Hate crime victim speaks out about beating

With the exception of a few stitches in his mouth, Emilio Moreno, 23, is physically almost recovered from a brutal beating that happened just over two weeks ago.

"I'm doing alot better,  especially knowing they're caught and they're in jail and not going to  hurt anybody else," said Moreno.

He says the mental scars, though,  will be harder to get over. "

" I don't take life for granted because they could have taken my life.  I was down, but in the end I am still alive. They didn't take that away from me," said Moreno.

Moreno said he was hoping to have a quiet night that Sunday night two weeks ago when he went to Rumor's Sports Bar around the croner from his house.  

" I just remember being by myself and saying, I'm just going to have one beer not stay out late, and then I woke up in the hospital," he said.

Since then, he does remember more about what happened in the alley behind the bar when he tried to walk home. 

" I just remember getting hit with something very hard that wasn't a fist in the back of my head, and they threw me to the ground, and I looked up and saw another guy that began holding me while the other one was kicking and kicking me, " said Moreno.

El Paso police have since arrested Arturo Contreras and Fernando Martinez in connection with the attack.

Moreno said the two shouted anti-gay slurs at him as they beat him. He spent a couple of days at UMC recovering, but now he's slowly getting back to normal.

"Yeah,they beat me that night, but it didn't change who I am," said Moreno. "There  are gay people out there and people need to respect us. I believe we were born this way, its not something I can change," he said.

Moreno says the FBI is now also investigating.