Nope...we dont need hate crime legislation

[sjbouza]

The following shouldnt be a hate crime...it was just a simple misunderstanding. No need to get to upset about it...after all it was only a "fag". I was being sarcastic btw. This article make me SICK. I hope the cops get their asses pounded in prison daily!!!

(Chicago, Illinois) A gay Chicago man has filed a federal lawsuit alleging two police officers beat and denied him his civil rights solely because of his sexuality.

Alexander Ruppert, 35, says he was beaten nearly unconscious while the cops hurled anti-gay remarks at him and then was placed in a holding cell for two days without food or water.

The lawsuit claims he was removed by the two officers from the Uptown Lounge following an altercation on March 5 and placed in a squad car.

He was not initially charged with any offence and was not handcuffed, court papers say.

The suit says that Ruppert then was driven to deserted area behind a theater where he was beaten while the officers called him a "faggot" and other derogatory remarks.

At a news conference Ruppert's attorney, Jon Erickson, said the cops stopped the beating when Ruppert told them he had AIDS.

Ruppert was then taken to an area hospital where he received 16 stitches for injuries to his face and head.

The lawsuit says that following that he was taken to the Foster Avenue police station, held for 48 hours without food or water. The court papers say that Ruppert was forced to drink from a toilet.

He was charged with resisting arrest and aggravated battery against a police officer, and held for a week in the Cook County Jail, until he could make a $50,000 bond.
Erickson said the felony charges were dropped last month after Ruppert agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge.

A spokesperson for the Cook County prosecutor told the Chicago Tribune that the felony charges had been dropped because the officers did not want to testify in court.
"It is not only a crime against an individual. It is a crime against a community," Erickson told reporters at Thursday's news conference. "This was a hate crime disguised as police work."

The lawsuit names officers Vincent Torres and Kent Pemberton and the City of Chicago.

Spokespersons for the Chicago Police Department and the City said they have not seen the lawsuit and did not want to comment.

Torres and Pemberton remain on duty.

©365Gay.com 2007

[Progo35]

How is the hate crime legislation coming along? any new developments?

[antonyh]

How is the hate crime legislation coming along? any new developments?

All is quiet on Capitol Hill.

Latest Major Action: 4/12/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:S.1105:

[antonyh]

The following shouldnt be a hate crime...it was just a simple misunderstanding. No need to get to upset about it...after all it was only a "fag". I was being sarcastic btw. This article make me SICK. I hope the cops get their asses pounded in prison daily!!!

(Chicago, Illinois) A gay Chicago man has filed a federal lawsuit alleging two police officers beat and denied him his civil rights solely because of his sexuality.

Alexander Ruppert, 35, says he was beaten nearly unconscious while the cops hurled anti-gay remarks at him and then was placed in a holding cell for two days without food or water.

The lawsuit claims he was removed by the two officers from the Uptown Lounge following an altercation on March 5 and placed in a squad car.

He was not initially charged with any offence and was not handcuffed, court papers say.

The suit says that Ruppert then was driven to deserted area behind a theater where he was beaten while the officers called him a "faggot" and other derogatory remarks.

At a news conference Ruppert's attorney, Jon Erickson, said the cops stopped the beating when Ruppert told them he had AIDS.

Ruppert was then taken to an area hospital where he received 16 stitches for injuries to his face and head.

The lawsuit says that following that he was taken to the Foster Avenue police station, held for 48 hours without food or water. The court papers say that Ruppert was forced to drink from a toilet.

He was charged with resisting arrest and aggravated battery against a police officer, and held for a week in the Cook County Jail, until he could make a $50,000 bond.
Erickson said the felony charges were dropped last month after Ruppert agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge.

A spokesperson for the Cook County prosecutor told the Chicago Tribune that the felony charges had been dropped because the officers did not want to testify in court.
"It is not only a crime against an individual. It is a crime against a community," Erickson told reporters at Thursday's news conference. "This was a hate crime disguised as police work."

The lawsuit names officers Vincent Torres and Kent Pemberton and the City of Chicago.

Spokespersons for the Chicago Police Department and the City said they have not seen the lawsuit and did not want to comment.

Torres and Pemberton remain on duty.

