You may remember the horrific gay bashing that occurred following last year's Gay Pride in San Diego in which six people were taunted and attacked by a group of men with a baseball bat and a sharp object near Balboa Park following the festival.
San Diego businessman Bob Lehman organized the patrols in response to last year's attack, the San Diego Union Tribune reports: “The group is planning to have a dozen four-person teams deployed in two areas: in Hillcrest along University Avenue, with its restaurants, bars and shops; and outside the festival's Balboa Park venue…The patrols will give suggestions on how people can avoid becoming victims of a crime, and if patrol members see criminal activity, they are prepared to call police quickly, act as witnesses and help victims.”
Members of the “Stonewall Citizens Patrol” will wear black jerseys and orange safety vests and monitor activity from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. July 20 and 21 outside the park and along University Avenue from Fifth Avenue to Park Boulevard. Lehman even bought the group an SUV in which it will roll through adjacent neighborhoods.
The men who made the vicious attacks are currently serving sentences ranging from 32 months to 11 years in prison.
