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Morning Roundup: Black Friday Edition
The tortured case of the beating death of gay Maryland man Tony Hunter has at last drawn to a close, as D.C. Superior Court Judge Rafael Diaz sentenced defendant Robert Hannah, 19, to 180 days in jail on Wednesday, the Washington Blade reports. The sentence represents the maximum jail time allowable for Hannah's conviction on a misdemeanor assault charge. Hannah will also get credit for time served, the Blade says, which is about two months already. Hunter's mother told the paper she was "not pleased" with the outcome. There has been much public outcry on the reduced charges to which Hannah eventually was allowed to plead guilty, but ultimately a grand jury did not find sufficient evidence to pursue a manslaughter charge. Friends of the victim have maintained that Hunter was beaten in an unprovoked attack that may have been an anti-gay incident.
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We went to the Macy's at 12th & G this morning for the Black Friday morning specials. There was a sh
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Disgusting.
He'll be out in three.
Sommer, could you guys keep track of this and let us know when he actually gets out? I think monkeyerotica might be right.
In light of this travesty of justice regarding anti-gay violence, I recommend responding with some pro-gay violence.
What do you have in mind? Er, I mean, violence is not the answer...
Name the time and place. I've got the poppers, the Astroglide, and the leg manacles. Time to paint the town brown...with Santorum. One condition though: leave Peter Nickles to me. To quote Michael Jackson, "Your butt is MIIIIINE!!"
This is so backwards, I guess lady justice just turned a blind eye toward the perp.
Something needs to be done about this.
So not only do rich honkeys get one criminal justice system and everybody else gets another, now we get separate-and-unequal justice for homos? At the risk of being unpopular, this reporter places the blame for all of this squarely on YOU, the viewers.
Can someone please explain to me why DC has such a reputation as a gay-friendly city?
In my experience, gays in DC are extremely ghettoized - in my own circle, I feel like I'm the only one who has close, straight, male friends. I've never received more homophobic insults in my life than I have from the blacks in DC - it seems to be accepted urban practice to mutter "faggot" at white guys who pass you on the street. And the preponderance of Southerners, military types, and generally douchey frat boys doesn't really make this town the East Village.
I know that DC's political establishment does strongly support gay rights. Yet I find there's an immense disconnect between that top-level political support and the daily life I experience in this city. I'm surprised there aren't more gay-bashings here.
Has anyone else noticed this? People here talk about DC as if it's some gay mecca, and I really do not understand that.
I agree 100%. A large gay population and gay friendliness are not always mutually exclusive, and DC is the perfect example of that.
Ack. Got that backwards. I should say, a large gay population and gay friendliness do not always go hand in hand, and DC is the perfect example of that.
I think it's all relative. Spend a little more time in the suburbs and you'll see how gay-friendly DC compares. DC is infintely more gay friendly than, say, Waldorf. And while Front Royal has a reputation among the hillbilly rapist congnoscenti as a sort of inbred deviant mecca, it's hardly Christopher Street.
In large part, gay-friendliness is a relative and very subjective measure. People in Atlanta, Austin, Houston, and even Mobile consider those cities to be gay-friendly. Most of these people grew up in the surrounding areas where it was hard to find other gay people. As a result, they drift to nearby cities where they can find other gay people. This makes them think of the city as gay-friendly, even though it may not be objectively. Anyone moving from Minneapolis, Seattle, or Des Moines would not consider Mobile to be gay-friendly, but someone moving from rural Alabama would find it relatively gay-friendly.
As for DC, our reputation is in part because a majority of our local elected officials support equal rights for gay people. Also, overt prejudice correlates with lower economic status, educational achievement, and mobility. The DC area is a highly-educated, high-income, and very transient region.
This may also explain the lack of acceptance in the African American community. Just like other ethnic groups, African Americans in this region have higher incomes, better education, and are more mobile than in the rest of the country, but they still trail other ethnic groups in this region. Official support and even majority acceptance does not translate to universal acceptance. It never has, and probably never will. Anti-gay hate crimes are committed in San Francisco and the East Village, too.
not saying what happened in this case is right or wrong, but the commenters here are painting this situation as much more black and white than it really is. from what i've read, this was not some sort of unprovoked hate crime (although there are varied and contradictory accounts floating about). hunter (allegedly) groped hannah in the cock and balls region, and hannah, in turn, punched hunter in the face. hunter then fell (allegedly because he was drunk), hit his head, and we know the unfortunate rest of the story.
dudes out there, hell, ladies too, is it that unreasonable to think that if you were walking the dc streets at night and a stranger fondled you against your will you wouldn't turn around and clock them? if this is really what happened, i don't think hannah deserves to be characterized as some gay-bashing monster - just someone who reacted stupidly to someone else acting stupidly, that unfortunately resulted in tragedy.
