While An Idaho State Senator Warns Of A “Rash” Of Anti-Gay Hate Crimes In Boise, Few Are Being To Reported To Police

Boise police data show that attacks motivated by bias against someone’s race, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation — generally called “hate crimes” — are rare. The Idaho Statesman reports that in 2010, there were a total of seven hate crimes reported in Boise, including five listed under race, and one each listed under ethnicity and religion, but not one listed under sexual orientation reported. To date this year, there has been just one reported hate crime due to sexual orientation, Boise police data show. But the data does not reflect the reality on the street, according to Idaho State Sen. Nicole LeFavour and other members of Boise’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. LeFavour put out a warning on Twitter this week about a “horrible rash of anti-gay hate crimes.” She encouraged readers to watch out for each other and report what they see. “We’ve been hearing some of the same talk and rumours,” Boise police spokesman Chuck McClure said. “We need people to report it, so we can follow up.” That’s why Boise police put out a flier Downtown and online in August to encourage victims of hate crimes to report incidents. The flier gives the definition of a hate-motivated crime and directs those with questions to call the Police Department’s LGBT liaison. LeFavour told the Idaho Statesman she’s spoken to some but not all of those who say they’ve been recent targets of hate crime in the Boise area. She said one incident this summer involved a man who was attacked with a golf club in the parking garage adjacent to The Balcony Club, a bar known to be popular with the gay community. Boise police confirmed the golf club attack (which involved a group of three men versus two brothers) but said they found no evidence of a hate crime. The man who was clubbed suffered cuts to his head and was treated at the hospital; he did not press charges. LeFavour said hate crimes are a special type of crime because they have a chilling effect on the LGBT community. Even if the golf club incident wasn’t a hate crime, it creates fear because there have been other attacks on LBGT people in that area, she said. Boise police say the one reported case of hate crime due to sexual orientation this year wasn’t initially reported by the alleged victim, but by a third party. The incident occurred at about 2:00 am July 30 at the corner of 8th and Main streets, according to Boise police spokeswoman Lynn Hightower. It was reported August 4. The man was punched in the face by one of two men, who also yelled anti-homosexual slurs. The victim sought medical care for his injuries. The description of the suspect: a 6-foot-2 male with brown hair. The case remains open, Hightower said. Friends of the victim, who asked to be identified only as Shawn, helped the Idaho Statesman reach him at his home in Boston. Shawn said his mother reported the incident to police because he was only able to mumble in the aftermath. He said his cheekbone was broken in several places, and he’s had $45,000 in surgeries to repair it. “I now have three screws in my cheekbone, a prosthetic section of my cheek and a plate under my eye,” he said via e-mail Tuesday. “On the right side of my face, I am also going through ‘observation’ with my dentist so she can see if any of the teeth on that side are dead because I have no feeling on the lower right side of my face due to nerve damage.” Though wary of speaking publicly about these kinds of incidents in the past, some now feel they can no longer remain silent. Braden Jesser, a 22-year-old gay man, says he was a victim in two attacks Downtown Boise since mid-May. “I’ve always felt safe here,” he said this week. “I don’t feel comfortable going Downtown at night anymore.” He said the most recent incident occurred about two weeks ago, when he and a female friend were leaving The Balcony. Jesser said they were approached by three men, who made homophobic comments about the pair and the bar. As they walked by the men, one punched Jesser’s companion in the face. “The other guys jumped on me, and before I knew it, I was in a chokehold on the ground,” he said. “They hit me repeatedly. It didn’t break my nose, but it bled.” Jesser said someone from a nearby business came out to help stop the attack. Neither he nor his friend filed a police report. “I didn’t want my name out there. (My friend) is also a business owner. We both were just worried about if we reveal ourselves as gay — if it was public — it would be not appreciated,” Jesser said. “I’m out to friends and family. I don’t flaunt it around.” Jesser said he now believes it’s important for victims of hate crimes to report these incidents to the police. Boisean Tanya Carnahan said she called police when she witnessed a hate crime in Downtown Boise about 18 months ago. Carnahan, a heterosexual married mother of two, said she was out one night and saw a pair of men — including one dressed in drag — verbally taunted by a group of men on the street. “One of the biggest guys in the group turned around and started running at them (the couple),” Carnahan recalled this week. She said the man tackled the smaller man in drag from behind; he was swearing and calling the man a “faggot.” “It was horrible. It was so awful to watch someone get attacked from