03/21/2007
Denver Cop Under Investigation for Ignoring Gay Bashing
Denver police officer Richard Boehnlein is under investigation for refusing to take action against a gay basher. Nima Daivari, a law student visiting the city from New York, claims the officer refused to do anything after Daivari was assaulted.
We were sent a statement from Daivari on Monday (warning, contains strong language):
So, Saturday night my cousin Janet, her boyfriend Evan, and myself were walking home from dinner in downtown Denver. We passed by a couple and the male said "Keep that faggot away from me". I said "Excuse me?" with an incredulous tone and he stepped up to me and said "Fuck you faggot, I will fuck you up" and punched me in the face.I retaliated and punched him twice in the face and put him in a headlock to keep him from hitting me again. His girlfriend then proceeded to punch me several times in the face. I couldn't let go of him, so I took several blows to the jaw, head and face as my cousin and her boyfriend tried to restrain her. Officer R. Boehnlein (and his partner) of the Denver police department arrived and physically restrained me and my two assailants. I told him I wanted to press charges, he said "No, go home".
Three times I insisted that I wanted Officer Boehnlein and his partner to arrest my attackers and to every request he said "No, go home". I told him I was a second year law student and that I know I had the right to defend myself after I was attacked. I told him that I have the right to press charges. I told him this was a hate crime. He didn't care. So we went home and cleaned me up. We then went straight to the 6th precinct of the Denver police and attempted to file a report against Officer Boehnlein. They wouldn't let me. They said I had to wait until a sergeant arrived. My cousin Janet managed to convince them to at least allow us to leave statements. We did and were told a sergeant would call us.
Sergeant Marion Penn called me at 4:00am and after I related the attack to him he said he would call me back the next day, after speaking to Boehnlein and his partner. Sunday afternoon Sergeant Penn called me back and Janet and I went into the precinct. There, Penn and another off-duty sergeant began apologizing to me for Officer Boehnlein's behavior. They then brought Boehnlein in to apologize to me and made him fill out the police report that I had requested him to fill out 20 hours earlier.For every question he asked me, I said "Well, you were there, what time do you think it was", "Well, you were there, how tall do you think he was", "Well, you were there, how bad were my injuries". Officer Boehnlein was unfazed by this. I know in his mind not only am I the faggot who got beat up, now I'm the faggot who's getting his ass in trouble.
Sergeant Penn assured me that Officer Boehnlein is going to be reprimanded and investigated and they assigned Detective Vasquez my case. He is going to go and see if there are any surveillance cameras in the area or to see if he can locate any witnesses.
While all this makes me feel a little better (as does the fact that I fucked up that homophobe and for the rest of his life he's going to know that [I] fucked up his face), the bottom line is that 1) I was randomly attacked solely because I am gay. I chose to wear white pants and a fairy necklace and thus was subjected to a physical attack and 2) Officer Boehnlein did not give a flying fuck. The asshole, who very well could have pummeled me into a pulp, (if I were someone who was unable to defend myself) was in physical police custody, a gay guy said he wanted to press charges, and instead of allowing me to press charges against him, the officers chose to release him and we all know he will never be found and never be punished.
This is precisely the reason I go ballistic on gay rights and equality. If I were a straight white man, do you, dear reader, think that I would have been attacked? Would I have been denied the right to press charges? This entire debacle is complete and utter bullshit.
From the Rocky Mountain News: "The entire incident is being investigated by the police department's internal affairs division, said Detective Virginia Quinones. According to police documents, the suspect and Daivari exchanged words before he punched Daivari in the face. Daivari, an amateur boxer, responded by punching the man twice and putting him in a headlock to restrain him. The man's girlfriend punched Daivari several times in the face before police arrived, he said. The suspect is described as a white man between 20 and 30 years old, about 6 foot, 2 inches tall and 200 pounds. He was wearing a green shirt and blue jeans."
More on this as it develops...
Gay man says police ignored hate crime on 16th Street Mall [rocky mountain news]
Posted 11:45 AM EST by Andy Towle in Colorado, Crime, Denver, Gay Slurs, Law Enforcement, News | Permalink
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Dude's doing the right thing by pressing charges. We can't have people assaulting folks on the street, gay or not. Keep after it... the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
That said, I just can't support the cornrows.
Posted by: Brian | Mar 21, 2007 12:02:24 PM
Oh, and I'm not normally one to advocate the hitting of women, but in this instance the girlfriend deserved to get clocked big time. It was mighty good of this guy to restrain himself.
Posted by: Brian | Mar 21, 2007 12:04:05 PM
Fight back! Absolutely fight back, physically and legally. Demand your rights. This matter will be taken seriously by the Denver police department because it has been reprimanded in the past for failing to investigate and prosecute crimes (including a beating resulting in death) against gays.
