Jim Roth Was Called Anti-Gay Slurs While Being Beaten, But In The OKC That Isn't A Hate Crime

I’ve tried explaining this before, but, well, in light of the police comments in this case it bears repeating:

A man is walking down the street and he is beaten and robbed at gunpoint. It’s a crime, no? And a hateful one, at that, but it isn’t a Hate Crime.But, a man walking down the street who is beaten and robbed, because he’s gay, or perceived to be gay, is hateful and a Hate crime.

It really seems quite simple, but not to the police in Oklahoma City.

See, Jim Roth, one of Oklahoma’s first openly gay politicians was assaulted by three men outside an Oklahoma City bar earlier this month; he got by with a few scrapes and bruises.

But police seem to say, even after talking to Roth, that it’s hard to classify these kinds of assaults as hate crimes, so let’s see what we have here.

According to a police report, Roth and some friends were at Grandad's bar in Oklahoma City for a birthday dinner when a man started making anti-gay comments. Roth and his party tried to ignore the comments but eventually decided to leave.

They were followed out of the bar by the man who made the comments and two of his friends, who attacked Jim Roth when he got outside. Roth told police the men yelled anti-gay comments as they punched him in the head and pushed him down.

Now, police admit that Jim Roth got into a verbal altercation with a man who had made some anti-gay comments about him, though they seem quick to add, as if it makes a difference, he wasn’t “seriously hurt”. But the fact that the men yelled anti-gay epithets as they punched and kicked Jim Roth doesn't seem of any interest to local police.

But Grandad’s posted a Facebook rant, which read, in part:

“We will not tolerate bigotry and hate. You don’t have to love everyone who walks in the door like we do but you do have to tolerate them. Gay, straight, black, white, plumber, politician, whatever… let’s just all have a drink and be cool.”

The bar owner identified the suspect to police but no arrests have been made , and yet Oklahoma City police say that they cannot classify what happened at Grandad’s hate crime. “It’s definitely an assault case Oklahoma City police Master Sgt. Gary Knight said. “That’s what we’re working is an assault.”

“Often local law enforcement is simply not equipped to deal with hate crimes,” Scott Hamilton said, with the Cimarron Alliance—a nonprofit political action group promoting LGBT issues. He said the incident is part of a growing trend, as the fight over LGBT rights gains more attention. “As minorities gain rights, there can be an increase in violence and sadly we’re seeing that in Oklahoma City.”

Makes it sound all the more like a hate crime and yet the police in Oklahoma City can’t even be bothered to arrest the man identified as one of the suspects. How can we fight hate, anywhere, if the police are sitting on their hands?

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