One suspect arraigned in Columbus Ave. gay bashing

Fabio Brandao, a 29-year-old Framingham man charged as one of the perpetrators in a vicious South End gay bashing, pled not guilty to multiple counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery, and civil rights violations in Boston Municipal Court Sept. 2.

Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley's office alleges Brandao was part of a group of four men who ambushed a group of four 20-somethings walking home along Columbus Avenue from the Roxy nightclub in the early morning hours of Aug. 24. Brandao and the other assailants allegedly called two of the men in the group "fucking faggots" while beating them so severely that the men sustained concussions and do not have any memory of the assault. While the incident is not the only recent anti-gay hate crime reported in the South End, it has attracted an unusual amount of attention from the mainstream media and a high level of scrutiny from Boston's LGBT community.

Brandao was released on $10,000 bail until his next court appearance on Oct. 10. He was ordered to stay out of the South End and away from the four victims of the attack in addition to having a curfew that will keep him confined to his residence from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.

Brandao, who was accompanied to the proceedings by several family members, remained seated during his arraignment at the request of his attorney Francis M. Doran, Jr., who argued that the media attention surrounding the case might prejudice potential jurors. A handful of media outlets and TV cameras were present in the courtroom at the arraignment. Following the proceedings, Brandao and his supporters were trailed to an elevator by reporters and TV camera operators angling for a comment from the defendant. The plea for anonymity was rendered moot later that day when Conley's office released Brandao's booking photo to the media.

Assistant District Attorney Vincent DeMore said police were able to link Brandao to the attacks as a result of information provided by the victims and of evidence found at the scene. As Bay Windows reported last week, one of the victims, a woman who has identified herself in the press as Jenna but has asked the media to withhold her last name due to concerns for her safety, called 911 during the attack and shouted the license number of the white Honda station wagon used by the attackers. As the victims walked down Columbus Avenue the men shouted homophobic slurs at them from the parked Honda, and they then exited the vehicle and attacked them. After Jenna and one of the other victims, Jeffrey, who also asked that his last name be withheld due to safety concerns, called 911, the men piled into the car and drove away.

DeMore told Sinnott that after an investigation police learned the car was registered to Brandao. Additionally he said, "a cell phone was found at the scene and that belongs to the defendant as well."

Doran urged the judge not to impose the curfew on Brandao, arguing that the evidence against him was not sufficient to warrant such stern restrictions. He said the car and the cell phone do not prove that Brandao took part in the assaults.

"That may very well put him at the scene but it does not show he is a joint venturer," said Doran.

Brandao was arrested Aug. 29. There have been no further arrests in the case.

Anti-gay hate crimes appear to be on the rise in Boston. At a meeting with LGBT bar and club owners in July Detective Sergeant Carmen Curry of the Boston Police Community Disorders Unit (CDU) said that the number of hate crimes investigations doubled between 2004 and 2007, and the number of investigations in the police district D4, which includes the South End, jumped from nine in 2004 to 21 in 2007. The meeting came a month after Daniel D'Orsi, a 22-year-old Northeastern student, was beaten and robbed outside of Fritz bar by an attacker who allegedly shouted anti-gay slurs at him during the assault.

But while the assault may not be unique, it has attracted more attention both from the mainstream press and from Boston's LGBT community as a whole than other recent assaults. On the SouthEnd.org listserve people in the community have been buzzing about the attacks, with one poster asking others on the list how to apply for a license for mace or pepper spray. Kelcie Cooke, coordinator of Fenway Community Health's Violence Recovery Program (VRP), said she believes people are paying more attention to the attack because the victims were willing to come forward and report it to the police and the media. The sheer brutality of the attack and the hatred that appears to have motivated it has also fanned people's fears about what it means for LGBT safety, she said.

"The crime itself was very brutal. ... If you look at the act, this was a crime that was clearly motivated by hate and bias against a group of people," said Cooke. "In my mind it's very clear this is an act of hate and homophobia, and that's clear to people who are hearing about this as well."

The VRP has worked with the CDU in recent months to raise awareness in the community about hate crimes, partnering with them in a poster campaign released around this year's Pride festivities and co-sponsoring the July meeting with club owners. Cooke said the quick arrest of one of the suspects should help quell some of the fears in the community.

"I think it sends the message the police take this seriously and are working hard to find the people who committed this act," said Cooke.