09/15/2008
Des Moines Teen Arrested After Anti-Gay Brick-Throwing Incident
Sander "Sam" O'Dale Johnson, a teen who threw bricks at a group of men outside Blazing Saddle, a Des Moines, Iowa gay bar, while using anti-gay slurs, has been arrested for assault with a hate crime and violation of individual rights, the Des Moines Register reports. The teen was with three others. Only Johnson could be positively identified:
"The episode Friday night was reported by three Des Moines men who were standing in the 400 block of East Grand Avenue about 10:45 p.m. when they saw four teenagers throwing bricks and knocking over planters, a police report states. The three men told the four youths to quit. The teens then whipped bricks at all three men and called them 'faggots,' a police report states. A piece of brick struck the thigh of one of the men, a 46-year-old Des Moines resident, police said. Soon after, police caught four teens a short distance away and brought the man who was struck and the other two witnesses to the scene."
Des Moines' gay community says it's time for more awareness and education.
Police suspect another incident outside the Blazing Saddle bar a week earlier may also have involved Johnson and his friends.
Posted 1:20 PM EST by Andy Towle in Crime, Gay Slurs, Iowa, News | Permalink
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I went to college in Ames. I'm guessing the bar they were at this time was the Garden. Spent many a night there. Glad to see they caught the kids doing this crap and are taking it seriously, unlike in the story posted earlier today about Denver.
Posted by: MAJeff | Sep 15, 2008 1:37:20 PM
why does it seem that these types of incidents are happening more
frequently?
Posted by: Will | Sep 15, 2008 1:43:39 PM
They're being reported as such more often, is what it is, IMO.
Cindi Wiley is right though. Education starts at home and something tells me kids loitering around bars close to midnight don't have any responsible adults in their lives.
Posted by: Shabaka | Sep 15, 2008 2:00:15 PM
Interesting, Will. I think that there's been a rise in anti-gay violence since the mid-1980s. I can't remember a year going by when I didn't hear about atleast two people being murdered because they were gay--not to mention all the incidents of gay-bashing.
Posted by: Derrick from Philly | Sep 15, 2008 2:00:24 PM
I'm glad to see they caught the guy's.
Posted by: Dawnell_do | Sep 15, 2008 2:05:51 PM
There are likely a number of things going on. (Disclaimer: I used to work as an anti-violence organizer in MN. I haven't worked in the field in a while, so take with a grain of salt...)
There is quite simply more reporting, and this is in two ways. First of all, because of various bias crime laws, police are required to track anti-gay violence more often than they used to be. Political organizing at local levels, including working with local law enforcement, means that there are more law enforcement agencies keeping track of such violence than there were in the past. Additionally, the media are taking the issue more seriously than they used to, so anti-gay violence gets reported more often as anti-gay violence. Also, queer folks are more likely to report it to the cops than they once were. Fewer people living in closets mean more people willing to report when they've been gay bashed.
There is probably also more ant-gay violence. The more gay folks come out, the more hateful folks feel the need to put us "back in our place." Additionally, there are some areas where folks will go out gay bashing, not just to hurt queers but to rob them, as they perceive gays as a privileged group; "rolling fags" for their wallets becomes a way to get keep gays down and get some cash at the same time.
I would expect gay bashing to skyrocket in California this year. The more political and media controversy there is surrounding gay issues and gay people, the more violence we tend to see. Anti-gay violence really jumped here in MA in 2004, at the height of the marriage controversy here, and that violence was most pronounced during the spring months in which the legislature was meeting in ConCon, when the political controversy was most fierce. That's something that seems to be pretty general--more news, more controversy, more gay bashings.
Posted by: MAJeff | Sep 15, 2008 2:35:14 PM
Hmmm....this one's kind of tough, actually. The fact that they called them what they did while the assault was happening makes it reasonable to consider it a hate crime; I have no problem with that.
But it is at least notable that this is different from most hate crimes for one very important reason: the assault was clearly not provoked, and possibly not carried out at all, because the perpetrators thought the victims were gay. The assault was provoked, at least, by the fact that the victims were taking the law into their own hands, for whatever reason.
Now, judging by the fact that they started yelling a gay epithet, the assault may very well have continued, or even started in the first place, because the assailants thought the victims were gay. But it remains clear that the victims did not gain the assailants' attention purely because the assailants thought the victims were gay, or coming on to them, or for any gay-related reason at all.
