A witness that watched last week’s brutal gay-bashing in Philadelphia unfold from his third-story apartment window spoke with the media for the first time Thursday, offering even more horrific details about the ambush that put two gay boyfriends in the hospital.
Giving his first-person account to G Philly, Geoff Nagle says it was “girls screaming” that got him off the couch and over to his window. He lives on the corner of 16th & Chancellor where the attack occurred, and was perhaps the first person to call 911.
We’ve previously reported that the victims, 26 and 28-year-old boyfriends, were walking to dinner in Center City last Thursday night when a gang of 12 “well dressed” heterosexuals began taunting them with gay slurs. The confrontation led to a violent brawl between the victims and eight members of the group, two men and six women.
The victims suffered multiple facial fractures and one is now required to have his jaw wired shut for two months. On Wednesday, the archdiocese of Philadelphia announced he had fired an employee for his involvement in the attack, following a Twitter user’s swift identification of the group.
According to Nagle, the attack sounds even more terrifying than was previously reported:
What exactly did you see?
The one guy was getting very pummeled. There were some females in the middle of it. And one of the victims was in a headlock. At one point, a guy working in the FedEx shop right there started banging on the window, telling them to go away. I think he thought they were just drunk kids being loud. He probably thought nothing of it at the time.Do you have a sense of what set this off?
It seemed to me that the two larger guys were fed up with what the other guys were saying, and one of the victims was pushing one of the women away, but just a little bit. And I could also hear some slurs like “fucking faggot” and I also heard someone say “I am sick of this fucking faggot.” If you saw the victims, they were small, not as large as the two guys. And then, it happened so quickly, one of the victims is lying unconscious, bleeding from the head. There wound up being a one- to two-foot puddle of blood where he was hit and knocked unconscious. He wasn’t moving. There was a blood stain on the ground until it rained two days later.
Nagle adds that not all 12 from the group participated in the assault, and most “went on their way…when they realized how serious it was.”
As of Wednesday, several members of the group were presumed to be former Catholic school classmates. They retained lawyers and were being questioned by police. As of today — eight days after the attack and three days after the group was identified — no arrests have been made.
Once an arrest is made (which at this point, let’s face it, will depend on how much money and cop friends the assailants’ daddies have), charges will not be hate-related because Pennsylvania law only recognizes hate crimes as “motivated by race, religion and ethnicity.”
Openly gay Representative Brian Sims, who represents the Center City district where the attack occurred, has vowed to introduce legislation that would fix the discriminatory law. Currently, there is a Change.org petition that is attempting to change the law in time to bring hate crime charges agains the assailants.
It has been reported that the assailants may be pursuing a preposterous self-defense claim. Nagle, on the other hand, believes they won’t be successful:
I don’t see how it could be self-defense. There were 12 people there. The self-defense thing is a little crazy to me. It wasn’t like a guy just threw a punch to protect himself and ran away. That’s not what happened here. There were multiple punches to the one guy’s face — on both sides of his face.
Read his full account over at G Philly.
Tallskin
Seriously, there have still NOT been any arrests, despite all the pics and videos and eye witness testimony? WTF??
What kind of country are you running over there? Your police force seem to be completely out of control
Stache99
@Tallskin: It’s too bad the couple wasn’t straight and the perps black. They’d be sitting in jail just as soon as they were identified.
corey
Bet u won’t here the Catholic Church or any of its friends come out against this!!!
rickhfx
In a str8 controlled world gay people are never going to be safe or equal, str8 people are primitive and love their guns bible and violence.
michael mellor
It’s time for male homosexuality to rise up against women. Women were allegedly involved in the attack.
Cam
@michael mellor:
You know, if I didn’t know who your old screename was, your constant comments attacking women would have given you away Jim.
hephaestion
This is attempted murder. There need to be protests all over Philadelphia if at least 8 people are not arrested by Saturday. Police have had plenty of time to arrest these bastards. I predict Philadelphia will be the next Ferguson if arrests are not made pronto.
NateOcean
From the story:
“Once an arrest is made (which at this point, let’s face it, will depend on how much money and cop friends the assailants’ daddies have)…”
This single sentence packs so much information about the society we live in.
I'm Black, and HiV-positive.
Women are clearly the culprit here.
I'm Black, and HiV-positive.
@michael mellor: I don’t think gay men acknowledge just how much women are serenely behind all homophobia.
Cagnazzo82
If the perps were black there is no way the police would be waiting for them to “turn themselves in”.
What in the world?
Even if hate crimes don’t apply to gays in Pennsylvania, at least treat this like an assault. They just beat two people unconscious and sent them to the hospital, and walked off like it was nothing.
Bob LaBlah
I know this sounds sick but based on the reports about these women I can see at least one standing over one of the victims face telling him to look up and what he should be getting. These women DO come off to me as just that sick. They sound just like a gay-bashing cheer leading squad. What sluts!
sanfranca1
@corey: Please find a dictionary, and look up here and hear, and learn the difference.
gaym50ish
Even though Pennsylvania’s hate-crimes law doesn’t protect gays, can’t they be prosecuted under the federal law?
