Portland bicyclist brutally beaten riding purple bike with Tinkerbell & Christmas lights on it

[Liberal_in_LA]

Portland bicyclist assaulted for riding purple bike with Tinkerbell & Christmas lights on it

From BikePortland.org we hear of a brutal bike-related assault that Portland Police are calling a hate crime:

The Portland Police Bureau is offering a $1,000 reward for help in solving a brutal assault and possible hate crime that occurred in the Southeast district over a month ago. Both the suspect and the man who was assaulted were on bicycles, according to police and media reports.

... According to KPTV, the (victim) - who was severely beaten and spent weeks in the hospital recovering - says he was likely targeted in part because he was riding a "purple bicycle with Tinkerbell and Christmas lights on it."

Read more on BikePortland.org and KPTV.



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/bicycle/detail?entry_id=78327#ixzz17YN8bT00

William said he was walking toward a pedestrian bridge inear Southeast 16th Avenue and Brooklyn Street, when the suspect and one other person started yelling homophobic slurs at him, threatening to beat him up.

“They were determined to catch me and beat the out of me,” he said.

He ran down the adjacent railroad tracks hoping to get away, but one of the suspects caught up to him.

William said he pleaded with the suspect, “What did I do to you, why do you want to hurt me? Please, please don't hurt me.”

The 49-year-old was severely hurt in the beating. He suffered a broken nose, a fractured eye socket and serious internal damage.

He has undergone four surgeries so far and has at least three more scheduled.

“More and more, it makes me think these guys stomped on me after they knocked me out,” he said.

In the hospital since the middle of November, William has two lacerations to his intestines and has lost a third of his colon. As he sits with four tubes going into him and three going out, he's reminded of when he was bashed 22 years ago where he received 400 stitches as a result of his injuries.

“It took me a lot of years after I was gay-bashed the first time to be out on the street alone. You won't find me on the street alone right now probably for quite some time,” he continued.

http://www.kptv.com/news/26004732/detail.html

[Altoid_Cyclist]

1. I can't find the words to describe this.

This transcends hate crime since only humans can be charged with a hate crime and those two sub-humans don't qualify.

[MinneapolisMatt]

2. Dammit.

What the hell is WRONG with people?

[Angry Dragon]

5. They listen to people that tell them gays are evil and immoral

It is time to sue anyone that says gays are bad.
it is time to make them pay for their words of hate.

It is time to shut down any church that bashes gays.

[patrick t. cakes]

3. Sad. Especially coming from Portland.

Not what one would expect, from my experience its an extremely liberal city.

[callous taoboy]

7. Liberal city, yeah mostly, but it has its share of skinheads and other thugs.

I once witnessed a tense moment on the square. Many police cars appeared out of nowhere, and about a dozen or more skinheads that had been sprinkled around the square took off on foot.

[patrick t. cakes]

10. I do remember the skins.

i also remember them hovering on the fringes of the "left"
mostly fascist hunters. of course the right has its fringe too, no doubt.

whoever did this, i hope they receive justice.

[Greyhound]

13. It is, in most parts of the inner city, but the further you get away from downtown and

the near-east side, the more redneck it gets. Once you leave Portland and get into the rural parts it's very Missouri-like.

[Demoiselle]

4. What a horrible, sickening story.

What causes this hideous hatred?
When I read the first line about Tinker Bell and the Christmas lights, I thought how much I wish I could see someone riding a bike like that so I could give him a smile and a wave of approval. A sense of humor like that is a gift to us all.

Please tell me they'll find these bastards and put them away for a very long time.

[patrick t. cakes]

8. Agree with your post 100%

That uniqueness is hard to find in many places.
It's what I loved about Portland, and what is fueling my
possible move out there this spring.

I really hope some form of justice, man made or universal, finds those
responsible. Sick stuff

[callous taoboy]

6. Almost makes me a believer in carrying a firearm.

Brutal thugs like that could stand to take a bullet in the shin.

[Peregrine Took]

9. Frankly, I wouldn't mind owning one. Sometime you just feel so vulnerable.

For example, occasionally my husband and I will go on a early spring or late fall trip up to northern Wisconsin or Michigan and I have to admit that when night time rolls around and our lights are the only ones on in a fairly remote area I am very uneasy if I hear a sound outside.

What the hell would we do if someone broke in? I usually get a big carving knife out of the drawer and keep it by my bedside. Just in case.

[reggie the dog]

22. i go camping in very remote places without carrying a gun

it boils down to that if someone comes up on my tent with an ax hell bent on killing me i am fucked, other than that if it is an armed robber i would just plead to have some warm clothes, some water and food out of my truck before he stole it from me...

[patrick t. cakes]

11. i've recently given thought to carrying a switch blade

or some form of self defense.
I think its only going down hill form here, socially speaking.

[Union Scribe]

12. Ever hear of this group?

http://www.pinkpistols.org/index2.html

I think it's totally appropriate for the targets of hate crimes to be more militant, just like the panthers did.

[Greyhound]

15. Never ever shoot to wound. You don't want the consequences of a living victim,

it is most likely the end of your life. OTOH, a random assault, like this appears to be, that yields a couple of corpses that probably already have a history will never be investigated very thoroughly and there's nothing to tie you to them.

But you do have to live with yourself afterward. If you can't take a life, don't carry a gun, period.

[Roon]

21. Armed queers don't get bashed

There used to be a website called www.pinkpistols.com that called for people to get armed legally.

[DirkGently]

14. Jesus. nt

[TheWatcher]

16. Paging Dexter Morgan.

We need you to do a bit of house cleaning in Portland.

Bring Plenty Of Plastic.

:grr:

[readmoreoften]

18. +1. No wonder Republicans don't like Dexter.

I'd imagine most sociopaths don't.

[callous taoboy]

25. Dexter is one of my favorite shows.

The mark of a truly great show is feeling conflicted about the protagonist.

[Roon]

17. This makes me sick!

My boyfriend was beaten within an inch of his life some years ago and I hate hearing that it's still going on.

[readmoreoften]

19. Tragic. And extremely common.

x(

[reggie the dog]

20. move to amsterdam

a gay man can ride a bike naked and flirt with others without a problem anywhere in amsterdam. he should leave and go to a more open minded place if he can afford to. san fransisco perhaps in the usa, but honestly copenhagen, amsterdam, any city in sweden, most anywhere in spain...pretty much anywhere in france including the countryside... honestly europe is a lot nicer for gay people, liberals in the american term meaning leftists,greens, artists, unions, working people, weed smokers, drug users in general,

[Dash87]

23. Wow. It seems like it's easy to be a misanthrope these days.

Why do people care so much about others' sexuality? It's a cultural sickness.

[Initech]

24. Truly, truly sickening.

[Taverner]

26. Fucking sub-animal scum

Why the fuck would someone do this?

What the fuck?

[The Doctor.]

27. I'm not advocating that everyone carry weapons,

but if there's a reasonable possibility you may become a target, you should seriously consider going out armed.