When is a gay bashing not a gay bashing?
Depending on who you ask, several gay men in Los Angeles’ tres-queer WeHo neighborhood have either been victims of a recent rash of bias attacks or the unfortunate targets of some aggressive muggers.
Speaking with KTLA 5 in L.A., a gay man named “Billy” says he was trying to catch a bus along Santa Monica Boulevard when a man appeared, shouted an anti-gay slur and beat him to the ground. Billy, who was robbed in the incident and received three stitches on his forehead, says he was clearly singled out for being gay.
On October 18, Billy Mandrick (left) was physically assaulted by a man who fit the same general description as Billy’s attacker—a six-foot-tall white male with short-cropped blond hair.
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Mandrick was leaving the Motherlode when a stranger stopped him near the intersection of Robertson and Santa Monica Boulevards and asked, “Hey faggot, what are you doing out here so late?”
Though Mandrick tried to avoid the man, he continued his approach and punched and kicked him several times. The man and an accomplice made off with Mandrick’s valuables.
The very next evening, actor Kasey Mahaffy was attacked on the way home from the store by a man who fit the same description. Mahaffey was punched three times in the throat, sending him into the street, where the attack continued. “He hit my chest, my head, my ear, my cheek, my jaw,” Mahaffay told WeHo Confidential, “and since my arms were full of groceries… I couldn’t defend myself.”
In another part of the neighborhood, Kyan Loredo (right), who works at WeHo institution Micky’s, was attacked on Fairfax Avenue and Sunset Boulevard by a different man, an African-American with a pistol. The man came up behind Loredo and told him not to turn around. 
“As I tried to turn around to look at him, he hit me on the top of the head with a gun,” Loredo told NBC L.A. “At the time I couldn’t believe it was happening to me because I’ve heard that it’s happened to several friends of mine.”
In this instance, the gunman took Loredo’s cellphone and wallet.
Apparently uthorities are hesitant to label these incidents part of a homophobia-fueled crime wave: “They don’t all appear to be a pattern of gay bashings or hate crimes,” Detective Sgt. Art Famble told WeHo News. Famble added that he wasn’t sure any of the incidents qualified as a hate crime.
And West Hollywood Mayor John Duran seems eager to sweep the whole thing under the rug. “This is what happens when people try to do investigations through social media,” Duran told reporters. “They know somebody who knows somebody. Before you know it, people say there’s a rash of gay beatings going on. It’s not true.”
If you say so, Mr. Mayor.
Kev C
Mayor Duran is probably too self-important to realize that social media can, and has been used to commit similar targetted crimes.
Two step
Maybe the Mayor needs to be reminded of the Social Media’s affect on the Arab Spring.
LaLaPlaya
The mayor of weho is too busy showing off his tits most of the time to care about anybody else. He’s a big phony baloney.
Stover
It would be kind of nice in these sad situations to read that at least the victim attempted to fight back? We need to take back the bully’s power.
Christopher Banks
Let’s see, violent muggers enter gay neighbourhood and greet people late at night with “Hey faggot, what are you doing out here so late?” before attacking them. No, not hate-motivated at all.
It may not be a trend yet, but it could easily become one. Poor, bigoted criminals see the rich, label-wearing ‘mos of West Hollywood as easy targets because we all know that gays have paper wrists and can’t fight back.
Mr. Enemabag Jones
It’s very simple–call someone a faggot, and beat them, you get charged with hate crime, and go to jail. Call someone a faggot, beat them, and rob them, and it’s a simple robbery, and you get a slap on the wrist. Criminals are not as stupid as we’d like to believe they are.
ggggb
Wow, I have to say the NYPD seemed to take these things much more seriously. I mean, they didn’t solve the crime or anything but the second it became clear it was bias related they got like very serious and like streamlined the process and kept on telling people “this is a special set of circumstances”. And then someone from the city government called and freely said that the neighborhood (Williamsburg) was the scene of some troubling statistics for New York. They didn’t try to cover it up or anything. I mean, if you hit someone and call them a faggot or hit them because they are a faggot that’s a hate crime. It’s not terribly difficult to understand.
Chuck
That part of Santa Monica Blvd is pretty much directly in front of the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station. Time to start doing your job police and protect people, especially within sight of your building!
CBRad
@Chuck: In that area, I bet if you crossed the street at the wrong time those cops will come swarming all over you, though.
Chuck
@CBRad: Exactly. This is a matter of police needing to do their job. Protect and serve.
Stupid California Laws
Unfortunately, Governor Brown recently signed a gun ban into effect, which means that law-abiding LGBT Americans living in WeHo (or anywhere else in California) are now legally disarmed sitting ducks for any anti-gay criminal who wants to beat, shoot, rape or execute us.
TASTEY GOODIES
HEY, SOMEONE IN WEHO NEEDS 2 START UP A SIN PATROL AND HAVE THEM ARMED W/ TAZERS, PEPPER SPRAY, ATTACK DOGS, AND A REAL BLACKBELT JAPANESE JU-JITSU EXPERT- NOT THAT WATERED DOWN MMA BRAZILIAN BS. OH, AND A KEMPO EXPERT AS WELL.