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No Hate-crimes Charges for Marines


MARINES Keil Cronauer Christopher C. Stanzel X390 (MUG) | ADVOCATE.COM

The Justice Department declined to pursue hate-crimes charges against two U.S. marines accused of knocking a gay man unconscious in Georgia this summer because they thought he winked at them. The marines will face misdemeanor charges.

Cpl. Keil Joseph Cronauer and Lance Cpl. Christopher Charles Stanzel allegedly struck Kieran Daly on a downtown Savannah sidewalk on June 12. The victim said his attackers used antigay slurs.

According to the Associated Press, “The FBI launched a preliminary investigation into whether the attack warranted charges as a federal hate crime. Stephen Emmett, spokesman for the FBI in Atlanta, said Wednesday that the Justice Department opted against pursuing hate-crimes charges after reviewing the case.”

Local prosecutors decided that Daly’s injuries were not serious enough to warrant felony charges. The marines’ case will be heard on September 9, and they remain on duty in South Carolina, pending the outcome of the Georgia case, the AP reports.

Georgia does not have a hate-crimes law. A 1999 statute was struck down in 2004 by the state supreme court, which deemed it too vague.

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Reader Comments
  • Name: Bobbie Bees
    Date posted: 9/6/2010 2:20:05 PM
    Hometown: Vancouer, BC

    Comment:

    I thought that the marines were supposed to be tough and macho and strong. These two 'brave' men felt threatened enough by the presence of a gay man that they had to attack him? Nice to see the marines have been lowering their standards.

  • Name: Tax the Churches
    Date posted: 9/4/2010 3:43:42 AM
    Hometown: USA

    Comment:

    Do you think the same decision would have been made if the victim were a Christian? Yeah, me neither. Obama's KKKristian minions would have been all over that like a Priest on altar boys.

  • Name: Johnny Cameron
    Date posted: 9/3/2010 8:08:34 PM
    Hometown: New York, New York

    Comment:

    Johnny, how on earth would you know this?

  • Name: Bill
    Date posted: 9/3/2010 3:49:10 PM
    Hometown: Arlington

    Comment:

    Brandon - why would the FBI halt the investigation?

  • Name: Brandon
    Date posted: 9/3/2010 12:53:37 PM
    Hometown: Baltimore

    Comment:

    The "Feds" (i.e. FBI), never made a decision. They were halted in their investigation.

  • Name: JohnnyJ
    Date posted: 9/2/2010 11:55:53 PM
    Hometown: New York, New York

    Comment:

    Uh, Zak, since you're in Atlanta, can I assume you patrol Piedmont Park to kick the butts of those black gangs terrorizing gays?

  • Name: Zak
    Date posted: 9/2/2010 11:50:00 PM
    Hometown: Atlanta

    Comment:

    They both look like they are one 6 packs from being bi-curious, themselves. I think they boy doth protest too much. That said, I think turn around is fair play. Anyone want to road trip to SC??

  • Name: JohnnyJ
    Date posted: 9/2/2010 11:43:36 PM
    Hometown: New York, NY

    Comment:

    I agree with the Feds' decision. There's no evidence that this was an unprovoked hate crime. Kieran Daly has a history of arrest for provoking violence, and the well-established gay community of Savannah sees this whole case as a phony cause celebre by a few newcomer malcontents.

  • Name: Bill
    Date posted: 9/2/2010 11:23:21 PM
    Hometown: Arlington

    Comment:

    I'd like to know the criteria that the FBI used in deciding this this attack by two men against one gay man hitting him so hard as to know him unconscious was not a hate crime. Bias-based crimes are real and the addition of sexual orientation to existing hate crime legislation was a long time in coming. Now, it has to be applied when appropriate. What if the man has been killed, would then been enough violence to call for a hate crime prosecution?

  • Name: Bill
    Date posted: 9/2/2010 10:27:44 PM
    Hometown: Albuquerque

    Comment:

    As a retired military officer my observation is that the Marine Corps doesn't need these two Marines. They are subject to be deployed to areas where their juvenile and over-the-top reaction to a trivial situation could cause great harm to their unit's military mission. The Corps should get ride of these losers.

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