University of North Carolina junior attacked in hate crime

[truthpusher]

http://www.dailytarheel.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/02/28/42231c4448af1

UNC junior attacked in hate crime
GLBSTA group mobilizes in support of injured student
--------------------------------
BY RYAN C. TUCK
CITY EDITOR
February 28, 2005
---------------------------------

(snip)

The 21-year-old student was walking near 100 E. Franklin Street at 2:04 a.m. when six to seven men began making derogatory remarks about the student's sexual orientation while walking behind him, police spokeswoman Jane Cousins said.

The group of men then began attacking the student, hitting and kicking him in the face, upper torso and all over, Cousins said.

The individuals were calling him derogatory names throughout the incident, Cousins said.

Police arrived on the scene at 2:06 a.m. and found the student kneeling on the sidewalk, where he was treated for injuries.

Those injuries were initially characterized as minor but have now been revised to include broken bones, Cousins said Friday.

complete story: http://www.dailytarheel.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/02/28/42231c4448af1

[kiraboo]

1. We can expect more of this.

In the current political/social climate this is going to become more common although not more acceptable to the general public, I imagine. People are going to suffer before Americans remember again why we have attempted to develop an atmosphere of tolerance these past thirty years. Sigh.

[lebkuchen]

11. We're a country at war, with other countries and with each other

and we will be for years to come.

[LibertyorDeath]

2. This makes my blood boil their tough when there's

six to seven of them I'd like to get this human filth alone in a room one at a time and give them an "education"

[DontBlameMe]

5. It will never happen, unfortunately.

These kind of asshole cowards have no convictions when they're not in a crowd.

If you got them in private, they'd all say, "Well, so and so made me do it!" They always do. It's the proverbial group-think we all hate so much.

But, I agree with you. I'd love to catch one or two of them alone. Could be fun!!!

[renaissanceguy]

3. I'd be more than happy to kick the

living shit out of those neanderthals. They're probably closet homos themselves.

http://www.cafepress.com/liberalissues.14744291

[Megahurtz]

4. We will definitely be seeing more of this

thanks to Bushitler.:(

[Warpy]

6. Any time authorities (and that includes media people)

tell folks they have permission to hate and then supply the targets, this will happen. Any time a preacher says gay folks are sinners and should be despised for the sin of loving who they are supposed to love, there will be a subsequent increase in this sort of hate crime against gays. When Lamebawl rails against "feminazis," expect to see more casual violence against women in all walks of life. When Coulter calls for liberals to be killed, expect to see that, too.

Hate speech has consequences. In a climate where there is nothing to force broadcasters to offer a counter to it, the message gets through as not only approved, but moral.

We have free speech in this country. The haters are entitled to spew their hate to the world. However, without a mechanism for providing people with a counter view, our speech is no longer free. It's hate. Only hate. All the time. Sanctioned hate. Official hate.

Then they get all flustered when people start doing what they've been given permission to do.

[barden]

7. thanks for posting this

I know the guy involved in this attack. there's a lot of outrage in the raleigh/chapel hill/durham lgbt community right now

[peacebird]

10. there's some pretty strong outrage up here in Virginia right now too

with this straight but not narrow woman... damn them.

When will people rise up against the hatred and bigotry? The religious right/fundies are fueling a ferocious battle against tolerance, what I do NOT understand is how can true Christians NOT speak out against this?

When will the true Christians take back their religion from these people?

[nomoreplease]

8. How about

someone defining in plain language exactly what constitutes a hate crime. I see so much violence going on and some of it is called hate crimes and some isn't.

[libnnc]

9. I would consider this case

to be a hate crime. As a lesbian, it's pretty clear to me. When a group of people throw homophobic slurs at you and then gang up and beat the living shit out of you...it's a hate crime.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

12. When a crime can be reasonably construed as intimidation towards...

...an entire group. They weren't terrorizing Mr. John Doe, they were terrorizing all gay people. Same as KKK's burning crosses on black people's lawns.

[Orsino]

14. When the attackers repeatedly invoke...

...hateful names for an entire group, or the personal identity of the victim is obviously less important than the victim's membership in that group, we can call it a hate crime. Whether or not the terrorizing of the whole group is actually intended, that will be the effect, and I think it deserves special prosecution.

Anyone watching the violence and unable to help could have felt afraid of being attacked. If another member of that group had been watching, he would have had special reason to feel even more afraid. Those members of the group who weren't there still may feel less safe today, having been reminded of what's waiting for them in George Bush's America.

