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September 05, 2008

Cops Hunt for Attacker in Salt Lake City Beating

Salt Lake City police are searching for a man suspected of beating a gay man on August 9; it is unclear why they are releasing details of the attack now. The victim told police he had been with his sister at a lookout point overlooking the city when the suspect approached them, according to KUTV in Salt Lake. The suspect took a photo with the victim and then asked if he was gay. When the victim affirmed that he was, the suspect, with a group of other men, began beating the victim.

The man in the attack has undergone reconstructive surgery to repair his orbital bone.

The assailant is said to be a Polynesian man in his 20s.

The attack has several similarities to an attack in the city of South Salt Lake on July 4, according to the Deseret News. In that incident, David "DJ" Bell and his partner, Dan Fair, were severely beaten by a Polynesian family who believed Bell had kidnapped two of their young children. Bell was charged with kidnapping and is currently awaiting trial. Fair, who had his eye socket broken and has undergone several surgeries, was not arrested. (The Advocate)

Reader Comments

These comments are reproduced as written by visitors to this Web site. They have not been edited for content, grammar, or spelling. The viewpoints appearing here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or views of advocate.com, The Advocate, or its affiliates.

  • Name: Corey Lynxx
    Date posted: 2008-09-05 4:33 PM
    Hometown: Loganville, GA

    Comment:

    Hate crimes against gay people happen so often that a lot of them go unnoticed by websites and blogs that talk about glbt issues. Either that or they just don't have time to publish info about them all. Just a few weeks ago an entertainer in NYC named Geo Vaughn(search him on myspace) was attacked by a gang of men who called him "gay". It's like these thugs think that they are accomplishing something by stating the obvious. That's like going up to a person with green eyes and saying, "hey your eyes are green" then beating them senseless. The media needs to publicize these hatecrimes more because they are failing at the current time. It's always important to speak out. If you or something you know is the victim of a hate crime blog about it on myspace, youtube and all websites you can possibly think of. Speaking out and getting angry about it will help up make progress! Trust me.


  • Name: Mark
    Date posted: 2008-09-05 2:56 PM
    Hometown: Omaha

    Comment:

    One thing the article above does not point out is that this second gay-bashing inicident occured just after the local authorities decided NOT to file charges against the Polynesian family who beat the first gay couple. The family who did the beating actually admitted to it in an interview with a local television station. To many, this looked like a signal from authorities that gay-bashing would not be pursued as a crime. I don't mean to imply that the first gay couple (Bell and Fair) are completely innocent (Fair was not charged, but Bell's trial is later this month). But apparently local police decided that allowing a revenge beating in this case was okay. If the beating victims had been a straight, white, Mormon couple, do you suppose the police would have had a different approach?


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