Thursday, March 29, 2012

Re: Hate Crime Victim: ‘I remember being kicked, called faggot’

Hate Crime Victim: 'I remember being kicked, called faggot'
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buy a gun ... the government can't be held responsible for your safety

On Mar 29, 11:41 am, Tommy News <tommysn...@gmail.com> wrote:
> 'I remember being kicked, called faggot'
>
> The victim of a brutal anti-gay attack (left) underwent two surgeries
> in which his badly severed jaw was reattached with two permanent
> titanium plates. He spoke to the Blade this week on condition of
> anonymity and is pictured here at home with his partner. (Washington
> Blade photo by Michael Key)
> A 29-year-old gay man spoke to the Blade Tuesday through jaws wired
> shut to facilitate the healing of facial injuries brought about by a
> brutal beating that extended over several streets near his home in
> Columbia Heights on March 12.
>
> "It happened so fast," said the man, who asked not to be identified
> out of fear of retaliation from his unidentified attackers, who remain
> at large.
>
> "I remember being dragged. I remember being kicked. I remember being
> yelled at and being called faggot," he said. "And my mind wants to say
> there were three of them, but it's all flashes."
>
> Sitting beside his partner at the kitchen table of the couple's home,
> the two said they decided to grant a series of news media interviews
> this week to draw attention to a rash of violent incidents against
> members of the LGBT community.
>
> Both said their spirits were lifted when they learned one day earlier,
> on Monday, March 26, that D.C. police arrested a 27-year-old woman in
> connection with the March 11 shooting of a gay man at the
> International House of Pancakes restaurant in Columbia Heights.
>
> They say police have told them investigators are hopeful they will
> soon identify the attacker in the 29-year-old gay man's case and will
> make one or more arrests in the case.
>
> The IHOP restaurant is about seven blocks from where the 29-year-old
> gay man was attacked at Georgia Avenue and Irving Street, N.W., one
> day later.
>
> The man shot at the IHOP, said to be 31, suffered a non-life
> threatening gunshot wound to the abdomen. Witnesses said the shooting
> took place after the woman in custody, LaShawn Yvonne Carson, and two
> men with her called the victim anti-gay names and a scuffle broke out.
>
> Similar to the incident involving the 29-year-old gay man who spoke to
> the Blade, police listed the shooting incident as a hate crime related
> to the victim's perceived or actual sexual orientation.
>
> The victim's jaw was broken in two places, requiring the insertion of
> two permanent titanium plates. (Courtesy image)
> On the same day the 29-year-old gay man was beaten and robbed, a
> transgender woman was knocked unconscious at about 11:45 p.m. at West
> Virginia Avenue and Mt. Olivet Road, N.E. Police said they had
> insufficient evidence to list that incident as a hate crime, but they
> were looking into the possibility that it was.
>
> Related Stories
> In 2012 election, are women the new gay?
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Appeals court to hear DOMA case next week
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> D.C. prepares for primary
> The 29-year-old gay man and his partner said the two were also buoyed
> by a silent march organized by their friends that took place March 20,
> the day the 29-year-old beating victim was released from the hospital.
> As many as 700 people marched past where the attack against him took
> place after beginning the procession at the IHOP.
>
> The victim said he was too weak to march after having spent eight days
> in the hospital. He underwent two surgeries in which his badly severed
> jaw, broken in two places by attackers who kicked him in the face, was
> reattached with two permanent titanium plates.
>
> "It was stellar. It was reassuring," he said of the march. "It makes
> me proud to be where I'm at — friends who I have in my life. And it
> gave me a lot of strength. It gave me a lot of security. It
> re-instills my faith in people."
>
> Although the attack against him began at Georgia Avenue and Irving
> Street, police said they found the victim four blocks away at Georgia
> and Morton Street. The victim said he recalls being dragged through an
> alley a short distance from Georgia Avenue after the initial attack.
>
> The alley where the victim was allegedly dragged before being attacked
> by a second group and robbed of his iPhone and iPad. (Washington Blade
> photo by Michael Key)
> He said minutes after the attackers appear to have left him alone, he
> called his partner on his cell phone to tell him he had been attacked
> and needed help. But the partner said he sounded dazed and couldn't
> say where he was.
>
> Seconds later, the partner heard other people speaking to the victim.
> The victim told the Blade he believes another group of attackers beat
> and robbed him, taking his iPhone and the iPad he had in the briefcase
> he was carrying.
>
> "It was really hard to be attacked the second time and think that
> someone would do that," he said.
>
> "I just want to give thanks for the amazing support and outpouring
> that we've had from everyone lately," he said. "It makes me proud to
> be part of the community that I belong to."
>
> More:http://www.washingtonblade.com/2012/03/28/i-remember-being-kicked-cal...
>
> --
> Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
> Have a great day,
> Tommy
>
> --
> Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
> Have a great day,
> Tommy

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