11/24/2004
You'd Have To Be Dying for the Sheriffs To Come Here
On November 7, two gay men were assaulted in front of The Abbey in West Hollywood while 100 or more people looked on and did nothing. One of the three attackers yelled "You fuckin' faggots make me sick. I ought to punch you in your fuckin' mouth, you pussy," before assaulting the victims.
Despite all the witnesses, nobody got a license number, called the police, or came to the aid of the victims. Equally disturbing is that once they were at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center the victims requested that the hospital call the police, and were told, "You'd have to be dying for the sheriffs to come here."
"Detective Sgt. Neill Murchison of the West Hollywood Sheriff's Station told Frontiers that, while they are calling the incident an assault and battery and vandalism, they have not yet determined it to be a hate crime, as certain conditions have to be met."
Posted 3:54 PM EST by Andy Towle in Los Angeles | Permalink
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I can't believe no one did anything! Why?!
Posted by: bmw | Nov 24, 2004 4:28:51 PM
It's infuriating that nobody came to the aid of those attacked. Even if you can’t be a good witness and collect a good description of the thugs – and if you won’t pull out your cell phone to call the Sheriff’s Dept – at least help out the ones that got attacked.
I have as much anger for those who didn’t help as I do for the attackers.
Posted by: RB in WeHo | Nov 24, 2004 4:56:27 PM
Fuck their stupidity!
Posted by: dan | Nov 24, 2004 5:12:03 PM
This sickens me. Where was the security team at the Abby?? Why didn't THEY call the police?
You'd think with all the cash they make from us with their $10 cocktails that they'd at least make a show of trying to help.
I say boycott the Abby until they offer some sort of explanation.
Posted by: cafegogo | Nov 24, 2004 5:20:21 PM
This is INFURIATING! I cannot believe that no one even got the number or took a pic of the car/license. I'm sure everyone was probably too drunk at closing time but even my WATCH has a camera on it! There are options, people!
And the rule that internal Abbey security cannot intervene off premises is logical, if not incredibly unfortunate. I concur with the notion of external guards for the area. It is a sad reminder of the state of affairs when we realize that, even in the most accepting of locations, there are still hate crimes -ones that are poo-poo'd by those that "serve and protect" .
Considering that I am short and thin, but would've still tried to do something makes me all the more confused.
It's not love nor the lack of it; not rules nor the lack of them; not intelligence nor justice nor the lack of either that drives society apart... it's apathy. A change in the world around us requires a desire to act empathetically. It saddens me that this failed -as it saddens me that it fails all ove the U.S, but HERE... At the ABBEY... I would've expected more.
Posted by: M@ | Nov 24, 2004 6:53:27 PM
hello andy... enjoy visiting your site once again. if this event happened, it's a shame. i'd viewed similar apathy in los angeles in relation to events while i was there last year, but nothing was physically violent. an event in phoenix a few weeks ago also raised the issue of something hateful in destruction of personal space and property. i've found the people i know in this area aren't really interested either. the television or other media suck them in to the point of inability to deal with an engaged discussion. a shame....i'm sorry that this happened to them.
hope your your brief holiday was restful.
Posted by: RRR | Nov 26, 2004 9:03:40 PM
It has always galled me how socially gay guys are exactly as that homophobe expected. They seem to accept being bashed as their lot in life, too wimpy to fight back. 100 people and nobody did anything -- not because they didnt' understand what was going on, but because they might have broken a nail or gotten hurt.
I don't consider what I do in such sitations to be heroic... just human. They've happened before. Anybody remember the Pink Panther era (NOT the depiction on Queer As Folk)? We really do need to be bashing back. Yet time and time again I hear and see evidence of such scenarios. Even in numbers, you guys won't act. What WILL you fight for, if not in defense of yourselves?
Posted by: JT | Oct 3, 2008 8:33:19 AM