West Hollywood attackers sentenced Ahmar Mustikhan, Gay.com / PlanetOut Partners Network
Thursday, September 11, 2003 / 06:43 PM
SUMMARY: Two men who went on a hunting spree near West Hollywood, Los Angeles, and attacked two gay men with baseball bats and knives were sentenced to 10 and 14 years in prison after not contesting the charges.
Two men who went on a hunting spree near West Hollywood, Los Angeles, and attacked two gay men with baseball bats and knives were sentenced to 10 and 14 years in prison after not contesting the charges, the Associated Press reported.
Deputy District Attorney John Allen Ramseyer was cited by the Associated Press as saying the cases were definitely hate crimes. He said the men went to the neighborhood just east of West Hollywood on Oct. 14, 2002, looking for victims.
The two gay bashers, both in their 20s, did not contest the charges of attempted murder and hate crimes. One of them, Ever Wilfredo Rivera, received a 14-year sentence; the second, Selvin Orlando Campos, was given 10 years in prison. Both men must also pay the victims' medical bills.
In the first attack, 47-year-old Ricardo Lorenzana received a blow to the head that required 14 stitches. Moments later, the duo assaulted a 19-year-old man, who parried the baseball bat blows, but was knifed. The two attackers used anti-gay epithets during the second incident.
"The reasons for gay hate violence vary. But there is one thread in common: intolerance and hatred for LGBT people because of who they are," Christopher Labonte, deputy director for legislation at the Human Rights Campaign, told the Gay.com/PlanetOut Partners Network from Washington D.C.
Labonte pointed out that statistics clearly show that violence targeting toward LGBT people continues to be an enormous problem in the United States. "Historically, these cases are under-reported," Labonte added.
Labonte urged better training and more federal resources to help law enforcement investigate and prosecute bias-motivated crimes. "The first priority is that Congress and the administration need to get together to enact meaningful hate crime laws," he said.
To a question about whether President Bush's statement against gay marriage may be a factor in recent hate crimes against LGBT people, Labonte said the president had in the same breath talked about respect and tolerance. "However, any discriminatory statement that dehumanizes the LGBT people adds to the problem.
"The LGBT attacker does not look upon his victim as an equal human," he concluded.
Had the case against the duo gone to trial, they could have been given life in prison.
The Oct. 14 attacks occurred very near the West Hollywood locality where gay actor Trev Broudy was beaten and robbed in September 2002 after he kissed his boyfriend goodbye.