It has also been reported that this entire story is solely the claim of the assailant in the case and that other witnesses - Hunter's friends who were accompanying him at the time - claim otherwise. This is widely known as the "gay panic defense" and it is used to the point of absurdity. While it is circumstantial to deny this defense, the other evidence reported in the case does suggest that this was a bullshit claim. The MPD originally treated the investigation, based on the evidence, as attempted robbery and said no hate crime, as defined by the statute, was involved.
The whole thing is suspicious from front to back, and it doesn't appear that the prosecution is going to give any light as to what evidence changed their minds. It's also unbelievable that this PoS was picked up for shoplifting recently and they threw that out if he pleaded guilty to the lesser crime.
If the only evidence for the "gay panic defense" was Hannah's claim, WHAT THE HELL made the prosecution give up? And why aren't they telling people?
Great questions that deserve answers. Doubtful that we will ever get any, though.
and it is used to the point of absurdity
What I meant to say is that it comes out usually as an absurd defense - it's a "temporary insanity" defense that stands on the idea that being put in a non-life threatening, but uncomfortable situation is enough justification to dismiss responsibility for violent reaction.
Total bullshit.
it's a "temporary insanity" defense that stands on the idea that being put in a non-life threatening, but uncomfortable situation is enough justification to dismiss responsibility for violent reaction.
this is a shockingly dismissive comment, imo. being groped against your will is an attack. period. ask any woman (or man)who has experienced this. it is frightening, dehumanizing, and unacceptable. i really hope you are not arguing that people should be allowed to advance on/force themselves on others against their will without fear of consequence.
Interesting point. If a guy grabbed a woman's boobie, and she maced him, and he tripped and hit his head-should she be charged with murder?
Again, this assumes that there was any groping involved, which was never proven.
Interesting point. If a guy grabbed a woman's boobie, and she maced him, and he tripped and hit his head-should she be charged with murder?
I've met AIG execs who've paid thousands of dollars an hour to act out this very fetish. Why do you think their bonuses are so high?
Despite all the "hate crime" screaming at the beginning, they couldn't get any of his friends to swear to that in court.
Simply not believable.
This happened right outside Be Bar, a known gay bar. The now-dead guy was approached by three local youths who demanded money.
Apparently everyone involved agrees on that.
There's simply no way that given that scenario a gay man would then proceed to grope one of his attackers.
I've been to more gay bars in crappy areas than most people, and I guarantee you that it just doesn't happen that way.
There's a lot we don't know here, but it's definitely not beyond the point of possibility that race, class, and sexuality issues were more important than facts or justice for this particular grand jury.
Of course, it's also just as likely that the prosecution or police fucked it up, given the local police track record in dealing with crime generally.
But, again, simply no way this guy decided half-way through a demand for $$ that he'd turn it around by groping his attacker.
Witnesses backed off the "demanded money" part as far as I remember. The problem is that cops could not find anyone to swear to what happened after the initial reports.
Yes, a huge part of the problem was that witnesses contradicted themselves and the prosecutors lost confidence in their ability to be credible on the stand.
Most likely the gay witnesses were confronted with the online gay chat profiles and they lost credibility instantly.
Does anyone have an actual good summary of what allegedly did and didn't happen? For instance, where did it start, under what circumstance, where did it end, etc?
Your speculation is wrong.
Which speculation is that?
That:
"Most likely the gay witnesses were confronted with the online gay chat profiles and they lost credibility instantly."
The GLLU handled this.
Sheesh. It was a joke. Sortof an 'AOL inches' thing.
Sorry, I missed it. I become humorless when it comes to these issues.
FWIW, he fell at 8th and N, in front of a since-closed used car lot, a Catholic church, and the convention center, not in front of BeBar.
Hey, you guys need to read the whole article before jumping to conclusions!
He also got a $50 fine!
Now if that's not fair punishment for killing someone, I don't know what would be.
Also, he did not get 6 mo. for killing him. It was for assault. Hunter punched him, and he fell to the ground after one punch and hit his head. Before you start flaming, there is a legal distinction. If you rob someone at gun point and the gun accidentally goes off, you are guilty of murder because you should have known that your actions could have led to someone being killed. Same thing if you whack someone with a pipe. But, for better or worse, throwing a punch does not qualify.
Before you start flaming...
What say you, commentariat? Inappropriate pun or harmless synonym for ranting?
Hah. it was purely an unintentional troll.
And how come these "friends" who say it was an unprovoked attack, and the ones who say he groped him were not able to testify to that to the police?
I don't think either story is true.
I think that any way you cut it, this Hannah fellow has committed either the crime of voluntary manslaughter or 2nd-degree murder.