When the Roman mob calls for Brutus' head, that's not a hate crime. When they begin killing anyone named Brutus, that's a hate crime.

[Lex]

22. Attacking a person because of their status as gay, black, jewish

is a HATE crime.

Attacking someone to get their wallet or money is not.

[princehal]

13. Sigh

Sometimes it's hard to deal with what this country is.

[Walt Starr]

15. Well somun's gotta put dem uppidy homos in dey's place!

/moran (sic)

[FuzzyDicePHL]

16. Thank goddyss

the fuzz got there so fast (2min according to this snippet). I hate to think of the damage they could've done if they'd been able to keep going longer.

[megatherium]

17. This makes me more interested in joining the Pink Pistols,

a lbgt group that believes in self-defense with firearms. Arguments for and against guns will go on late into the night, but I think a good case can be made that the constitution does guarantee the right to self-defense with a rifle or pistol, and that many crimes are deterred by this. If those seven hoodlums thought their target might have been carrying concealed, they might have decided not to attack him.

Pink Pistols: http://www.pinkpistols.org/

[Blue to the bone]

23. Just don't start a fight with 7 guys while.......

.....while carrying a six-shooter.

[Kinkistyle]

28. Don't support guns, but forming "Guardian Angel" groups is cool with me.

After all the bigoted punks are forming gangs going around bashing gays, gays should form gangs to defend themselves as well. This has what our once great country has come to, and barring moving to a more enlightened country somewhere in Europe, there is no other way.

[yorkiemommie1]

18. the GOP and hate radio and the rapture right

are all to blame for setting a tone of hate . and the biggest bully of them all in the white house lacks the moral integrity to set the tone for civility and genuine mutual respect amongst us. he, of course, prides himself on his namecalling abilities.

[arwalden]

19. I Blame Bush's Christian Faith-Based Hate For This...

What the fuck is wrong with these people??! Are they INSANE?

[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Lex]

21. Maybe he just "looked gay" to them. Usually that's enough for these thugs

.
Maybe they thought he walked too swishy for their manly ways.
Maybe one of the attackers knew him.

Who CARES how they knew? If they were motivated because they thought he was gay, it is enough for it to be a hate crime.

[mtnester]

24. THIS is why I don't sleep well at night....

I always ask my son...be careful, you know people like this are out there. He always tells me "Mom, I know and am as careful as I can be, but I will NOT be driven off the streets by them. Don't worry, I will be fine." Meanwhile, I sit around wondering if this could be one of the last pieces of conversation we could have. Granted, I do not believe I obsess, but there are times, like when threads like these are posted and the truth of the ugliness of humans rears it head like this, it is all I can do to stay sane.

As a mother, is sucks to have to worry about whether or not some hate filled, ignorant, hell-bound savage is, even as I type this, watching and waiting for the right moment to kill/maim/hurt my son SIMPLY because he is alive.

God will await you at the gates you savages, and will ask for an accounting, and will find you LACKING and cast you down, and you will go screaming for the mercy you never showed. A pox on all haters, including the religious zealot we have in the White House who encourages this shit.

Ptooee.

[Lex]

25. Hugs to you, mtnester. Just like I refused to be scared to fly post 9/11

when I had to fly to NYC in the weeks following, I too, like your son, refuse to be driven off the streets by terrorists (that's what they are) and hateful religious zealots because someone might perceive me as gay and decide to beat the shit out of me.

If I'm bombed or beaten by foreign religious zealots/terrorists or those we grow here at home, I'll go down fighting and kicking and not cowering in my house, afraid to leave.

[StuckinKS]

26. As a gay man

I am the same way. This my country, too. I will not be intimidated by these hate mongers.

That is why my motto is, "I bash back!"

[geniph]

27. Brownshirts

It's only a matter of time until Krystallnacht...

[Modem Butterfly]

29. A friend of mine got bashed last summer

Fortunately, he "only" ended up with a couple of broken ribs, a black eye, and a minor concussion (they knocked him down and kicked him a bit). The police tried to claim it was a mugging, though they didn't take his wallet or briefcase and they kept calling him "faggot" and other names. Now he's in a self-defense class and plans to kick ass the next time it happens. I am conflicted about this, because on the one hand, these monsters need to know that gays and lesbians aren't just easy victims, but on the other hand, I don't want to see him escalate matters any.

The fuckheads who did this should be put in jail for a long, long time.