You may recall an incident in June in which two men, one of whom was a worker for Equality Arizona, were assaulted outside a Pita Pit restaurant in downtown Flagstaff, Arizona following the city's “Pride in the Pines” festival. Four attackers were arrested at the time.
Now one of them, 24-year-old Travis Reiner, has been charged with one felony count of aggravated assault and misdemeanor counts of assault and disorderly conduct.
The Arizona Daily Sun reports: “According to Flagstaff police reports, two men who had attended the festival were injured early Sunday morning when they were assaulted while waiting for a taxi on the corner of San Francisco Street and Aspen Avenue. Festival events at Wheeler Park had ended Saturday evening, but many attendees moved to special event venues hosted by downtown businesses. One of the victims, who is gay, was briefly hospitalized after being knocked unconscious.”
Although anti-gay slurs were used and police called it a hate crime, “David Rozema, chief deputy Coconino County attorney said in a statement that Arizona no longer has a separate hate crime law.”
Added Rozema: “However, evidence that a crime is committed with malice due to a victim's sexual orientation (among other things) can possibly be presented at trial as motive evidence and at time of sentencing, upon conviction, to seek a stiffer sentence.”
Charges are still pending for the other three attackers.
Felony charge in alleged hate crime [arizona daily sun]
Previously
Four Arrested After Anti-Gay Assault at Flagstaff, Arizona Pride [tr]
