Documentary on murder of a homosexual
PBS will be airing another hard-hitting P.O.V. series documentary, which on June 30 (10 p.m.). “Beyond Hatred” is the story of a family trying to recover after the 2002 murder of a gay man. Here’s a summary from PBS:
“In September 2002, three skinheads were roaming a park in Rheims, France, looking to “do an Arab,” when they settled for a gay man instead. Twenty-nine-year-old François Chenu fought back fiercely, but he was beaten unconscious and thrown into a river, where he drowned. The acclaimed French vérité film Beyond Hatred is the story of the crime’s aftermath; above all, of the Chenu family’s brave and heartrending struggle to seek justice while trying to make sense of such pointless violence and unbearable loss. With remarkable dignity, they fight to transcend hatred and the inevitable desire for revenge.
Shot in direct-cinema style, with dark tones and long, evocative takes, Beyond Hatred forgoes third-party narration to let those who must deal with the crime’s aftermath tell the story — the lawyers and prosecutors as they seek justice through the courts, those who knew the victim and his murderers, and even the father of one of the perpetrators. Most of all we hear from the Chenus: François’ father, Jean-Paul, and mother, Marie-Cécile, and his two brothers and two sisters, as they try to reconstruct what happened and face the horror of François’ last minutes.
You can watch the trailer here. This documentary goes to show that hate crimes are still alive and well worldwide. I hope you’ll tune in. See Documentary on murder of a homosexual
Waterbury Republican American
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Brothers charged in gay man’s brutal beating
(Gloucester, Massachusetts) Two brothers have been charged in a beating that left a gay Massachusetts man with a shattered jaw, broken eye socket, broken nose and broken cheek bone.
Justin Goodwin, 36, of Salem, underwent nine hours of surgery following the weekend attack. His jaw is wired shut and he lost …
1 Dead in Bushwick Bias Attack
Two Ecuadorian brothers, Jose and Romel Sucuzhanay, were walking home early on the morning of Dec. 7, a little tipsy and arm-in-arm. That, allegedly, was enough to incite a group of men to physically assault them while shouting anti-gay and anti-Hispanic epithets.
Jose Sucuzhanay, 31, was declared brain-dead by doctors at Elmhurst Hospital Center two days later, and now the Brooklyn community where the attack took place is seeking arrests and answers.
The incident occurred about 3:30 a.m., when the two brothers were on their way home from a bar near the intersection of Bushwick Avenue and Kossuth Place in Bushwick. According to the New York Times, witnesses saw a maroon sport utility vehicle pull up to the Sucuzhanays on the sidewalk. Three men jumped out, yelling anti-gay and racist slurs. One man broke a beer bottle over Jose Sucuzhanay’s head from behind and knocked him down. See 1 Dead in Bushwick Bias Attack
The New York Blade, NY
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Ecuadoran Is Brain-Dead After Possible Bias Attack
The two brothers from Ecuador had attended a church party and had stopped at a bar afterward. They may have been a bit tipsy as they walked home in the dead of night, arm-in-arm, leaning close to each other, a common tableau of men in Latino cultures, but one easily misinterpreted by the biased mind.
Suddenly a car drew up. It was 3:30 a.m. Sunday, and the intersection of Bushwick Avenue and Kossuth Place in Bushwick, Brooklyn, a half-block from the brothers’ apartment, was nearly deserted — but not quite. Witnesses, the police said, heard some of what happened next.
Three men came out of the car shouting at the brothers, Jose and Romel Sucuzhanay — something ugly, anti-gay and anti-Latino. Vulgarisms against Hispanics and gay men were heard by witnesses, the police said. One man approached Jose Sucuzhanay, 31, the owner of a real estate agency who has been in New York a decade, and broke a beer bottle over the back of his head. He went down hard.
Romel Sucuzhanay, 38, who is visiting from Ecuador on a two-month visa, bounded over a parked car and ran as the man with the broken bottle came at him. A distance away, he looked back and saw a second assailant beating his prone brother with an aluminum baseball bat, striking him repeatedly on the head and body. The man with the broken bottle turned back and joined the beating and kicking.
“They used a baseball bat,” said Diego Sucuzhanay, another brother. “I guess the goal was to kill him.”
At least five calls were made to 911. As police sirens wailed in the distance, the assailants, described only as black men by the police, jumped into their maroon or red-orange Honda sport utility vehicle and sped away. Jose Sucuzhanay was declared brain dead on Tuesday after suffering extensive brain damage and skull fractures, according to law enforcement officials. He was kept on life support at Elmhurst Hospital Center, while his family decides whether to donate his organs, a law enforcement official said.
As word of the ferocious attack spread on Monday, an outpouring of anger and protest swept the city, from members of the City Council, the State Legislature and Congress; from religious, labor and civil rights organizations; from Latino and gay groups; and from the Ecuadorean and Hispanic communities.
“This won’t be tolerated,” Christine C. Quinn, the City Council speaker, said at a news conference on Monday on the steps of City Hall that drew dozens of public officials and leaders of civil rights groups. “We cannot and we will not let hate go unchecked in our city.” See Ecuadoran Is Brain-Dead After Possible Bias Attack
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Brothers beaten after attackers thought they were gay
(New York City) Four attackers may have mistaken two brothers walking arm in arm as gay before using an aluminum baseball bat, a bottle and their feet to beat one of them into critical condition. He died Monday in a hospital in New York City, police said.
One of the attackers …
