Man returning from theatre performance beaten for "looking like a faggot"

[Bluebear]

Portland, Maine - Portland’s gay and lesbian community was put on alert Wednesday when the Portland Police Department announced that the brutal attack of a local artist over the weekend was being investigated as a hate crime.

According to police, the victim is an unnamed 31-year-old Portland resident who was assaulted in front of 419 Cumberland Ave. at 12:30 a.m. Saturday while walking home from a local club.

Portland Police Captain Vernon Malloch said the attackers used homophobic slurs against the victim, and then punched him at least one time in the head. He said that the blow was so powerful that the victim fell to the ground and nearly lost consciousness.

A passerby approached the victim, found him unconscious and called the police; he was subsequently admitted to Maine Medical Center where he was found to have serious head injuries. The assailants were described as one muscular black male, 5’6” to 5’10” and a thin white male with long brown hair. Both men are believed to be in their early 20s. They reportedly left the scene of the crime in a white, late model sedan with what appeared to be aftermarket chrome wheels.

Malloch said that the aggravating factor in this case, and most concerning, is that the male was attacked “for nothing more than his appearance.”...He was rather dressed to personify a mythical creature and may have had theatrical make-up on at the time of the attack. She confirmed that the attackers told the victim that he “looked like a faggot” prior to the beating.

http://www.innewsweekly.com/innews/?class_code=Ne&article_code=6033

[JuniperLea]

1. I blame Republican hate for this stupidity!

And RW Fundie Nut Jobs!

Haters. Fuck them. I'm sick of the hating!

[JuniperLea]

2. hiccup!

'puter hiccup dupe~!

[deaniac21]

3. This is what Bush has done.

[rfranklin]

5. Oh please, homophobes are nothing new...

Let's try to make them something old.

[mainegreen]

4. The Old Port at 12:30 am is an extremely drunken, messed up place.

They actually hose the people out of there weekends right at closing time because of all the drunken violence.

Still, this is pretty damned usual for here. The peninsula has to be one of the most gay and lesbian friendly places in the country.
This is a bit of a shocker, to be sure.

[Mabus]

6. I just don't have any words for this

It happens time and time again and it is clearly a hate crime. I hope they find the guys and prosecute them.

[Divine Discontent]

7. it looks different than me so I have to attack/kill it

and making it worse, is that a black male would be so ignorant to the judgment dished out for his race suffering such indignity and unfairly harsh beatings and hangings for merely looking different.

May the victim recover and never be harmed again...

prayers for his brain to not be damaged!

[flvegan]

8. Someday...someday

there's going to be a story about a couple guys that went gay bashing that got caught in the act by 5 or 6 decent folks who subsequently schooled them on the inappropriateness of hate by putting them in the hospital.

And I'm going to smile when I read it.

[xchrom]

9. and that is why we need hate crime laws. nt

[Omaha Steve]

11. Agreed

With long terms behind bars. K&R!

[FLAprogressive]

10. sickening! n/t

[JackBeck]

12. Even in the neighborhoods which we think are safe, we are still vulnerable.

Which is why Hate Crimes laws are needed now, more than ever.

[arcadian]

13. I've been called a "fag" before for using "intelligent sounding", polysyllabic words.

Words like, well, I guess like polysyllabic.

[Bluebear]

14. The country is in an anti-intellectual downwards spiral, to be sure