Victims of a gay bashing in June in Rochester, New York have filed a civil rights lawsuit against the Rochester police and the Monroe County Sheriff's Office. It's regarding an incident I posted about previously in which the gay bash victims allege that police let their attackers go and took them into custody instead. One woman says that one of the officers called her a “drunken dyke”.
The lawsuit claims “that responding officers showed ‘deliberate indifference' and mocked them with gay slurs,” according to the Democrat & Chronicle:
“The lawsuit — filed by Dave Greenlaw, Josh Lieberman, Megan Barrett and Christine Herrick — states that law enforcement ‘treated the plaintiff's complaints of harassment differently from other types of harassment for an extended period of time, thus failing to protect the plaintiffs.' At one point, Greenlaw called 911, complaining that police weren't doing anything. A sheriff's deputy responded, according to the lawsuit but, once told of the situation, said nothing could be done and left. One officer is identified by last name only in the lawsuit, but alternate spellings are provided and the officer's identity could not be confirmed. Christina A. Agola, attorney for the alleged victims, said her clients asked for badge numbers that morning ‘and were told, ‘Look at our car.””
The sheriff denies anyone from his office responded that night.
In mid-June, the police department appealed to the public for information on the attackers whom they had originally let go.
Said police chief David Moore: “I want to know more than anyone what happened on June 1 about 2:30 in the morning. We did have an opportunity early on to identify the individuals. … We need to go back and make that right.”
The suspects are two men and two women, thought to be in their 20's. Police have identified them but their identities have not been released, according to the D&C.
A rally to draw attention to the incident has been scheduled for 4:30 to 6:30 today at the intersection of Monroe Avenue and South Goodman Street in southeast Rochester.
You may have missed…
Rochester Police Search for Gay Bashers They Originally Let Go [tr]
Rochester, NY Police Investigated for Ignoring Gay Bashing [tr]