If I remember right, when the Matthew Shepard act was signed, didn’t Obama say that the feds would go after hate crimes if the states failed to prosecute them?
Saint Law
@I’m Black, and HiV-positive.: The straight men you pine for? You will never have them.
Reconcile yourself to that fact and who knows? you might even find a gay man to sleep with, you berserk little knob-hound you.
Paco
@I’m Black, and HiV-positive.: Sockpuppet
ted72
All this bickering between us, is diverting our attentions to the true importance of this situation. Homophobia still exists and there is no law against hate crimes against us in PA.
We need to stand united to overcome this bullshit!
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
As usual, a mob of subhuman pieces of thit with arms, legs, and a head stuck into it attack only when they outnumber the Gays they are attacking………..
Bunch of pathetic disgusting abhorrent closet cases…………..
Maude
@Cam:
cam, There you go again. You’re always claiming to know that the person posting is not who he says he is, but in fact is a person disguising himself as some one else who wants to disguise himself from you.
Why?
Because you are the great ‘disguise outer’ who lurks in the corners of the comments section to prevent opinions contrary to your own…and because you’re so fearsome, those with their own opinions will……. do what?
You have a mind that seems to be twisted, and out of sync with reality.
Nobody’s hiding from you or anyone else….but even if they are….who cares?
Maude
I think the whole thing about what their motive is/was is causing many to overlook, the really of the situation as just a bunch of women with shit for brains, and drunk to boot, got carried away simply because the mindless twits thought the ‘faggots wouldn’t fight back’, and when they did fight back with mare words, the
drunken sluts, lost their minds, and fell into the mentality of a lynch mob.
For which they should be punished to the fullest extent of the law.
Bauhaus
@ Maude, michael mellor, jimbryant:
You’re the one with a twisted mind.
You’re an attention whore and a sadist.
djcmt
These women need to punished to the full extent of the law. They are the root of all evil. Always are, always will be.
Bauhaus
@ Maude:
Dear Sybil,
It delights me to inform you that it is time to invent a new annoying personality, eh, screen-name. This time, please make an attempt not to attack women. By showing a little restraint, you may remain anonymous a few posts longer, unless some mean and clever sleuth outs you once again. Until then, your number one fan.
B.
Bauhaus
@ djcmt:
I agree with your first sentence. Full stop.
But the rest?
djcmt
@Bauhaus:
Absolutely the rest. Women are no longer part of my life. They don’t deserve the respect or the ground they walk on. Would you like me to go on?
jrdave
@djcmt:
This is my first time posting on this board and I would have to agree with above. I feel the same way. And I’m sure there are more of us out there that feel the same way.
Bauhaus
@ djcmt:
No, I would not like you to go on.
@ jrdave:
This is your first, and hopefully, your last post on this board.
You both need help.
rickhfx
Hey when do we start hearing all the news stories about roving gangs of gays and lesbians attacking straight men and women on the street and beating them, then gang raping them for sport out of hate? LIKE NEVER !
geoespar
I don’t get it? Why don’t the lawyers for the two victims, the mayor, or persons of authority demand that Attorney General Eric Holder appoint a federal prosecutor to investigate and press hate crimes under 18 US Code Section 249 – Hate Crimes Act:
(2) Offenses involving actual or perceived religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.—
(A) In general.— Whoever, whether or not acting under color of law, in any circumstance described in subparagraph (B) or paragraph (3), willfully causes bodily injury to any person or, through the use of fire, a firearm, a dangerous weapon, or an explosive or incendiary device, attempts to cause bodily injury to any person, because of the actual or perceived religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability of any person—
(i) shall be imprisoned not more than 10 years, fined in accordance with this title, or both; and
(ii) shall be imprisoned for any term of years or for life, fined in accordance with this title, or both, if—
(I) death results from the offense; or
(II) the offense includes kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill.
Check the Hate Crimes Act
There should be a demand issued to the Attorney General for prosecution.
frubino
Seriously, I’m starting to think you’re stupid people and the religion to which you go?
Without the shackles of those idiots who beat the alarm, because the father fuckers over church plaid in those smelly anus laws’re looking for the opposite. The police are the property so fleeting !!
onthemark
@michael mellor:
@I’m Black, and HiV-positive.:
@djcmt:
@jrdave:
Guys who learned in first grade that girls have COOTIES!!!
IcarusD
@michael mellor: Seriously???? Because SOME women were involved in the attack, somehow ALL women are to blame? What exactly do you mean by “rise up against women”? Take away their right to vote?
Bauhaus
@ geoespar:
It’s already been done.
Bauhaus
@ onthemark:
Guy, not guys. It’s same same troll with different screen-names. He’s got a few more: Maude and jimbryant. As soon as you see a comment bashing women, you know it’s him. He’s a sh*t stirring, attention seeking troll.
omacdonald
Dear friends, while I am not a proponent of violence, this is where our community needs to start carrying. I am soooo sick and tired of this. We have got to stopped getting bashed and the way I see it, if we can’t get protection from the cops, who IMHO really don’t give a crap about us, we should be arming ourselves. It is time to show that our community is not going to lie down and literally let them kick us in the teeth. We need to fight back and defend ourselves when idiots like these come to bash us.