©365Gay.com 2007

I just obtained the Civil Complaint against the Chicago Police. Here are the allegations in the civil action:

Hatecrimesbill.org has obtained the Civil Complaint filed against Defendants, Chicago Police Officers Vincent Torres (Star #9532) and Kent Pemberton (Star #10535) and the City of Chicago. The civil action is brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. Sections 1981 and 1983 to redress deprivation under color of law of Ruppert's rights as secured by the Constitution of the United States. Ruppert alleges that Defendants, acting under the color of law, engaged in a hate crime by unlawfully battering and assaulting Ruppert with excessive force.

Background Facts:

8. On the evening of March 5, 2006, at approximately 10:30 p.m., Ruppert, a gay man with HIV/AIDS who weighs about 120 pounds went to the Uptown Lounge, near Lawrence and Broadway in Chicago.

9. Wearing a pink shirt, Ruppert arrived at the lounge and ordered a drink. Shortly after Ruppert arrived, Defendants, Officers Torres and Pemberton, arrived at the lounge, and asked Ruppert to step outside with them and Ruppert complied with Defendants' request.

10. Defendants then escorted Ruppert from the premises for reasons unknown to Ruppert. Ruppert was not placed under arrest, but was placed in the back of Defendants' squad car -- un-cuffed and unrestrained. While in the back of the car, Ruppert received a phone call from his life-partner, who was at home, about five blocks away.

11. Ruppert had a phone conversation with his partner. The call was disconnected, and Ruppert's partner called back. Ruppert answered this second call but did not speak. A few seconds after the call was connected, his partner could hear the officers using various derogatory terms in reference to Ruppert, then the phone shut off.

12. After telling Ruppert to shut off the phone, Defendants drove Ruppert around the corner, and about a block north on Broadway Street.

13. At this time, the defendants stopped the squad car and pulled Ruppert from the car by his hair, while cursing at Ruppert and making vulgar comments referring to his sexual orientation.

14. During this time, the defendants beat Ruppert about his face and head with their fists, causing wounds and bleeding. Defendants continued to viscously beat Ruppert while calling him various names.

15. Defendants then threw Ruppert back into the back of the squad car, again un-cuffed, apparently with the intention of dropping him off. Just before Ruppert was tossed out of the car, he pleaded for medical attention because he was HIV-positive.

16. Only after Ruppert revealed his HIV positive status did one of the officers call an ambulance which took Ruppert to Weiss Memorial Hospital, where Ruppert received sixteen (16) stitches under his left eye and treatment for a wound on the back of his head. The beating also resulted in multiple facial bruises, and multiple lacerations and abrasions throughout Ruppert's face and body.

17. While Ruppert was at the hospital two detectives came by and questioned him, and he explained that the officers' beating of him was motivated by his sexual orientation.

18. At this point, in an apparent attempt to cover-up the vicious beating administered to Ruppert, Defendant Officers swore out various false police reports as well as false complaints resulting in various felony charges against Ruppert including multiple counts of aggravated battery against police officers. One injury reported by the officers was to the knuckle of the hand that the officer made into a fist to attack Ruppert. Both Defendants are large men weighing more than twice what Ruppert weights.

19. After receiving treatment, Ruppert was taken to the 20th District Chicago Police station and held for more than two days without food or water before being transferred to Cook County Jail at 26th and California. While at 20th District lockup, in order to survive and quench his thirst, Ruppert drank the water from the toilet.

20. Ruppert remained at Cook County Jail for an additional eight days until March 15, 2006 when Ruppert was released on a $50,000 bond.

21. The felony charges against Ruppert were dropped in May of 2007.

You can download the Civil Action here:
http://www.hatecrimesbill.org/2007/06/alexander_ruppe_1.html

[tdogg]

There is no way a rational thinking person could be against hate crimes law when things like this have happened and are happening all too often.

These are law enforcement officials, and should receive extra punishment considering the trust they are asking citizens like us to place in them. This poor gentleman has to live with this experience for the rest of his life. Should something else happen, I would venture to say the police might be the last ones he would call.

[antonyh]

There is no way a rational thinking person could be against hate crimes law when things like this have happened and are happening all too often.

These are law enforcement officials, and should receive extra punishment considering the trust they are asking citizens like us to place in them. This poor gentleman has to live with this experience for the rest of his life. Should something else happen, I would venture to say the police might be the last ones he would call.

