Despicable. Two gay men were viciously assaulted by a carload of thugs as they left an Austin, Texas bar early Sunday morning, reports the Dallas Voice.
"Bobby Beltran said he and his friend had just left Rain, a gay bar, at about 1:30 a.m. When they hugged each other goodbye on the sidewalk, some men in a passing vehicle yelled, 'Fucking faggots, stop that queer shit!' After Beltran yelled at the men to 'get out of here,' all five of them jumped out of the vehicle and attacked him and his friend. Beltran said he fought back but suffered cuts and bruises and a black eye. His friend may have suffered a broken jaw. The attackers quickly jumped back in the vehicle, which was parked in the middle of the street, and drove off.
"'I’ve never in my life been in any kind of violent situation, especially a hate crime, so it’s been pretty traumatic,' Beltran said. 'Austin is supposed to be a gay haven, especially on 4th Street. What scares me even more is that nobody even helped.'"
There were up to 30 witnesses and "none stopped to help", reports the Austin Statesman.
Unfortunately, when the police arrived, they weren't much of a help either, adds KXAN. "The attack stopped after a friend yelled the cops were coming. When they did show up, they didn't have much to say, according to the two men. 'The response was, 'Sorry guys. We'll give you a report number. We'll never catch these guys,' ' [Christopher] Ortega said."
This is at least the second high-profile anti-gay attack this year in Austin. In February, two gay men were also bashed after leaving a gay bar, also in front of witnesses.
BTW: Social psychologists call the crowd's inaction the "bystander effect" or the "Genovese Syndrome", named after the infamous 1964 case of the New York City woman stabbed to death in front of numerous witnesses. The larger the number of bystanders, the less likely someone will step forward and help a victim.
Watch KXAN and KVUE's reports AFTER THE JUMP ...
Continue reading "WATCH: 30 Witnesses Stand By as Two Gay Men Are Attacked in Austin " »







