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Tony Randolph Hunter, 37, of Clinton, Md., died last week at Howard University Hospital 10 days after police found him unconscious near BeBar (photo courtesy of Dana Fonville). Acting police Lt. Brett Parson (above) says he’s hopeful arrests will be made soon. (Blade photo by Henry Linser)
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Although the number of reported hate crimes against gays has fluctuated nationally in recent years, it has risen in D.C. The most recent FBI data also shows such numbers fluctuating in Maryland and Virginia.
In 2006, law enforcement agencies reported 1,415 hate crime offenses based on sexual orientation bias.
62.3 percent were anti-male homosexual
20.7 percent were anti-homosexual
13.6 percent were anti-female homosexual
2.0 percent were anti-heterosexual
1.5 percent were anti-bisexual
Of the 1,415 offenses, 36 were reported by D.C. police, 13 were reported by Maryland police, and 37 were reported by Virginia police.
In 2005, law enforcement agencies reported 1,171 hate crime offenses based on sexual orientation bias.
60.9 percent were anti-male homosexual
19.5 percent were anti-homosexual
15.4 percent were anti-female homosexual
2.3 percent were anti-bisexual
2.0 percent were anti-heterosexual
Of the 1,171 offenses, 30 were reported by D.C. police, 11 were reported by Maryland police, and 44 were reported by Virginia police.
In 2004, law enforcement agencies reported 1,406 hate crime offenses
based on sexual orientation bias.
60.8 percent were anti-male homosexual
21.1 percent were anti-homosexual
14.3 percent were anti-female homosexual 2.5 percent were anti-heterosexual
1.3 percent were anti-bisexual
Of the 1,406 offenses, 29 were reported by D.C. police, 19 were reported by Maryland police, and 38 were reported by Virginia police.
Additional statistics are available online at: www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/civilrights/hate.htm
Source: FBI Hate Crime Statistics reports, 2004–2006
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HOME > NEWS > LOCAL
By: LOU CHIBBARO JR COMMENTS
 
Police homicide detectives said they were “very close” this week to arresting one or more suspects in the murder of Tony Randolph Hunter, a gay Maryland man who died after he was attacked near a D.C. gay club.
Assistant D.C. Police Chief Diane Grooms said Monday before a meeting of Gays & Lesbians Opposing Violence (GLOV) that investigators were “very close to closing” the case.
Hunter died Sept. 17, 10 days after four men attacked him near BeBar.
Grooms and acting Lt. Brett Parson, director of the department’s Special Liaison Units, including the Gay & Lesbian Liaison Unit, said at the GLOV meeting that police officers stationed near the scene of the Sept. 7 attack against Hunter and his friend, Trevor Carter, saw the attackers fleeing the scene from about one block away.
Grooms and Parson said they could not disclose additional details of the investigation, but noted they were hopeful that arrests would be made soon.
As the Blade went to press Wednesday, Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Alexander Padro said two people familiar with the investigation told him police were in the process of obtaining a warrant for the arrest of one suspect that was identified by an informant.
Padro said he was told that the suspect confessed to killing Hunter, but the suspect insisted he acted in self-defense after Hunter made advances toward him.
“I’m very concerned that this guy is trying to use the gay-panic defense,” Padro said. “It’s ridiculous, and I hope the police don’t fall for that kind of nonsense.”
When questioned about the situation, police spokesperson Tracy Hughes issued a brief statement and declined further comment.
“No warrant has been issued,” she said. “However, there is a person of interest in the case. Detectives are continuing to follow up on several leads.”
Hunter, 37, of Clinton, Md., was pronounced dead at Howard University Hospital 10 days after police found him unconscious near Eighth and N streets, N.W., about a block from BeBar.
Friends said Hunter and Carter were en route to BeBar about 11:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 7, when four unidentified males jumped them seconds after Hunter and Carter got out of their car.
A preliminary police report says at least one of the attackers said, “What’s up?” before the group began swinging at Hunter and Carter, knocking both men to the ground.
The report says Carter was treated and released from a hospital for minor injuries on the night of the attack. Hunter remained in critical condition at Howard University Hospital during the days leading up to his death, according to police.
Parson told the more than 50 people that attended the GLOV meeting Monday night that the officers who took the incident’s initial report listed it as a possible anti-gay hate crime due to its proximity to BeBar, a well-known gay club.
He said investigators later withdrew the hate crime classification after determining that there was insufficient evidence of anti-gay bias and that robbery appeared to be the motive for the crime.
“Once it was reviewed by the detectives, they found no hard-and-fast evidence that it was a hate crime,” Parson said. “But this does not rule out a future decision to classify it as a hate crime.”
According to the police report, a set of car keys and $15 in cash was taken from one of the victims. Friends said the attackers took the keys and cash from Hunter.
The police report describes the attackers as four black males appearing between 19 and 22 years old, with each wearing blue jeans and a T-shirt.
The violent attack against Hunter and Carter is the seventh incident in D.C. over the past year in which a gay or transgender person was assaulted in what initially was reported as a hate crime. The other six incidents were later confirmed as hate crimes, according to police.
The first in the string of assaults was in September 2007, when police arrested three juveniles for assaulting in separate incidents a transgender woman and a gay man in Chinatown. According to police, the attackers shouted anti-gay names in both incidents.
Later that month, police reported a group of juveniles smashed the windows of the car of another gay man after shouting anti-gay names.
And in another incident that month, police arrested Georgetown University student Phillip Cooney, then 19, for allegedly assaulting a fellow student near the school’s campus while calling the student
a “faggot.” The United States Attorney’s Office later dropped the case against Cooney, saying it didn’t have sufficient evidence to obtain a conviction if the case went to trial.
This summer, a group of unidentified assailants attacked and beat three ...
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