I get alerts for about 10 new blogs a day posting hysterically about how this is a "thought crimes bill". I just got off the phone with a friend from the past who is a conservative Christian and he to fears that this bill will take away religious freedom. I don't believe for a minute that Christians are irrational people. They are being lied to by well funded organizations like the American Family Association. If there was some way we could actually get them to read the bill and spend time with the victim's stories, the outcome would be very different.

There are some hopeful bloggers in the sludge that is the conservative Christian blogosphere:

http://www.thinkchristian.net/index.php/2007/06/15/wildmons-wild-claim/

[ladyinred]

"(Chicago, Illinois) A gay Chicago man has filed a federal lawsuit alleging two police officers beat and denied him his civil rights solely because of his sexuality.

Alexander Ruppert, 35, says he was beaten nearly unconscious while the cops hurled anti-gay remarks at him and then was placed in a holding cell for two days without food or water.

The lawsuit claims he was removed by the two officers from the Uptown Lounge following an altercation on March 5 and placed in a squad car."

Now if they arrested him because of an altercation, I would undestand that he probably broke the law.. But the officers did not have a justified reason to beat him up because he is gay,this was where they overstepped their boundaries in arresting him.

They do not according to the constitution have the right to abuse or mistreat him as a result of the arrest based on his sexual orientation.If they had acted with respect for the law no one would be yelling "homophobic" if the man was arrested for breaking the law and creating a disturbance,but their treatment as a result of beating and abusing him breaks the law.

Sadly a lawsuit is probably what is needed to bring this ugly affair to awareness and recognize the need for hate crime legislation. The religious right can scream all lthey want, but there is no justification or jurisdiction for a person taking matters and the law into his own hands without due process of the law. (they obstruct justice) The courts handle that.

[Progo35]

What happened to Rupert should be attempted murder. People can die from not having water for two days, especially if they are sick. I hope that those police officers get at least twenty years in jail and a one million dollar suit for what they did. You know what? Sometimes I think that we hear about these things so often that we think that they are under control or that they are being blown out of proportion. By listening to each other, however, we become aware.

[sjbouza]

Progo35 you are correct about dying without water. It is called the rule of 3's. 3 minutes without air, 3 days without water, and 3 weeks without food and you can die. It isnt a hard and fast rule, but it is very close.

I agree with the others that have stated that the punishment for these officers should be severe. Even if there were prior altercations with this gentleman, it still gives them no right to beat him. If an individual was to do this to an officer of the law then the punishment would be more severe than if you did it to joe blow on the street. I think it should be the same in the reverse. If an officer of the law breaks the law they should be subject to double the punishment than any civilian. They are suppose to be the ones that "serve and protect". Well, if that is the way the Chicago PD serves and protects then I feel for you all in Chicago.

To all of you that think that hate crimes legislation is a waste of time. I seriously question your heart. Yes, crime is crime. However, when someone purposely goes out to "bash a fag", then it goes beyond a typical run of the mill crime. It is enters an entirely different level. It needs to be dealt with on an entirely differnt level. Especially, when it is the ones that are suppose to be protecting us from the criminals that are themselves the criminals.

[Progo35]

Yes-and this legislation also covers those with disabilities, an unrecognized hate crime category up till date. It's very disturbing that all the talk I've heard from those in my religious community center around the gay issue exclusively as percieved thought legislation-although, to be far, there ARE some on the left that are advocating the bill as one that WOULD make it a hate crime to say that homosexuality is a sin, which would be thought/speech legislation, and I really don't understand why such individuals would present the law as such, but anyway, no one I know has expressed any Christian concern about how the law benefits the disabled-just how it might threaten them.

[Emproph]

This is in direct regard to the original story here, and I'm not sure what to make of it yet, but I wanted to mention it.

From The Advocate (http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid48464.asp):
The motion, filed by attorneys for the city, states that gays as a group are not included under the 14th Amendment, the Constitution's equal protection clause.

Also, and originally,

From Chicago Free Press.com (http://s22036.gridserver.com/node/255):But the City’s attorneys, in a motion filed in U.S. District Court, argue that Ruppert can’t claim that he was denied equal protection under the law, as he is doing, because gays aren’t covered under the Constitution’s equal protection clause.

[u-dog]

This is in direct regard to the original story here, and I'm not sure what to make of it yet, but I wanted to mention it.

