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Loading ...Man charged in Gay Pride hammer attacks
08.05.2008 7:35am EDT
(Vancouver, British Columbia) A Vancouver, man who police say has a history of mental illness, is facing multiple charges after nine people were hit on the head with a hammer on Sunday.
The vicious spree happened on a street crowded with revelers several hours after the annual Vancouver gay Pride Parade, which attracted hundreds of thousands of people to the area.Police say Khalid Alzghoul, 31, faces 17 charges, including assault causing bodily harm, assault with a weapon, possession of a prohibited weapon and a count of theft under $5,000.
The downtown spree began after the man fled a store without paying for some items. Police say he then went to a lounge, where he hit six people, knocking one of them unconscious. Then he went to a nearby restaurant patio, where he hit two women and a man they were with who chased him.
Most of the injured were released from hospital on Sunday night. Two people were kept overnight but police say their injuries were minor.
Const. Jana McGuinness says Alzghoul is known to police and has had “several brushes” with officers over the past couple of years.
That is not a hate crime btw. Your frontpage for this article has the fist of fury or whatever with big words “HATE CRIME” but obviously this guy has some mental issues and was hitting people randomly.
I agree from reading this story. It look like this guy just went on a spree hammering whoever he can find.
It is not likely a coincidence that he targeted gays and lesbians at a Gay Pride event. Clearly this is a hate crime. I would suggest that anybody who is motivated to attack gay people is a little crazy whether they have a documented history of mental illness or not.
I’d like to assure readers that this act of violence which took place a block from my apartment ; is an aberration. We will fight to make our streets even safer , but Vancouver is still one of the safest cities on the continent for the LGBT communities. Happy Pride to all .
Careful we are not too quick to attribute something to hate which can easily be explained by stupidity or mental illness.
Care lest we are too quick to blame on hate that which can easily be explained by stupidity and mental illness.
It is sure a sad statement on the condition of our society when it seems even in Western Civilization nobody is entirely safe and secure from people with mental health issues to homophobes who attack with brutality with no sense of conscience or human compassion. This is very tragically the second most brutal attack in Canada in less then a week, the first being the poor unfortunate kid that was stabbed and beheaded on a Greyhound Bus. I have to really wonder where our society is going, where are our values, where is our sense of human dignity, where is the responsibility for our actions?
I was there visiting from AZ ,USA that weekend and i have been coming to BC for 8 years now. This was the first time i did not fill SAFE. I was walking back to the flat when a group of str8 guys push me in the street and replied that is where you belong FAG! I did not react to them and just kepted on walking.
Wow, didn’t know about this story until I did a google on hate crime and it came up 10 pages in! Not only are stories like this buried because they happen in Canada, but by the name of the culprit, it’s not PC to mention that someone of Middle Eastern descent could be anti-gay. Unfortuantely in Canada, dissent and open debate about issues such as immigration and the consequent increase in gangs and violent crime are squashed due to Canada’s hate speech codes. It’s now considered more a crime in Canada to question the rising crime among immigrants harming gays and women than it is to harm gays and women. The Left has become so multi-culti PC it has given up its convictions. Truly sad for democracy and the West. Things are better in the USA.
it’s shocking how people in canada refuse to admit that not only is this a hate crime but a hate crime commited by yet another immigrant of arab herritage. If this guy were a mormon from utah you can bet the posters would’ve denounced the attacks as nothing less than hate crime. Canada is killing itself with silly religion of multiculturalism. Today canada’s gang problem rivals LA’s.
This man is a Jordanian and is most likely a drug addict. He lived in Montreal before where he made numerous threats towards people here. I believe he should be sent back to Jordan and put behind bars. Canada is way too soft on people who have the luxury to live in this land, yet take violent liberties in assaulting people. I am an immigrant my self and I love this country! I have been welcomed here and was encouraged to be my self regardless of cultural background. This man does not deserve to live here and as I said, send him back to Jordan before he hurts anyone else.
Well I’m surprised that this man was able to get out alive after smacking people in the head at the Gay Pride event.
I would hope that my gay brothers and sisters would come to my aid if I was being attacked by some maniac! Especially at a gay pride event!
If he was a gay basher, the crowd should have took apart limb from limb.
If it had happened in the US people would have jumped on the guy and held him to the ground until police arrived. Remember the canadian bus beheading? No one came to that poor man’s rescue either. I don’t know why canadians, with all their talk of “brotherly love” never do anything to lift a finger to help their fellow man. I suppose they are conditioned to assume the government will take care of everything.