Provincetown Banner Breaks The Hate Crime Story

Assault case may escalate into hate crime

PROVINCETOWN — A violent assault against a gay man a week ago may be reclassified as a hate crime.

Provincetown police are waiting for more details of the assault on Richard Hall of New Bedford, which occurred at approximately 2 a.m. Sept. 10. Hall told the Banner and Don Gorton, chair of the Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project, that he remembers leaving Spiritus Pizza early Sunday morning and seeing three young males across the street. When one of them called him a “faggot,” Hall said he responded with a derogatory remark. As he continued walking east on Commercial Street, Hall remembers being attacked before losing consciousness.

“The next thing I recall is something hitting me really hard on the back of my head. Then there is an entire memory lapse that spans maybe 12 hours,” Hall said.

According to the police report, Hall was found staggering out of the beach access path next to Bubala’s by the Bay by two men at approximately 2:30 a.m., who called police. When an officer arrived he called the rescue squad, which treated Hall at the scene. Hall then refused further medical treatment, according to the report. Police called a friend of Hall’s, who did not answer the telephone, and Hall was left with the two men while three Provincetown police officers searched the beach and surrounding area.

According to the police report, Hall made no mention to the officers of being called “faggot,” saying only that he remembered three males but could not describe them. Since then, Hall said he remembers the three were good-looking men between the ages of 17-22.

Hall believes he was knocked unconscious and dragged along the sand to the beach, which would explain the facial abrasions he suffered. His pants pockets were full of sand but his wallet with approximately $200 in it was untouched.

Hall was treated and released at a local hospital the next day in New Bedford. He went in for a second MRI Tuesday.

Acting Police Chief Warren Tobias said he did not initially treat the assault as a hate crime because Hall did not tell police about recalling the derogatory remark. In a telephone call the next day between Hall and police Officer Paul Joudrey, who responded to the call the night before, Hall did not mention the remark or offer any new descriptions of the assailants. At the end of the call, a recording of which was played for the Banner, he thanked Joudrey for his assistance at the scene.

Hall said he does not remember speaking with police either at the scene or in the follow-up phone call to Joudrey. He said he was upset that police told him there was little they could do without a description of the alleged assailants. He said he has little memory of driving home at sunrise to his home in New Bedford and criticized police for letting him leave without additional medical attention.

“I was in no condition to make any determination on my own, much less drive two hours to New Bedford,” he said.

Gorton said memory lapse is common in head injuries, particularly bias crimes.

“Please be aware that the victim suffered a serious head trauma and partial memory loss. He doesn’t remember the phone message thanking the police. He doesn’t remember driving home to New Bedford. ... Head injuries are insidious, and are characteristic of the ‘overkill’ violence presented with hate crimes,” Gorton said in an e-mail to the Banner.

Chief Tobias said the investigating officers’ hands are tied until Hall comes forward with any new information. If Hall does recall being called a “faggot,” it “changes the complexion of the incident,” Tobias said.

“It could change it to be a hate crime. But we don’t have any evidence if it’s a hate crime rather than an assault and battery,” he said. “It’s our responsibility to reach out to him and we are. But if he has new information, it’s his responsibility to call us.”

“The Provincetown police have not interviewed the victim since he recovered his full mental faculties, to the extent he has,” Gorton said. “He has no memory of what he may have told them in a state of delirium. Since they have not investigated this serious crime, of course they don’t know as much as they should. That’s my basic point.”

The last time a hate crime was reported in Provincetown was in June 2004 when a gay man was beaten outside of the Governor Bradford bar. There have been multiple complaints of hate incidents this summer, usually revolving around derogatory remarks but where no physical violence was reported.
psowers@provincetownbanner.com

Comments

[Pat Gozemba]

Congratulations to KTN. You've done it again. Become one of the reliable organizations to which LGBT people can turn to get help in trying to battle authorities who seem incapable or unwilling to get to the bottom of the story--especially when it involves gay-bashing.

With all of the well-financed LGBT organizations in Boston why does a gay man who has been beaten in Provincetown turn to KTN in Manchester-by-the-Sea? Perhaps because with KTN one can expect help and advocacy.

Thanks again. You get it that equality is not just about marriage equality. Deval Patrick said it best on June 14th--straight people and gay people won a victory for equality. You're broadening the circle of equality.

[John Hosty-Grinnell]

There are many things the police could be doing to investigate this crime. They could have interviewed the people working at Spiritus Pizza for example, which to my knowledge has not occured. They could have checked with the several web cams that are all around town to see if they caught images of the three amigos responsible for this. Little to no effort is being put into insuring the safety of GLBT people in this town, so if you are going to go there sometime soon be careful. My suggestion is that you spend your money somewhere else while the town figures out it's priorities.