Regarding the epithet, unfortunately it is just as likely that they were only using that word because it's the word they use to insult everybody, including each other, especially when any weakness is perceived, such as caring so much about trouble-making youths to take the time to say something about it. If you're thinking "pussy, pansie, snitch, goody-boy", and it's already a word common to your vocabulary, it's gonna be your most effective choice in this situation.
But it doesn't mean the kids attacked them because they're gay.
Just sayin'...
Posted by: JeffRob | Sep 15, 2008 3:03:48 PM
Sorry, let me just clarify that I do realize the attack happened outside a gay bar, and that's obviously an important fact. If the kids were in the process of literally attacking the bar because it is a gay bar, then that obviously gives us a broader picture of their mindset.
If they were just knocking down random planters and throwing bricks at trees, well, kids do shit like that.
Posted by: JeffRob | Sep 15, 2008 3:09:37 PM
Thank you. Majeff.
Posted by: will | Sep 15, 2008 3:41:33 PM
These kids are f**king dumb! They hate gays so they commit a crime that will land them in a place where they're going to get f**ked in the a$$ on a daily basis. DUMB! DUMB! DUMB! Why are bigots so f**king dumb?
Posted by: Wheezy | Sep 15, 2008 9:16:26 PM
I go to the Blazing Saddle at least once during my yearly trips to Des Moines. It's come a long way - in the mid-80s, it was in a severely economically depressed part of downtown by the capitol building. Over the past several years, the area has really slowly built up culminating in many hip and trendy little shops and restaurants. The Blazing Saddle has expanded into one of the buildings next door and on the other side is another gay bar. The whole block is very gay - especially at 10:45 on a Friday night. (And now that Iowa's bars have gone smoke-free since July, a large number of their clientele are outside at any given time.)
These "kids" knew exactly where they were and what they were doing. They just didn't expect to get challenged back.
Posted by: Rey | Sep 16, 2008 12:12:36 AM
Look, guys! If you knew DSM, as it appears only SOME of you do, then you'd know and agree with REY that this is one of but a handful of gay bars in town, and if these young men just 'happened'' to be in 'that' part of town, then they KNEW what "kind" of bars (and by association, what "kind" of folks inhabit them!) Okay?! So, any discussion of this crime as "not-hate-related", per se, is pure B.S. I honestly don't get why those, who belong to our 'privileged' (sic) group of men and women, persist in dissecting the purpose behind hate crimes legislation, when that should: a) be left to the courts to decide; b) it's "our" asses this type of law is aimed at protecting; and c) if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, then it aint no chicken! Anyway, I hope and pray that none of those bloggers, who don't think this wasn't all about 'taunting' or 'hurting' others "just because they were gay" NEVER have it happen to them! They will be walking and talking like ducks just like the rest of that afterwards, TRUST ME!
Posted by: jimmy | Sep 16, 2008 6:54:05 AM
Jimmy- Duly noted.
But my point was that the definition, and therefore the strength and effectiveness of hate crimes law, is based in the fact that they are crimes perpetrated purely out of hate for gays and lesbians.
If every time a violent attack occurs, and the attacker says the word "faggot", it's considered a hate crime, then that weakens the very basis for arguing for the added punishment and jurisdiction under federal courts that hate crimes law gives us. It basically gives "hate" a new, much less serious definition.
I'm willing to admit I'm apparently wrong on this specific case. In Des Moines, IA, I realize the gayborhood is a pretty specific place, and the combination of circumstances certainly makes it clear these kids had anti-gay violence in mind.
I'm just saying that every time a kid gets his ass kicked while being called a faggot, it's not an anti-gay hate crime.
I'm sure lots will disagree...
Posted by: JeffRob | Sep 16, 2008 10:43:53 AM
Why is this not considered TERRORISM??
Posted by: Ty | Sep 16, 2008 4:08:06 PM
You should see some of the comments that local people made in regards to this incident.
http://www.livingdowntowndesmoines.com/2008/09/des-moines-residents-react-to-local-hate-crime/
Posted by: MulderDSM | Sep 16, 2008 10:57:35 PM
Ty: I think your point is spot-on. These sorts of actions against one individual are meant to threaten, intimidate, and silence a larger community.
But I would of course be one to disagree with JeffRob in that I cannot envision a scenario where a person assaulting another person while yelling "faggot" would not constitute a "hate crime" classification. And my mind can go to very absurd places.
I think a group of gay men beating the hell out of a straight guy and ironically calling him a "faggot" would still be a hate crime in my book.
Posted by: Rey | Sep 17, 2008 12:29:26 AM