Brian, Why would you discredit yourself after making thoughtful comments by noting his hairstyle? Damnably and dangerously shallow. It is that type of (lack of) thinking that prompts bigots to attack gay men as perceived incapable of defending themselves.
Posted by: rudy | Mar 21, 2007 12:14:56 PM
"I fucked up that homophobe and for the rest of his life he's going to know that [I] fucked up his face"
Yes! Larry Kramer, eat your heart out.
I love this era.
Posted by: Rottin' in Denmark | Mar 21, 2007 12:14:58 PM
We really do need to start standing up for ourselves. This is a perfect example. I'm so glad he was so insistent and followed through with the police and didn't just slink home with his tail between his legs. We are stronger than the homophobes think.
Posted by: MT | Mar 21, 2007 12:18:44 PM
He might as well have been alone, judging by how helpful Janet and her boyfriend were during the smackdown.
Posted by: 000000 | Mar 21, 2007 12:19:10 PM
I'm so, so, so glad to see that gays are fighting back and leaving gay bashers with as many, if not more, bumps, cuts and bruises as they receive.
As for "hitting women", I've NEVER bought that crap about never hitting a woman under ANY circumstance. If a woman is man enough to hit me then she's man enough to get the same response that I would give a man who hit me. I've seen women beat the crap out of men who wouldn't even defend themselves and then watched as everyone laughs at the guy for getting his ass kicked by a woman. Screw that! If you want to be treated like a lady by me, then you damned well better act like one.
Posted by: Zeke | Mar 21, 2007 12:21:44 PM
What I would not do to see a video of Nima Daivari kicking this homophobe's butt on YouTube. In this day and age, someone out there must have had a camera.
Posted by: PC | Mar 21, 2007 12:23:50 PM
hmmm... for an amateur boxer, Daivari sure does have some nicely shaped eyebrows. I guess even boxers have to glam it up these days.
Posted by: JR | Mar 21, 2007 12:26:32 PM
Yeah the cornrows comment was a little superficial... I betcha most folks noticed them. Just reminded me of American tourists in the Caribbean. He didn't deserve to get his ass kicked for it, though. Just sayin. :-)
Posted by: Brian | Mar 21, 2007 12:40:19 PM
Having been physically attacked on the street twice in my life—both times without any provocation on my part [hard to believe, I know]—I too well recall the rush of emotions, the cognitive dissonance ["I've never seen this guy before but there MUST be some rational explanation for why he just clubbed me to the ground...." That has to be the only explanation of why, in this day, none of the three victims thought to take a picture of the guy and his girlfriend with their camera phones. But, I hope someone is working on a sketch of the attacker for them to distribute. Also, it's true people are creatures of habit, and, if the attacker is a local, it's highly likely that he will eventually return to the immediate area.
As for not hitting women—fuck that sexist shit. If someone attacks you—male, female, young, old, muscular or on crutches—you have every right [morally, at least] to use whatever force is necessary to stop them. Self-defense training is good, but remember what they teach women: use whatever you have as a weapon. E.g., stab them in the throat with a ballpoint pen; go for their eyes with your keys or your fingers; if male, go for their groin as if it were a door you were trying to kick down.
Making you squeamish? Skeptical? Two words: Matthew Shepard. Imagine yourself tied to that fence while some subhuman is crushing your skull like a pumpkin with the butt of his foot-long gun, pieces of bone jammed into your brain cavity; kicking you repeatedly in the groin [as the autopsy showed]; and screaming "FAGGOT FAGGOT FAGGOT!"
When someone attackes you without provocation there is only one rule: survival.
Posted by: Leland | Mar 21, 2007 12:41:29 PM
A gay basher in a headlock.
Priceless.
It reminds me of an old Eddie Murphy standup routine he did back in the 80's when he was at his most homophobic. He was advocating calling gay men on the street "faggot" but then added:
"Remember a faggot is still a man and he can kick your ass."
Posted by: mark m | Mar 21, 2007 12:47:18 PM
Surely if two straight guys were verbally insulting one another late at night on a street, we would encourage them to ignore the remarks and go their seperate ways. If one of them challenged the other, we would still encourage them to back off.
The gay guy reacted to the homophobic comments and the reaction resulted in a fight whcih would otheriwse not have taken place. Is it ok to challenge a fight if the remarks are homophobic but not if they are not homophobic? Is late at night the best time to challenge homphobia.
Am I alone in this reaction.
Posted by: Mike | Mar 21, 2007 12:48:12 PM
Classic law student reaction to the police. Ah, live and learn.
Posted by: anon | Mar 21, 2007 1:00:54 PM
I am appalled by the actions of the Denver police. It is my personal opinion that the officers involved should be fired and prosecuted for promoting hate related violence. the fact that they were so blantend in their disregard for someones civil rights and that they abused their power and public trust really angers me.
it is disgusting of those "up holders of the law" to just cast it aside. Its shameful and smears the honor of other dedicated law enforcers.
