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 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.
