Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Queens man succumbs to injuries after alleged anti-gay attack

Not again!

An 18-year-old Queens man died at Jamaica Hospital yesterday after four teenagers beat him in what police said was an anti-gay attack.

The Daily News reported four teenagers—Alex Velez, Nolis Ogando, Christopher Lozada and Luis Tabales—attacked Anthony Collao with a metal pipe outside a Woodhaven birthday party on Satuday, March 12. A judge arraigned them on Monday, March 14, on manslaughter and assault charges. And the teenagers remain held on $100,000 to $200,000 bail.

“I want to express my deepest condolences to the family and friends of Anthony Collao,” said City Council Speaker Christine Quinn in a statement. “My Council colleagues and I are saddened and disturbed by this outrageous attack. We celebrate diversity in New York City, we do not tolerate bias attacks in any neighborhood in Queens or anywhere else in our great city.”

A number of anti-LGBT hate crimes have unfortunately garnered headlines over the last couple of years. These include José Sucuzhañay’s murder on a Bushwick street corner in Dec. 2008, the near-fatal beating of Jack Price outside a College Point bodega in Oct. 2009, gay Puerto Rican teenager Jorge Steven López Mercado's brutal death in Nov. 2009. Gang members also allegedly sodomized and beat two teenagers and a man in the Bronx in October because they reportedly thought one of their recruits was gay.

Collao's death once again proves New York City is not immune to anti-LGBT hate crimes.

2 comments:

MJJM said...

These queer-bashings. I swear, guy, one day I might move to all-white NH as well. NYC is rough. (Just kidding. All my family is here. But it IS rough).

Anonymous said...

Why is the charge manslaughter for these teens, but if a cop is beaten or skilled the charge is murder???? I want someone in the legal or police world to explain this to me. Makes me angry.