Posted by: Nick | Mar 21, 2007 1:06:58 PM
I'm glad he fought back, and think more of us shouldn't hesitate to fight back.
At the same time, I think laziness (rather than homophobia) is probably the reason the cop didn't want to file a report. It was late at night and clearly both parties were involved in a fight. Nima claims the other guy started the fight, and I'm sure the other person claimed otherwise. Suddenly this Nima character starts insisting "I'm a 2nd year law student, I know my rights!!!" ... I dunno about you, but my eyes rolled at this statement.
In any case, the cop probably figured it was just your typical late night brawl that got a little out of control. Granted, it might not be by the books, but if I were the cop in that situation, I'd be very tempted to just send both parties home to settle down. If he still felt angry enough to file the next day, so be it.
Posted by: Dan | Mar 21, 2007 1:09:14 PM
Since people are being shallow commenting on the man's appearance let me jump into the mix and say that I think he looks damn good; eyebrows, corn rows and all.
Before anyone else makes a negative comment about the man's hair and eyebrows consider for a moment that these are probably the EXACT visible characteristics that lead the homophobic asshole to make his initial comment that lead to the homophobic violence in the first place. The fact that people here make similar judgments about a man's appearance based on gender conformity biases just goes to show how deeply engrained those biases are; even within a community that should know better.
That makes it all the more satisfying when a corn rowed, eyebrow plucked man kicks the ass of a person who thinks that eyebrows and hairstyles determine masculinity OR that believes that femininity equals weakness.
I’m not normally one to support or endorse violence but I am human and I have to admit that sometimes it just feels SO good!
Posted by: Zeke | Mar 21, 2007 1:20:57 PM
If you ever wonder why 38 years after Stonewall and after millions of dollars sent to gay groups we are still second class citizens, just reread some of the blame the victim comments above.
Many of us are our own worst enemies.
Posted by: Leland | Mar 21, 2007 1:25:50 PM
Damn, Leland - what neighborhood you living in?
I hope he busts the attackers' and cops' asses (legally). If the cops can't do their jobs, they don't need to be working there (and the city needs to pay for hiring such assholes).
Gimme a fukking break with comments like: "these are probably the EXACT visible characteristics that lead the homophobic asshole to make his initial comment that lead to the homophobic violence in the first place" - WHAT-EVER!! How many guys in NYC or NNJ you see with the same hair "style"? I doubt the majority are gay.
Bad hair is bad hair. I think it's a remarkably positive thing that so many people noticed it. Maybe it will prevent such travesties in the future. ;-)
Posted by: shane | Mar 21, 2007 1:36:44 PM
Leland, I think you're overstating a bit to say other posters are "blame[ing] the victim". I think the comments about the hair and brows were meant to be funny and good-natured. I didn't read anything that said he asked for it or deserved it because of his hair or brows. Lighten up.
Posted by: br | Mar 21, 2007 1:37:03 PM
Maybe some more people need to get their asses kicked. Then they'll think twice about reducing an assault to commentary about grooming.
Posted by: 000000 | Mar 21, 2007 1:40:28 PM
Dan: He was called a faggot and then punched in the face - if that doesn't constitute a hate crime then what does?
It's fantastic that Daivari was not only able to defend himself but also teach that bigoted idiot and his low life skank a thing or two. At the very least everyone should know how to land a punch if not all out kick an ass.
The bf and I practice this scenario from time to time should anyone choose to step to step to us in like manner - I would recommend that others do the same be it a self defense class , kick boxing at the gym or just plain horsing around with friends.
As for the cornrows - Me Likes!!! especially when rocked by cute, white paint wearing, gay amateur boxers, who also happen to be second year law students who not only know their rights but are passionate about about defending them as well. Good on ya Nima - it's nice to know you're on the team (and in ny : ) ).
Posted by: Giovanni | Mar 21, 2007 1:41:58 PM
It would be great if we could combat homphobia simply through love and understanding but sometimes there's just no substitute for a good old fashioned ass-kicking.
If I was challenged by some homophobic asshole I would go absolutely ballistic!
Posted by: stevo | Mar 21, 2007 1:45:41 PM
Also, Sensei, you might want to share your boxing wisdom with cousin Janet and her seemingly defenseless boyfriend. Just sayin...
Posted by: Giovanni | Mar 21, 2007 1:48:36 PM
^Exactly. I'm having a hard time understanding how a 3 vs. 2 matchup results in one from the team of 3 getting hurt the most. That would be one cousin I'd avoid for a hell of a long time, blood or no blood.
Posted by: 000000 | Mar 21, 2007 1:53:40 PM