in beating of gay men on South Beach. A judge didn’t buy it.

Four young men did not act in self-defense when they beat up two gay men during a South Beach gay-pride celebration, a Miami judge ruled on Friday.

Circuit Judge Ariana Fajardo Orshan declined to dismiss the battery charges against Juan Carlos Lopez and three others who’d been charged in the high-profile attack in April 2018. The four were charged with battery under Florida’s “hate-crime” enhancement, which increases penalties for committing a crime “with prejudice.”

The four can still claim self-defense at a future jury trial.

The decision concluded a three-day hearing in which the four men sought immunity under Florida’s Stand Your Ground self-defense law. The controversial Florida law, passed in 2005, gave judges greater leeway to dismiss charges, and eliminated a citizen’s duty to retreat before using force to counter a threat.

In ruling Friday, Fajardo cited surveillance footage that showed the incident, saying nothing in the video “demonstrates that the defendants were in fear for their safety.”

The victims, Rene Chalarca and Dmitry Logunov, were beaten up outside a public bathroom near Ocean Drive and Sixth Street. The accused are Lopez, Luis M. Alonso Piovet, Adonis Diaz, and Pablo Reinaldo Romo-Figueroa.

Prosecutors said Lopez attacked the men after Chalarca accidentally brushed him coming out of the bathroom. They allegedly began to call the victims an anti-gay slur in Spanish, police said. As depicted on surveillance video, the attackers repeatedly punched the two gay men, in the face, causing cuts and bruises. The blows temporarily knocked out Logunov.

None of the four defendants testified in their own defense. But their defense attorneys insisted that Chalarca and Logunov were the aggressors. Lopez’s attorney, David Donnet, said Chalarca — who is Colombian American — even called his client a “balsero,” Spanish for rafter.

“An equally derogatory slur meant to demonize and victimize Cuban Americans,” Donnet said.

Piovet’s lawyer, Dennis Gonzalez, said his client was merely coming to the aid of his buddies. “He did what any good friend would do,” Gonzalez said.

But prosecutors Justin Funck and Jonathan Borst, members of the State Attorney’s hate-crime unit, said the two gay men had attended the pride events to have a good time.

“They were not there looking for a fight. They were there to celebrate,” Funck said, adding: “They are not entitled to immunity because of a casual brush of the shoulder.”

This story was originally published February 4, 2022 at 2:49 PM.