Three Men Indicted for Bashing Chicago Gay Good Samaritan
Three Evanston, Illinois men are facing hate crimes charges stemming from a Jan. 10 incident that took place aboard a Chicago Transit Authority train.
As reported in a Jan. 14 EDGE article, beating victim Daniel Hauff intervened when three men began to harass a young gay passenger. Chicago news station CBS 2 recounted in a Mar. 17 article that, according to witnesses, 21-year-old Sean Little had begun the harassment of the youth. Hauff, who is openly gay, stepped forward to put a stop to it, and became the focus of attention for Little and his friends, Benjamin Eder and Kevin McAndrew, both 23.
Hauff told EDGE that he pushed the emergency stop button and the train's driver came to investigate, and reportedly told the men to leave; they refused, and the driver left. According to a CTA spokesperson, the driver radioed an alert to CTA security as well as to police. As the train resumed, the three men began to hurl anti-gay epithets at Hauff and to beat him. Hauff managed to repel the attackers by telling them that he was HIV positive and smearing his own blood on them.
"I feel the CTA handled this very poorly," Hauff, who is HIV negative, told EDGE. "For them to just drive the train to another station when these guys were yelling at me was completely irresponsible. If that's their policy, I intend to follow up with them for sure." Added Hauff, "I feel very lucky and it could have been a lot worse, but I want people to know that this still happens. There is no room, in 2010, for ignorance like this and this proves we have a lot of work to do to ensure changes are made."
The three were charged at first with misdemeanors, but the charges were later dropped and the men re-arrested and charged with hate crimes and aggravated assault, CBS 2 reported. Those are felony charges.
"No one should have to endure the pain and humiliation of a hate crime, which is a truly repugnant act," a release from the office of the State's Attorney, Anita Alvarez, stated. "The damage of a crime such as this goes well beyond the original victim and permeates the entire community."
A Feb. 24 Chicago Tribune article said that Hauff suffered from a deviated septum and blurred vision in one eye in the weeks following the attack. The three alleged attackers were indicted on Mar. 17.