From The Advocate (http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid48464.asp):


Also, and originally,

From Chicago Free Press.com (http://s22036.gridserver.com/node/255):

Patrick,

Isn't this actually a GOOD thing? doesn't SOME attorney have to argue this in order for a judge to have an opportunity to rule that we ARE covered by the 14th amendment?

[sailaway58]

I don't know what to say. The crap never stops. I don't know what I think about hate crime bills but this story is unbelievable.
Is this what it feels like when someone says they love the sinner but hate the sin? If we can't preach it out of you we will beat it out of you.
This is almost too much for me to process today.

[andrewlittle]

The 1st article of the 14th amendment reads:
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Assuming LGBTs are born or naturalized in the U.S., they are citizens. The only way to deny equal protection under the laws is to challenge the concept of LGBT as persons.

The other sections of the amendment deal variously with the right to vote, the right to seek office, the invalidity of financial claims for restitution by prior holders of emancipated slaves, and the ability of the government to pass laws to enforce the amendment.

If one argued that LGBT are not allowed some or all of these other privileges because they are "criminals" or "rebels", a case could be made (ridiculous, I know, but bear with me) that they do not have the right to vote or run for office. This, however, still would not annul their right to equal protection under the law.

Even under the old, archaic laws of certain states in which being homosexual was criminal, the status of "being a criminal" did not reduce people to "non-persons". And the only way that I can see to deny equal protection is to remove LGBT from the class of "persons."

The filing by the city's attorney must have been rife with imaginative contortions if the defense needed additional time to respond.

It is unthinkable to me that any jurisdiction anywhere in the United States would even consider an argument that any human being did not deserve the title "person." Are they making the argument that it applied only to former African slaves, and therefore LGBT still have some fraction of personhood? Are LGBT still like 2/3 persons, or something.

The city attorney's filing has to open all kinds of doors for class action suits, I would think.

[tpdncr4christ]

Why is this article and this event not plastered all over the news?!? It would make a great story for those blood thirsty media, GAY MAN GETS BEATEN AND CHARGED WITH FELONIES. Sometimes, this world makes my heart sick.

[Zerbie]

I just received a notice from a local PFLAG that a gay man was murdered here last week. Though at this point, nothing is known about the crime, so it may not be a "hate crime." But the possibility of that weighs, right now.

[tpdncr4christ]

why isn't this in the news? WHY ISN'T THIS IN THE F***ING NEWS!!!

grr... sorry, needed a little vent. I was out to the movies with a friend, she brought some of her friends and we started talking, and somehow the topic came to hate crimes and I said, "Yeah, we really need to put a stop to it." and the guy was like, "Stop what? Gay's all act like sh*t happens to them and it doesn't, gay's just want more attention." I was so incredibly infuriated that I just turned around and left. the angel wings on the back of my shirt kinda told him I was gay, and I think he felt kinda sorry, but I really didn't talk to him after that... GRRRRR some people are just so stupid

[Zerbie]

why isn't this in the news? WHY ISN'T THIS IN THE F***ING NEWS!!!

grr... sorry, needed a little vent. I was out to the movies with a friend, she brought some of her friends and we started talking, and somehow the topic came to hate crimes and I said, "Yeah, we really need to put a stop to it." and the guy was like, "Stop what? Gay's all act like sh*t happens to them and it doesn't, gay's just want more attention." I was so incredibly infuriated that I just turned around and left. the angel wings on the back of my shirt kinda told him I was gay, and I think he felt kinda sorry, but I really didn't talk to him after that... GRRRRR some people are just so stupid

:mad: I would have been angry too!

Otoh, we need to tell people, since most people actually DON'T know what really happens. Guys like your friend's friend need to hear about the crimes that are committed against LGBTs while the cops turn a blind eye, about institutionally sanctioned wrongs like employment and housing discrimination. I would try to be prepared with a response in case there's a next time, so that this guy learns about the very real problems that exist.

I have a friend very supportive of the LGBT community who is supportive because she loves her friends and colleagues and that's all. I was shocked to discover that she didn't know employment discrimination is legal in our state. She was shocked to hear it EXISTED at all, and horrified. Point is, most people are NOT informed on the issues.

Yeah, how come this story isn't being covered nationally? Or have we both missed it?

Maybe some letters to the editor are in order.