10/24/2007
Catholic Leader Acquitted of Assault on Gay Marriage Supporter
Catching up on some news that broke yesterday, last December I posted about an incident in Worcester, Massachusetts where VoteOnMarriage.org was holding a rally against same-sex marriage. Sarah Loy was there to protest the event. Catholic Citizenship group executive director Larry Cirignano left the podium while he was speaking to assault her.
According to the Worcester Telegram, Cirignano "grabbed her by both shoulders and told her, 'You need to get out. You need to get out of here right now.' Mr. Cirignano then pushed her to the ground, her head slamming against the concrete sidewalk...Ms. Loy was holding a sign that read, 'No discrimination in the Constitution' and counter-demonstrators were chanting, 'You lost, go home, get over it,' when she was pushed to the ground. Afterward, Ms. Loy, in tears, arose and yelled to no one in particular, 'That’s what hate does. That’s what hate does.'"
The Patriot Ledger reports: "A jury Monday cleared Larry Cirignano, one-time executive director of Catholic Citizenship, on a charge of assault and battery. Judge David Despotopulos on Thursday tossed out a civil rights violation charge against Cirignano."
The jury reportedly decided Loy tripped and was not pushed.
Sphere: Related ContentPosted 9:26 AM EST by Andy in Catholic Church, Crime, Gay Marriage, Massachusetts, News | Permalink
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Oh look, another brain-dead douchebag judge.
Posted by: shane | Oct 24, 2007 9:30:09 AM
I bet the jurry was made up 100% of heterosexuals.
F that shit!!!
Did she have witnesses?
Posted by: jimmyboyo | Oct 24, 2007 9:49:01 AM
"Tripped", my ass.
Congrats on getting off scott free, but you know what, Larry? Sarah knows what you did, you know what you did, and more importantly, God knows what you did.
To quote Bea Arthur, "God's gonna get you for that... "
Posted by: Brian | Oct 24, 2007 9:53:23 AM
I wonder how many catholics on the jurry..a quick internet search shows that Massachusetts is the leading Catholic state in the nation. Largest catholic population, greatest catholic church influence, etc
Posted by: jimmyboyo | Oct 24, 2007 9:54:31 AM
Another good moment in Christian history when a church representative is seen pushing around a woman. What a coward.
Posted by: Bill | Oct 24, 2007 10:47:05 AM
Every time I see that photo of Sarah Loy in tears I am simultaneously touched beyond words and infuriated about what happened to her. What a great dame. I hope she knows how much we appreciate her taking a punch for all of us.
Posted by: Turtle | Oct 24, 2007 11:08:38 AM
The entire history of the Catholic church is about pushing women around!
Posted by: David Ehrenstein | Oct 24, 2007 12:24:45 PM
i can't see why they acquitted him of the charges. everyone should know she didn't trip.
Posted by: kali | Oct 24, 2007 12:51:32 PM
This would have been better handled as a civil tort. There must have been several eyewitnesses though.
Posted by: anon (gmail.com) | Oct 24, 2007 1:08:43 PM
A key niggle is that the link above to the Patriot Ledger item is a day off. The correct URL has 10/23, as in:
http://ledger.southofboston.com/articles/2007/10/23/news/news06.txt
Posted by: massmarrier | Oct 24, 2007 1:40:12 PM
Cirignano's side has a lengthy account of the trial (see here) which basically says that the the only credible eyewitness evidence was that of a 13 year old girl who testified that Loy tripped over her foot after Cirignano walked away. It also notes that the judge threw out the civil rights charges before the case went to the jury, on the ground that Loy had no right to disrupt a lawful event. If any of you has a transcript of the trial, you should read it carefully and try to make the case why the evidence demonstrated beyond a reasonable doubt that Cirignano was guilty, and why the judge commited legal error in throwing out the civil rights charges. (Note: Simply wishing the facts supported your side isn't a substitute for a careful analysis of the case).
Posted by: The Raving Atheist | Oct 24, 2007 4:47:15 PM
I live in Worcester, MA and this particular verdict doesn't surprise me. When a friend of mine was gay bashed here 2 years ago outside one of the gay bars, we called 911 5 times and NO ONE EVER CAME. This city could care less about the gay community and this verdict just gives me even more reason to believe so.
Posted by: Rick Thomas | Oct 24, 2007 7:42:32 PM
I was at the event back in December in Worcester in which Larry allegedly pushed Loy. As a matter of fact, I had been at all of the "Rallies for Democracy" help by his affiliates around that tim, this was the last one. There was ALOT of confusion around who reserved what space, and the police were of no help what so ever.
But there was something different that day. Ambassador to the Vatican Ray Flynn was going to speak and the event sponsors wanted the venue to be peaceful, quiet and in a Potemkin mode for Flynn. I have never been at a rally like this where I was "shooshed" and told to be quiet, I was actually grabbed in the chest and told to leave. And a BayWindows photographer was also "touched" and told to leave. The police did nothing to diffuse any of the situation.
What happened to Loy that day was a result of the Potemkin climate, but that being said, Cirignano had no right to "escort" her or touch her. Can you imagine if at one of our LGBT rallies one of our leaders "escorting" an anti-gay out of the area in which we were protesting?
Posted by: KnowThyNeighbor | Oct 25, 2007 9:40:29 AM