Philadelphia Gay Bashing Update--Arrested, Convicted, Sentenced--and JAILED

Here's a great update on the bashing, with many of the holes in the story cleared up: "People are going to get locked up," the source said. Up to a dozen people were involved in the attack, which occurred around 10:45 p.m. Sept. 11 at 16th and Chancellor streets. A male couple, 27 and 28, was walking to get pizza when they said one of the men brushed shoulders with a member of the group, and that person asked if the two were a couple. They responded that they were, and the group attacked, with some members holding the victims down and others kicking and punching them. The one victim’s head was smashed into the cement and he suffered facial fractures that necessitated his jaw being wired shut for eight weeks. As the men were being attacked, one of their bags, containing a cell phone and wallet, fell to the ground and one of the assailants took it. A source close to the investigation said one of the members of the group said she picked up the bag in the melee thinking it belonged to a companion and, upon realizing it did not, dropped it at 16th and Walnut streets. This statement from the assistant district attorney and LGBT liaison clarifies what the police and the DA could be doing if Pennsylvania had not gutted their hate-crimes legislation: “If someone commits a crime and the ethnic-intimidation charge is appropriate, like it would be in this case if we had protections for sexual orientation and gender identity, there would be a whole separate crime committed and that would be graded one grade higher than the most serious offense,” she said, noting that a second-degree felony could net someone a maximum of 10 years in the criminal-justice system, but an added hate-crimes charge, which would be counted as a first-degree felony, could extend that to 30. In 2002, the Pennsylvania legislature added sexual orientation and gender identity to the state hate-crimes law, which already covered aspects such as race and religion. But it was challenged in court by opponents and ultimately repealed on a technicality.

Updated On: 2/9/16 at 01:26 PM

Updated On: 9/22/14 at 03:18 PM

Oh, F*CK. The girl being charged is the daughter of the police chief.



TOWLEROAD: 3 PHILADELPHIA GAY BASH SUSPECTS TURN THEMSELVES IN; ONE IS DAUGHTER OF POLICE CHIEF - VIDEO