Tackle
I’m surprised that posters cannot see that@I’m Black, and HiV-positive.: @djcmt: @jrdave: and @michael mellor: are the same person. It’s his SAME M.O., through the yrs. Posting as others, to pretend that like-minded individuals are on here/out there, all the while giving himself a pat on the back, by his imaginary supporters. Talk about a head case…
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
@Tackle: Excellent call!
Think you may have been around years ago here in Queertyland where the nutbag lunatic who portrayed himself as a cop with multiple imaginary friends would do the exact same thing……………
pressuredrop
@omacdonald:
I’m sorry, but no. Guns are not the answer and would not have improved this situation at all.
And the idea that we “as a community” need to arm ourselves is a bit alarming. You think I trust other gay men with guns anymore than some gang of hillbillies?
Bauhaus
@ omacdonald:
Jonathan Rauch wrote a provocative article for Slate, about gays arming themselves. Here it is:
One night in the autumn of 1987, in Little Rock, Ark., a boy named Austin Fulk smelled his own death. He was 17, too young to drink in the bars, so he often hung out in a park that was popular among gay teenagers. On this night the sky was overcast, the ground soggy from a day’s rain and the place mostly deserted. He was standing in a dimly lit parking lot, chatting with a man who had driven into town in a pickup truck.
A car drove past very slowly, sped up, turned around and came back. Someone inside yelled something like, “Fucking faggots, get AIDS and die!” Fulk’s companion returned the compliment. The car slammed to a stop and four young men piled out, one with a baseball bat, another with a crowbar or tire iron.
“I thought I was about to die,” says Austin; but he is alive, and that is because his companion reached into the truck and whipped out a pistol from under the seat, leveled it at the gay-bashers and fired a single shot over their heads. All at once, their courage deserted them. They ran back to their car and drove away.
Austin is one of two gay men I know who believe they were saved from death, or at least a long hospital stay, by guns. Guns, however, will play no part in the program for the gay and lesbian Millennium March that takes place April 30 in Washington. Early on, organizers of the march adopted eight “priority issues,” with “hate-crimes legislative protections” first on the list.
A federal hate-crimes statute died in the Republican Congress last year, but mainstream voters and politicians are increasingly receptive. After 21-year-old Matthew Shepard was beaten, tied to a fence post and left to die in 1998, hate-crimes laws emerged as straight America’s favorite gay-rights measure. Today almost half the states have bias-crimes laws that cover gay-bashing, and anyway, gay-bashing is already a crime in every state.
I won’t quibble over the pros and cons of hate-crimes laws. In a way, I don’t need to, because the numbers speak for themselves: the laws are at best insufficient, at worst ineffective. Anti-gay crimes reported to the FBI almost doubled between 1992 and 1998. The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs monitors 16 jurisdictions and found 33 anti-gay murders in 1998, up from 14 in 1997. The coalition also found that gay-bashers were becoming more likely to use deadly weapons: guns, baseball bats, knives. There is not a city in America where gay couples can hold hands in public without fear. Gay-bashing is a kind of low-level terrorism designed to signal that, whatever the law may say, queers are pathetic and grotesque. Beyond a certain point, therefore, law can’t be the answer.
Bauhaus
The rest of the article can be found on:
Slate.com.
hephaestion
Brian Sims needs to have a press conference to reassure us that this will be investigated and prosecuted as the attempted murder it is.
J. Bruce Wilcox
Well folks I’m new here. I post social commentary in various places- using my NAME- and I post nothing anonymously. So there is no bull. So go ahead and attack- but I attack back. I’m 61. I’ve lived in a heterosexist world since the first time I got bashed- when I was 8. I’m over it. We have to stand up and fight. Anywhere- everywhere. I have many evolved friends who are women. But in general- the female gender has some serious lack-of-equality issues. And we’ve raised another generation of princesses- who don’t want to be equal- they want to be special- and who often think men exist to serve them. And a lot of them like gay men- but far more of them dislike men who don’t NEED them. And if I had an ounce of chivalry in me somewhere in the past- observing heterosexism now and for so many years- it’s dead. So concerning this article- and the group of women involved- I think they should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law right along with the males. Put them all in prison- where they so obviously belong. Oh never-mind. Put them in a kennel.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
@J. Bruce Wilcox: JB, welcome to Queertyland!
I 100% co-sign your post. However I must disagree putting them in a kennel. That would imply they are animals. To call those sub human pieces of thit with arms, legs, and an empty cranium stuck into it an animal, is an insult to animals………….
YouGoGurl
@hephaestion: LOLOLOL Now THAT’S funny. The gay community getting off of a bar stool to protest or gather for anything other than a boozy (borderline antisocial) gay pride parade? I predict over half of the gay community doesn’t even know the who what and wheres of Ferguson.