No Hate Crime For Marines Who Beat Gay Man After He Winked
Posted By Eric Ethington (Author) on August 31, 2010
Georgia – Officials have announced that no hate-crime charges will be filed against the two marines who attacked a gay man after he winked at them. Back in June, Kieran Daly was hospitalized after suffering two seizures at the site of the attack. The two marines were caught by police as they ran down the street away from the attack
Johnson said after the FBI, the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department and the DA’s office reviewed Daly’s medical records and conducted further investigation, they determined this case had “no merit” to be considered a hate crime. “I can’t speak on the specifics because this is pending litigation, but for a crime to be considered a felony [which a hate crime is considered to be] there has to be proof of a sustained injury,” Johnson said. “It’s my understanding Daly suffered only a punch. Based on his medical records we could not upgrade the charge from a misdemeanor to a felony.” If convicted of a misdemeanor, the Marines could face less than a year in jail and a fine of no more than $1,200, she added.
"Eric, trying to have this (civil rights) conversation with you is ultimately like trying to teach a pig to dance, it just annoys the pig. So Eric, sorry to annoy you."
-Paul Mero, The Sutherland Institute.
I agree with the decision. Daly wasn’t hurt (he was out of the hospital the very next night, running about town giving interviews). Also, the marines’ records are clean. Daly is the one with an arrest record for causing this type of trouble before.
FaceIt – So by your definition… the victim is at fault? In order for a physical assault to count as a hate crime the victim has to be in the hospital for more than a day, have a spotless record and his or her attackers must have a criminal background?
Sorry dude, but that holds no weight. A hate crime is a hate crime.
It shows that the “victim” has been the aggressor in the past. Would your viewpoint be different if he claimed the truck driver punched him just because he’s white?
It depends. If the two men in custody had attacked him while yelling white slurs than yes, but if no evidence exists of prejudice than I would not.
If someone attacks another based on prejudice and hate than it’s a hate-crime. I don’t care if it’s some hetero yelling ‘faggot’ or a gay person attacking while yelling ‘breeder.’ Bottom line you cannot assault another human being based on their sexual orientation, gender identity, race etc. without it being a hate crime.
Well, what if, like in the last January case where Daly provoked a punch in the head by calling the driver the “n word” …..shouldn’t Daly have been arrested for a hate crime or is it all equal because Daly committed the hate crime but the black truck driver did the punch? It gets ridiculous. Anyway, I’m generally for hate crime laws (there are real hate crimes in Georgia right now, like the Piedmont Park attack by thug gangs on Rev. Noblitt, which you’ve no doubt covered) but…..not in this case. If being provoked and then hitting back, even if one uses a slur, constitutes a hate crime then it’s a good argument against such laws.
Well in the January example.. Going solely by the facts you provided, I would say no. It’s not a hate crime by the driver. And although what Daly did (again only according to your info) is hate-speech, it’s not a crime to use a word like that, although severely morally reprehensible.
Hate-crimes leniency caused by provocation depend entirely on what the nature of the provocation. A wink, as in this case, is not grounds for leniency.
(Anybody can look up anything I’m claiming here and will find it’s true). If “a wink” is all it was. With Daly’s arrest history, and the clean history of the marines (believe me, I’m well-informed on this case and the havoc it caused in Savannah between the established gay community and the newcomer activist troublemakers) I suspect otherwise. And the gay liasion to the Savannah police already announced Daly and company were dishonest with their medical claims (Kevin Clarke, for instance, should be run out of town). In the Piedmont Park, Atlanta, case the two gay men were minding their own business when they were attacked. I myself was attacked by a gang of black youth on the NYC subway. If, in the heat of the fight, the “n word” had slipped out of my mouth …would I be guilty of a hate crime? Would the black truck driver be guilty of a hate crime if “..white mf..” had slipped out of his mouth before striking Daly? Living like that would be like living under Chairman Mao. The attacks must be unprovoked to merit hate crimes, and I guarantee you this one wasn’t.
Thanks. Just as long as the (generally lazy) public knows this Savannah incident is not a cut-and-dry incident. I won’t deny that the African-American gang attacks in Atlanta and Staten Island, NY, on white, black, and Hispanic gays probably merit hate crime laws, though, yes.l
One more thought on this, hate crimes cannot be limited solely to un-provoked incidents. There is a long distance between someone who shouts at another and provokes an attack, and someone who innocently flirts with someone else they believe to possible be homosexual. If we used your requirements, bashings and murders like Matthew Shepherd’s couldn’t be classified as hate crimes because the attacker would just have to say that they felt threatened by someone flirting with them.
P.S. Sorry if it sounded like I was questioning your facts, I was just trying to be clear that I was basing my opinions solely off your information and not on any other sources.