Watch the tape, see the hate

by Lisa Neff

But the security camera captured the crime — for three minutes two men punched and kicked Price, 49, who was on the ground for most of the assault.

And the video — first made public by WABC, a Queens ABC affiliate — may help authorities put two men in jail for assault, aggravated assault as a hate crime and aggravated harassment.

Jack Price is gay. And apparently his assailants knew that.

They encountered Price outside a neighborhood grocery, shouted anti-gay slurs at him.

The taunts picked up again as Price left the grocery to make his way to his nearby home.

Then the beating began.

Watch the tape, see the hate.

Two men chase another in the street on the blue-tinted tape. The assailants push and punch the third man to the ground. The victim tries to stand, but is held down by his attackers, who continue to punch and kick him as they hold him on the pavement.

The victim roles toward the curb, trying to protect himself, but the blows continue against his head, his stomach, his back.

With the victim lying on the ground, the two assailants appear to shout, pointing their fingers at Price’s head, then unleash more blows.

The attackers turn away, but then turn back to take something from the victim’s pockets. Robbery was not a motive

A car drives past, just a few away from the two men standing over the victim, but never slows.

More blows.

Then the attackers leave, talking with another, and the victim rises from the ground and stumbles away, out of the camera’s range.

Price suffered a broken jaw, a lacerated spleen, fractured ribs and collapsed lungs.

When the public learned of the assault, he had been placed into a medically induced coma and was breathing with the aid of a respirator at New York Hospital Queens.

On Oct. 12 — 11 years to the day after gay college student Matthew Shepard died, the victim of two men who tricked him away from a bar and savagely beat him on the outskirts of Laramie, Wyo. — New York City officials gathered to denounce the attack on Price, the LGBT community and the good people of Queens.

“I know the Queens community is outraged that hate has tainted their streets,” said New York City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn.

“This is the fourth time in 19 years that a gay man in Queens lies near death, or actually died, because he was beaten for being gay,” said Queens resident Daniel Dromm.

New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly called the assault “despicable” and vowed that the city would not tolerate the intolerance.

This week, the U.S. Senate is expected to take up a vote on a defense bill — reconciled through conference with the House — that includes, as an amendment, the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Act.

In anticipation of the Senate vote, I received press releases and action alerts from groups and lawmakers on both sides of the hate crimes issue.

Opponents and proponents of the hate crimes provision referred to the assault on Price as reason to vote up or down on the bill.

The opponents’ argument: Two men were arrested and face criminal charges. The system already works.

The proponents’ argument: Two men — Daniel Aleman and Daniel Rodriguez — were arrested and may face hate crimes charges in New York. But New York is one of only 31 states with a hate crimes law that includes sexual orientation and one of only 12 states with a hate crimes law that includes gender identity.

The proponents’ argument, which readers here probably know is the one I accept, continues: Passage of the hate crimes measure would help local authorities secure federal assistance to investigate and prosecute an anti-gay crime.

And add to the argument: Passage of the hate crimes measure would authorize the U.S. Justice Department to intervene in a bias-motivated case where local authorities refuse to act.

It is worth noting that Virginia is the home state of one of the two suspects in the Price assault.

It is worth nothing that Virginia law does not address hate crimes based on sexual orientation, nor does Virginia law does not address hate crimes based on gender identity.

Virginia is where, in April 2000, a teenager, motivated by anti-gay bias, beat another teenager with a metal pipe. Virginia is where, in a gay bar in September 2000, a gay man was killed and six others were shot. Virginia is where, in September 2002, a university student was assaulted on his way to an LGBT group meeting. Virginia is where, in May 2005, a teenager was beaten at a party because of his sexual orientation. Virginia is where, in July 2005, a church was the target of an arson attack after its national body adopted a pro-gay marriage resolution.

Virginia is where, in October 2009, we know federal hate crimes law must be expanded.

And I hope, 11 years after the Shepard murder, we know nationwide we must expand the law.