The El Paso County Democratic Party wants Colorado Springs Mayor Steve Bach to publicly condemn an attack in which anti-gay slurs were lodged against the victims before a bloody fight ensued.
Police say the attack appears to be a hate crime.
The incident happened in the early morning hours of July 3 when a group of men who had left a gay nightclub were eating at a north-side restaurant. Police say the men were attacked by five men and two women who made several anti-gay slurs.
One of the victims had to have his jaw wired and another suffered broken bones in his face, according to the mother of one of the victims.
“We think it’s important for our mayor to stand up and say to the world, ‘No, this is not our city,’” Executive Director Christy Le Lait said today.
“We want our city officials to say Colorado Springs is not a place where hate crimes are acceptable,” she said.
The Dems plan a news conference tomorrow, probably at noon in front of City Hall.
In a statement sent to The Gazette last week, the mayor condemned the attack and also said his decision not to issue a PrideFest proclamation was not meant to endorse discrimination in Colorado Springs.
“There is no place in our city for discrimination or intolerance of any type,” Bach said in the statement.
City spokeswoman Mary Scott said the mayor’s policy is not to sign any proclamation that supports a private event that is political in nature.
(Gazette reporter Maria Sanchez-St. Louis contributed to this report.)
Figures. Condemning the attacks will make it all better, right? BS.
oh for heavens sakes! All crimes are hate crimes – is the mayor going to have to condemn every crime there is? And the next time a gay person attacks a straight person, shall the straights get together and demand that the mayor denounce that as well? Stop trying to waste the Mayor’s time!
I hope Bach is smart enough to reserve comment on this latest hate bait.
Seriously, Colorado Springs has been a hard nosed discriminating town since before I was born, Dont like deal with it and quit whining! Were proud of our discrimination its what keeps out those other people out of town and in the name of God we are going to keep our minds closed.
If we have ‘hate crimes,’ do we also have ‘love crimes?’ All crimes result from hate. I suppose the mayor opposes all crime. Why single out ‘gay’ crime and condemn it specially as ‘hate?’ Aren’t we all created equal. Crime is crime and a victim is a victim. It’s all horrible. Period.
Step one in not being a victim is to stop acting like a victim.
Here’s a newflash for Ms Le Lait: every crime is not a personal attack – let the justice system work it’s magic, and stop the political posturing.
Considering two or three of the victims were soldiers, the attackers should be handed over to the military for waterboarding.
The liberals are clowns, baiting our Mayor like this…….shamefull
What does the mayor have to do with this? I am very upset and disturbed by the crime, but how will what he says make a difference? I just don’t quite understand the motivation here.
It seems like a bad idea for a mayor to comment on any crime story until a verdict has been reached.
Amen Bill Jones. Baiting indeed.
We just had 2 COS people killed this week and terrible crimes happening daily. This is not a situation for government to be involved.
Terrible crimes happen every day but this is about attacking people, and I’m quoting CRS 18-9-121 here: “with the intent to intimidate or harass another person because of that person’s actual or perceived race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, physical or mental disability, or sexual orientation”.
It’s illegal already so no more law is needed. A resolution will not change any violent criminal’s behavior, true, and no one was asking or expecting that, but the LEAST that could be done is a simple, public, formal statement that ALL constituents will be supported in our community.