Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 6, 1998)
8 J“ ** novamber 6 .1 9 9 8 Homestead Stove Co. íT iT T T l n ew s B e a u t i f u l h e a t, w i t h o u t e l e c t r i c i t y . . . s i n c e 1977. We make housecalls. U nder I nvestigation • Free In-Home Estimates W itn e ss of a possible gay bashing is frustrated • Advice and Full Service From Hearth Experts w ith police bureau's 'standard operating procedures' by Patrick Collins • Full Installation • Gas, Wood & Pellet Stoves & Fireplaces • Custom Mantles to Complement Your Home 503-282-3615 360-256-2465 The Valor Ultra Gas Fireplace Insert 2729 NE BRO ADW AY, PORTLAND W W W H O M E S T E A D S T O V E .C O M IN F O @ H O M E S T E A D S T O V E .C O M N ow O pen! Broadway Coffee Trader A little more than two weeks before an estimated 1,000 people would converge upon Pioneer Court house Square to mourn the death of Matthew Shepard and call for passage of federal hate crimes legislation, a wit ness says he saw another man severely beaten outside a Portland establishment in what he believes is an anti-gay incident. The alleged assault took place in the wee hours of Saturday, Oct. 3. According to eyewit ness Thomas Harvey, an African American man was beaten beyond consciousness shortly after leaving The Fox and Hounds, a bar at 217 N.W. Second Ave. The assailant, explains Harvey, had been in Larry Hobnet & Dick Levy, life partners for 29 years, announce their new partnership providing the best coffee beans, tea and candy in town! N e x t to J a v a J a n s at 2130 N E Broadway 281-3882 M -F 9:30-6 Sat 10:30-3 Gifü c3 Cardai Too! y o u n a v e t/pe s u p e r /u r n a /? p o w ,e i to a b s o r b s tr e s s con u ert i t to steam a n d re tu rn it 'h a d The sidewalk outside The Fox and Hounds to wit ere it fa m e prom. C all 5 0 3 - 6 4 3 - 5 0 0 2 fo r more inform ation about our spas and the exceptional level of service that accompanies each one. •" life has rew a rd s. W e've got one o f them. the bar that evening with another man and two women. Eric Botts, a bartender, says he also noticed the two men and two women that evening. They had apparently stopped by the haunt to sing karaoke. “I saw the black guy in here, too," Botts says, “but as far as I know there was no confrontation in the bar." It was not an indication of what was in store for the rest of the evening. As the man crossed an intersection shortly after leaving the bar, Harvey says he heard from across the street one of the assailants call the man “a nigger faggot." According to Harvey, the victim— whom Just Out was unable to contact— asked the other man to leave him alone. “The guy ran back toward Ithe victim! and punched him so hard he was knocked out cold,” Harvey says. “He didn’t even curl up in a ball. He just went down flat.” Harvey says he rushed to intervene, but by the time he got there the assailant was punching the victim in the face. He then stood up and began kicking the victim in the ribs. “By the time I got there I noticed there was blood coming out of [the man’s] ears and his nose,” Harvey says, adding the assailant’s friends “were yelling at him, but they didn’t intervene.” He says: “I threw the guy into the crowd, and they grabbed him. I went down to check [the victim’s] pulse, which was very weak, and the next thing I knew the guy comes back and starts punching me in the back of the head and start ed trying to kick [the victim] again.” Harvey says he used his own body to shield the beaten man from further blows. The assailant, he says, ran away with two of his friends; one in the group, however, remained at the scene and gave a statement to the police. Harvey says he is disappointed with how the Portland Police Bureau has han dled the incident. “They asked me if I thought it was a hate crime, and I said yes,” Harvey says. “A s soon as I said that their attitude toward me was very dismissive.” Harvey says police would not reveal the name of the assailant, nor would they allow him to read the police report. “Which makes no sense to me,” Harvey says, “since I was a witness.” Harvey also says that when the police learned the name of the assailant, an officer said, “Oh shit, it’s so-and-so,” as if they knew him. “When they realized I’d heard them say that, they told me it was time for me to go home,” Harvey says. Bureau spokesperson Cheryl Kanzler says the case is under investigation. She would not reveal the name of the suspect, saying it could compromise the probe. Kanzler did reveal that there is no reference in the police report to any racist or homophobic remarks, and thus, the case has not been tagged as a bias-related incident. Harvey and Botts, meanwhile, say the bureau has been lax in responding to them regarding the status of the case. “A n ambulance showed up and took him off and that’s the last we heard of it,” says Bents. “The police haven’t contacted the bar at all.” Harvey adds he has made numerous calls to the bureau, and that, so far, the only response he has received was from a woman who said she worked in the bias crimes unit but didn’t offer her name. Harvey adds that woman tried to convince him that the man who stayed behind and gave the police the assailant’s name was a friend of the victim, not of the attacker. “I asked him that night if he knew [the vic tim], and he said, ‘No, I’m with them,’ ” Harvey says. “I’m very upset with how the police have handled this. I feel like I’ve been given the runaround by them.” Kanzler, however, maintains the bureau is moving along on the investigation under stan dard operating procedures. “There’s no secret to what we’re doing here,” she says. “When the detective begins interview ing, they’ll gather more information.”