A group of police
officers in Rochester, N.Y., plan to sue the city and
the police department after being accused of improperly
handling an alleged gay bashing in 2007.
A group of police
officers in Rochester, N.Y., plan to sue the city and
the police department after being accused of improperly
handling an alleged gay bashing in 2007.
Officers David
Macfall, Stephen Tortora, Stephen Ward, and Michael Yodice
claim they were targets of internal investigations because
of pressure from police and city officials, the
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reported
Tuesday. Internal affairs investigators told the
officers that the probe was a result of pressure from
city officials.
Advocate.com
reported at the time that the alleged victims said four
people punched them, kicked them, and struck them with
a metal rod and verbally abused them with antigay
epithets during a June 1, 2007, attack. There
were a total of eight alleged victims in two
groups, in a mix that included men and women, gays and
straights.
Police officers
arrived and eventually let the attackers go, though
confrontations broke out between law enforcement and the
victims, who claim, according to the
article, that at least two officers used gay
slurs before arresting three of them.
An investigation
also found that there was no assault before the police
arrived and the police did not act improperly. However, a
parallel federal court lawsuit against the police says
that they ignored the crime and the use of antigay
epithets.
Rochester police
chief David Moore claimed the officers faced multiple
allegations of misconduct, but a grand jury refused to
indict them last October.
New York State's
hate-crimes law addresses bias crimes based on sexual
orientation, according to the Human Rights Campaign.
(Michelle Garcia, The Advocate)
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