Graffiti from reported attackThere are no words for this story that I feel obligated to report to you. The details are so nightmarish that I'm utterly depressed and hopeless for humanity. A 33-year-old woman reported to police that three masked men broke into her home in Lincoln, Nebraska, tied her up, stripped her naked, then proceeded to carve anti-gay slurs into her body as well as spray paint other insulting phrases on the walls of her home. Then they tried to set her home on fire.
The woman, whose name hasn't been released, managed to walk to a neighbor's home to get help. Her friend Erin Thompson spoke with the Omaha World-Herald and "confirmed that the victim is a lesbian and also noted that three anti-gay epithets, including the word 'dyke,' were carved on the woman’s arms and stomach."
If this truly went down the way police say it did, how disgusting is this?! This attack has to be treated as a hate crime. The fact it may be seen as anything less is simply appalling.
Of course, investigators are saying it's too early to determine whether or not it's a hate crime ... but from the details of reports/interviews, it sure as hell seems like one! How sad, pathetic, and disgusting these men must be to (allegedly) do something like this to an innocent woman.
Her neighbor opened the door to the victim, and will most likely never forget what she saw. "I was in shock," she told CNN. "She was naked, her hands were tied with zip ties. All I could see was a cut across her forehead and blood running down."
There is a small silver lining in this tragic story: A candlelight vigil in the woman’s honor at the State Capitol last Sunday night reportedly drew more than 500 people. Also, the victim was treated and released on Sunday -- but she'll obviously have the scars literally written on her body for years to come.
It shouldn't matter what your stance is on gay marriage, or whether you think homosexuals are "born that way," or what's happening right now with Chick-Fil-A. Politics and religion and all that aside, these men were allegedly sick and angry enough to carve derogatory words into a woman's skin with a knife and light her home on fire. No one should be in support of actions like these whether the victim is straight, gay, blue, purple, or whatever else.
Seriously, when will this madness end?! It makes me sad these men stooped so low and were this full of vileness, but I hope, as we learn and can confirm more about this story, that their crime is punished to the full extent of the law.
Here's more on the story:
News, Weather and Sports for Lincoln, NE; KLKNTV.com
Do you think this should be tried as a hate crime?
Image via KLKNTV.com
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Comments 12
How awful
FRY*EM!!!
I live in Lincoln. They are saying it is being treated as a hate crime now, so whoever did this horrible, senseless, cruel act, will hopefully be caught and held responsible for it. It makes me sick just thinking about what she went through and what she'll continue to go through as she tries to recover, mentally and physically.
It should not be tried as a "hate" crime because that implies that if they had carved "woman" into her skin, that wouldn't be as bad. Just because she's a member of a 'protected class' - whether she's a woman, gay, has a different color skin - doesn't make the crime any worse than if it had happened to a straight woman.
That said, they should be pinned against a wall themselves, and she should be allowed to carve "bastard" into their skin. And THEN they can throw the book at these guys, and put them in jail for life, or give them the death penalty, or whatever the punishment would be for breaking and entering, armed assault, arson, and graffiti.