A Pittsburgh pastor is recovering after being assaulted in an allegedly racially-motivated attack.
Reginald Myers was beaten and cut with at least one knife outside of his home in Bloomfield on Friday, but holds no ill will towards his attackers.
Myers, 65, said that he was at home around 11:30 p.m. when he heard a woman calling for help. He came outside and saw a man pushing a woman against a van, and tried to intervene. According to Myers, the woman only pretended to be in distress to get him to come outside.
A second man appeared, and Myers was beaten by the trio. Allegedly, the group used racial slurs and intended to kill the pastor.
"Tonight you're gonna die, I'm gonna slit your throat," one of the attackers reportedly said.
Myers' sister, who lives next door to him, heard the commotion and scared the assailants away.
"For this to happen, a racially-motivated attack like this, it breaks my heart and it tears
me apart," Meyers' wife, Carol, told CBS Pittsburgh.
Gerard and Kaela Rupert of Lawrenceville, and Robert Noftz of Morningside have been charged with aggravated assault and ethnic intimidation. Noftz' s mother, Belinda, said that her son was actually a victim.
"They were walking to their car, and they might have been loud because they were out at a party, but they weren't out to do crime," she told WPXI. Belinda showed cameras a photo of her son's bloodied face.
"This is the image of my son the night this happened after he was taken to the hospital," she explained. "My son is the victim here. He's the father of an autistic child that needs to be home not incarcerated."
While police continue to investigate the matter, Myers said he is lucky to be alive, and is planning a peace rally.
"It's hard not to feel gratitude and invigoration because I'm still alive," the pastor said. "There will be persistence not to fight with hands, but learn how to use the power of prayer and the power of God for peace."
