Eric Unger, the student who was assaulted Saturday night at Bloomington’s Illinois State University, has spoken out to CBS Chicago.
He was beaten so badly that his jaw is currently wired shut, but he can still speak with limited enunciation.
Says Unger:
“The last thing I remember is just being blindsided by six or eight guys… Saying ‘I’m gonna beat your ass.’ Things like ‘I’ll kill you,’ like ‘You’re a fag.’… I know this is a hate crime, just because of the words that they said and just how they were saying it.”
Best of luck to Eric for a speedy recovery. There were no witnesses at the scene and police have still not decided whether to pursue it as a hate crime.
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Without any witnesses and Eric’s memory limited to simply recalling his assailants seemed to be six to eight African-American guys, it seems unlikely any of the suspects will be caught.
Mark
“recalling his assailants seemed to be six to eight African-American guys, it seems unlikely any of the suspects will be caught.”
It also is VERY unlikely if caught they’d be charged with a hate crime.
Kev C
Graduate safely. Move away from ILLinois. Get a good job. And for Christmas, donate a stocking full of coal to the Bloomington-Normal Police Dept.
JayKay
If a group of white men had done this to a black man, Eric Holder himself would be flying in to personally hunt them down and file the hate crime charges himself.
But of course this was just a pack of blacks savagely attacking a white man, so why bother? After all I’m sure they were justly lashing out at their privileged oppressors in response to the injustice of the Trayvon Martin case.
Mr. Enemabag Jones
Great work keeping up on this, Evan. And for looking into the individual we’ve discussed. I’ve been contacted by Michael McCreedy, who stated that his staff is looking into his identity. What comes of it is up to them, because it’s been made clear any action taken is kept confidential. And I seriously doubt we’ll ever see a public apology from that particular person.
If anyone knows how to contact Eric directly, please pass that info onto Evan.
Oh, ok
@JayKay: Whites are so oppressed in America, something must be done about this.
Polyboy
JayKay enjoys his “lies a lot” pills lately.
Evan Mulvihill
@Mr. Enemabag Jones: We have the IP address of the commenter. It is 98.226.216.17.
Jazpyy
Who could hurt that cute face?
cam
Poor guy, I really hope they can track down whoever did this. I would be surprised if the campus doesn’t have some security cameras somewhere that could show people coming and going.
Fox
what do they mean they have not decided wether to persue it as a hate crime?!?! Did they need him to die to take it seriously?? This is a problem all over. There needs to be zero tolerance for this crap. Hate crime, bulying or just plain assult. We put up with it so it goes on.
Mr. Enemabag Jones
@Evan Mulvihill:
That’s excellent, Evan. I’ve passed it onto Michael McCreedy. Hopefully he can figure out who this person is.
Mr. Enemabag Jones
@Evan Mulvihill:
Evan, I sent you an email with some links. Have a look and get back to me when you have a free moment. Thanks.
JayKay
@Oh, ok:
I’m glad you’ve finally opened your eyes and see the truth.
not blind
JayKay is right, and everyone knows it. If a black mob beats up a gay white man, only the “gay” part will register here. If anyone notices that this is a black on white hate crime, he or she will be gaslighted, as some here are doing to JayKay. Why is it so important to suppress some things and discuss other things? If you don’t notice the black on white beatings, does that mean they didn’t happen?
seaguy
He’s cute!
B
No. 7 · Evan Mulvihill · Queerty Editor wrote, “@Mr. Enemabag Jones: We have the IP address of the commenter. It is ….”
Guys, as a general rule, you should not publish IP addresses. This one belongs to Comcast in Illinois. The problem is that some ISPs assign the addresses dynamically, so that a user gets a different one each time he powers on his computer. An IP address coupled with a time stamp may be enough to identify someone, but an IP address alone in general is not.
Also, if they shut the culprit down (not clear what he did as the offending comment was already deleted before I read this), someone else will get that IP address. You don’t want innocent individuals blamed by naive readers.
Oh, ok
@not blind: Yes, whites are oppressed in the US. Poor babies.
Maybe one day you’ll be able to crawl out from under the thumb of blacks, but for now you’ll just have to deal with being 2nd class citizens.
Mr. Enemabag Jones
@B:
It doesn’t really matter now, as the person in question has shut down their email account, and the school made no attempt to contact him. I’m sure he will sleep well knowing that his first instinct upon hearing that another gay man had been assaulted, was to go to a gay blog, and call him names. He was quite pleased with himself, and the fact that he got away with what he did.
The idea that a person like that is in a teaching position at ISU is nauseating. For all the words written about free speech, the freedom of speech should not trump common human decency. I don’t know what they’re teaching their instructors at ISU, bur courtesy isn’t it.
JayKay
@Oh, ok:
It’s good that you’ve finally overcome your anti-white racism and see things the way they are.
Jakey
@not blind: If race wasn’t a factor in the crime itself–it beggars belief that the assailants would restrain themselves from saying racially motivated stuff in addition to the homophobic things they did say–then what relevance does it have to this case? Nothing wrong with “noticing” what race everyone was, if all you mean by that is noticing. Trying to assign some big importance to it is something else altogether. Making up imaginary cases where the races were opposite, and imagining the response as opposed to this one, is a complete waste of time and doesn’t say great things about the places your mind goes.
B
No. 18 · Mr. Enemabag Jones ·wrote, “@B: It doesn’t really matter now, as the person in question has shut down their email account, and the school made no attempt to contact him.”
You missed the point – it is not about him but about the next person who gets that particular IP address. An IP address can change when a DHCP lease expires or if the client is powered off and then asks for a new address. Some ISPs try to let customers keep the same IP address for extended time periods, but can change those suddenly on occasion (e.g., when reconfiguring their networks to adjust for changes in usage).
To put it in perspective, how would you feel if you moved into an apartment and then, afterwards, found posters saying the guy living in that apartment was a rat (because the previous tenant was a rat)?
HarlemGuy
It never ceases to come on this site to talk about and address homophobia and have to combat racism at the same time. I’m sick of this site and the trolls it attracts.
I’m out.
Mr. Enemabag Jones
@B:
I understood your point abut the IP address fine, B.
I was addressing the fact that the comment that started all this will go without any kind of repercussions. His school has clearly chosen not to investigate this, and he will not be made to answer for his comment.
mister larry
How will the recently passed Violence Against Women Act hep him? Why are so many street assaults occurring but gay activists only care about domestic violence?
mister larry
If this was an attack on a woman the police would waste no time categorizing it. Gay men are being used by feminists and used by black people. Too many angry black lesbians and black gays are out there who feel rejected who obstruct gay rights who say only a white male can commit a hate crime.
How does the recently passed Violence Against Women Act stop all these random, brutal street assaults? Why do gay men support women who will not support them?
SEXXYJAMAICAN
@mister larry: We are not angry. Some of those black lgbt’s just get tired of always coming to this bullchit site and reading junk about how homophobic black people are, pretending that black people are ONLY ones committing crimes against lgbt folk. I’ve lived in the “hood” for a long time and I have NEVER had anyone make one homophobic comment towards me. Black lgbt’s know that there is homophobia in the black community but we are also smart enough to know that all black folk even the “thugs” are not all like that. Peace Bitches