Under a very common legal analysis - the 'but-for' test - the victim would be alive 'but for' the actions of the defendant. If you punch someone and they fall, resulting in death, you are guilty for that death.
Now, you could always try to assert self defense, but self defense must be reasonable in light of the assault, and proportionate to the harm done.
If someone grabs your ass and you turn around and clock them in the jaw, most prosecutors would call that assault and battery. Simply, someone grabbing your ass might be offensive (and a crime), but it generally does not merit retaliatory physical harm against the other person. Or, if it does merit a physical response, that response must be relative to the harm done. The proper thing to do if someone gropes you is to call the police.
I don't know all the facts of this case and unfortunately we probably never will, because the grand jury didn't have the balls to charge the defendant with any real offenses. Whether it was simply apathy or homophobia that led to the reduction in charges, I don't know.
I don't know if D.C. is or is not a gay-friendly city - I can't speak to that. What I do know is that I've never had someone shout racial slurs at me while walking down the sidewalk in any city other than D.C. (i'm caucasian). There's definitely some ingrained back-assward thinking in this city.
I think it's a combination of anti-gay and anti-white sentiment in this town.
Basically, it's an 'anybody who isn't us' mentality.
Funny how we used to call that racism and say it was wrong.
But in DC it's largely overlooked, largely probably because of a whole giant stack of liberal white guilt.
It's all a shame, as there are so many really great examples of blacks, white, gays, latinos, pretty much everybody getting along really well in DC. But all it takes is a few examples of being called 'white boy' or 'fag' and you tend to forget the positive experiences you've had.
But I do think it's something a great many of us pretend doesn't exist, as it doesn't fit in with our liberal point of view.
This is very sad and disgusting news. I absolutely do not believe that the victim would approach a black male urban youth and grope him knowing full well that at a very minimum he would get his ass kicked for that. This news must be a terrible agony for his family and friends to find peace with this and heal.
In theory I would agree with you. However, I have done waayy worse when drunk
Can I buy you a beer?
I dunno. Let me ask my wife.
Didn't the 'groped party' end up with car keys and possessions belonging to the dead guy?
Didn't the 'groped party' end up with car keys and possessions belonging to the dead guy?
You'll have to forgive me if this turns out a little incoherent and ranty-I'm shaking with rage.
I am sickened by this. Horrified. I can't imagine how this homophobic defense with lack of evidence leads to this terrible breach of justice. And as we mull over our experiences of homophobia in this city, I wonder why people are assuming one glaring detail--that the victim was black.
LGBT Hate Crimes.org writes: "Tony Randolph Hunter, a 37-year old an African American gay man, from Clinton, MD..."
And Metro Weekly even covered Hunter's vigil at the Black Family Reunion: Honoring Hunter: Friends, family, activists plan vigil..
In all of the anecdotes some of you have shared here, some of you might have come to the conclusion that 1. the people on the receiving end of this overt hatred and taunting are white males, and 2. that this is a case of black rage against these white members of the gay community taken to the physical extreme. We can all agree that the courts have failed in classifying this as a "hate crime" on the basis of sexual orientation. This has nothing to do with reverse racism, and to assume that the victim was white (and every-day victims of homophobic attacks in DC as white) renders the *shared* plight of LGBTQ people of color invisible.
Remember that there are LGBTQ men and women in the black community. I'm sure that in many other parts of the country within inner-city, low-income communities*, members feel entitled to taunt members of their own groups aggressively because it's "ok" to police them-- and they feel that they can get away with it. Cases like this confirms that. I've seen taunting like this happen whenever I went out with my black gay friends in NYC and in DC (I'm a straight-identified black woman). I've even had apologist bystanders shrug it off or laugh as if my friends "had it coming to them". I don't know where it comes from. Maybe a tenuous Christocentric view of anti-gay moralism and a misguided attempt to retain the image of the hypermasculine, heteronormative ego.
*I know the lot of us are seething with rage and want to identify the social ills that allow crimes like this to happen. However, we should make clear that the black community is not a monolith. @Stanton Park said "overt prejudice correlates with lower economic status, educational achievement, and mobility." Overt. There are outliers in these groups, LGBTQ members and sympathetic friends within and outside of low-income inner-city communities, who definitely feel that homophobia is NOT OK.
+a lot more than just 1
Your move, Hillman.
Maybe we should all stop trying to using our biases and assumptions to explain/speculate about every crime, metrobus accident, or missing dog when we don't have the facts.
Whoa, whoa. Major edit!
What I meant to say was:
"And as we mull over our experiences of homophobia in this city, I wonder why people are assuming one glaring detail--that the victim was *white*. Tony Hunter was *black.*
...."
THANK YOU Kei T. The commentariat here runs the big bad black thug vs. gay white thing into the ground. No wonder LGBQT POCs have nothing to do with these folks.