behind for doing absolutely nothing,” Carnahan said. “He was knocked flat on the ground.” She said she called police and ran to help the injured man. A report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics found that hate crimes are vastly underreported, and the actual number of incidents could be more than 15 times higher than FBI data indicate, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. The reasons given for the discrepancy were largely due to a lack of recording or reporting by police. FBI statistics show that there were 6,598 single-bias incidents in the U.S. in 2009, the most recent year for which data is available. The data show 18.5 percent of those incidents (more than 122,000 cases) were sexual-orientation bias. Many states have laws that provide for enhanced penalties if the motivation for the crime can be proved to have been hate or bias. Idaho’s hate crime statute — malicious harassment — covers race, color, religion, ancestry or national origin. It does not include sexual orientation. Those found guilty of this felony crime, which includes causing physical injury or destroying or defacing personal property (cross-burnings are cited as an example), face up to five years in prison. But the federal Hate Crimes Prevention Act was expanded in 2009 to include sexual orientation and gender identity, according to Justin Whatcott, assistant U.S. attorney. U.S. Attorney Wendy Olson said only a couple of cases involving sexual orientation or gender identity have been forwarded to her office for possible prosecution under the federal hate crime law. “They didn’t meet all the elements of the statute,” she said. “We have to show the offense is one that was in or affected interstate commerce.” There are a number of ways to meet that burden, including if a firearm was used, if the perpetrator crossed state lines or if the victim engaged in commercial activity. If someone yells homophobic slurs while committing a battery, does that make it a hate crime? Not necessarily, according to police. Prosecutors must prove that hate/bias was the motivation for the beating — not just something that occurred in the course of the crime. Kyann Negaard believes she was the victim of a hate crime, regardless of how the case against her attackers is disposed in the court system. The 25-year-old Ada County resident, who is a lesbian, says she and her male roommate were attacked last Wednesday night as they arrived home from shopping. When a car swept by her at high speed as she was walking to her apartment complex, she told the driver to slow down, she recalled this week. Negaard said she heard a couple yelling from their vehicle as they pulled into a parking space. She said she and her roommate continued to walk toward their building. “The lady got out and threw her purse and keys into the parking lot,” Negaard said. “She said, ‘You don’t like the fucking way I drive?’ I said, ‘All I asked you was to slow down. It’s 20 out there, not 50.’ ” “She looked at me and said, ‘I’m going to beat the living shit out of your dykey ass,’ ” said Negaard, who noted that she wears her hair very short and looks boyish. “Honestly, I don't believe the fight derived from the road rage,” Negaard said. “It wasn't until she got close to me and saw that I was a lesbian that she started to say derogatory things to me.” Negaard said the first punch her attacker landed broke her nose. “I couldn’t even defend myself. It throws you off,” she said of the punch. She said the man with the woman held her down while the woman hit and kicked her. Nicole E. Raymond, 24, and Robert James Elam, 30, were charged with aggravated battery. If convicted, they face up to 15 years in prison. Negaard was upset about the media accounts of the incident, which did not include information about homophobic slurs. She said investigators were told about the slurs. “To me, it’s a hate crime, and I don’t think that should go unnoticed,” she said. “I want the whole story told.” Ada County sheriff’s spokeswoman Andrea Dearden said no one involved or who witnessed the attack told investigators that it was motivated by Negaard’s sexual orientation. Nevertheless, LeFavour said she believes the attack was a hate crime. “They were well aware she was gay and likely felt emboldened in beating her up seeing her as a gay person as less than human,” she said, adding “Dehumanized people are easier to harm.” She has concerns about how local authorities investigate possible hate crimes. “The fact that the police are not even writing down when a victim says something is a hate crime is disturbing to me,” said LeFavour, who has heard that complaint from numerous crime victims. A hate crime can feel like double victimization, Hightower said. “Officers in the Boise Police Department recognize that victims of hate crimes often have unique needs,” she said. “The department has strict policies and training on how a suspected bias incident is responded to by patrol, detectives and victim-witness coordinators.” A group of local residents concerned about the safety of the LGBT community met with Mayor Dave Bieter’s staff last week. Boise police LGBT liaison Janet Lawler was at the meeting. “Lawler was there trying to encourage people to report things,” said Duane Quintana, who requested the meeting. “A lot of people didn’t understand the process of how it works. Would people hear and talk about it?”