Two White Men Who Beat The Pulp Out Of A Philadelphia Gay Couple Will Not Go To Prison

Philip R. Williams, left, and Kevin J. Harrigan , right. (Philadelphia Police Department)

Alan: If these two guys were black and had attacked whites for "being white" they would do hard time - and lots of it.

"Bad Black People." Why Bill O'Reilly Is Wrong Even When He's Right"

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2014/08/bad-black-people-why-bill-oreilly-is.html

Two men who brutally attacked gay couple banned from entering downtown Philadelphia

Two men pleaded guilty Thursday to brutally assaulting a gay couple in Philadelphia last year, an incident that prompted local officials to update the city’s hate crime law to include attacks based on sexual orientation.

Kevin Harrigan and Phillip Williams both accepted the terms of a plea deal that spares them from jail time and bans them from entering Downtown Philadelphia during the course of their probation. A third defendant, Kathryn Knott, rejected a plea and will take her case to trial, according to the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office.

“Today’s agreement is certainly about justice, but it is also about honoring the wishes of the victims to make sure they can continue to heal and gain closure,” Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams said in a statement.

[Three suspects arraigned in brutal attack on a gay couple in Philadelphia]

Shortly after the attack, police said the suspects had held couple down, beat them in the head and chest and made derogatory comments about their sexual orientation. The victims were hospitalized, with one man requiring surgery for the fractures he suffered to his face; his mouth was also wired shut.

Twitter sleuths tried to identify the suspects after police posted surveillance footage; the suspects turned themselves in a week later.

[How an anonymous Twitter sleuth may have solved a Philadelphia hate crime (and restored our faith in the Internet)]

The victims declined to make impact statements in court, but the terms of the plea agreement and sentencing were what they wanted, said Assistant District Attorney Michael Barry, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

“They have shown a level of graciousness that frankly was a surprise to me,” Barry said.

Both Harrigan, 26, and Williams, 24, have insisted the couple’s sexual orientation was not the motivation for the attack. They are banned from City Center, the location of the attack.

“Center City was supposed to be the place where this does not happen,” Barry said in court, the Inquirer reported. “People have come to this city for refuge, for anonymity . . . so they could be left alone to live their lives.”

[The targets of hate crime: Jews, Muslims and gay men]

At the time, police couldn’t charge the trio with a hate crime; two months after the attack, the Philadelphia City Council unanimously approved a measure that made it a crime to hurt someone based on sexual orientation, gender identity or disabilities.

The two male defendants in the City Center assault will have to serve 200 hours of community service at an LGBT organization. Harrigan pleaded guilty to simple assault and conspiracy, has to pay $314 in restitution and was sentenced to three years probation. Williams pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and conspiracy, has to pay $628 in restitution and was sentenced to five years probation.

Knott, the daughter of Chalfont Borough Police Karl Knott, is charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person and conspiracy. Her trial date hasn’t been set.

Elahe Izadi is a general assignment national reporter for The Washington Post.