Greg Palast- Things like that DO happen here !

HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Local & State

Oct. 13, 2004, 8:15AM
Targeted as gay by attackers, teen faces surgery

Associated Press
FORT WORTH - A North Texas high school student faces reconstructive surgery after he was severely beaten at a party by attackers who believed he was a homosexual, law officers say.

The 17-year-old's injuries in Cleburne earlier this month are under investigation as a hate crime because the three attackers made slurs derogatory to homosexuals, police Sgt. Amy Knoll said Tuesday.

"We have found no other reason whatsoever for the attack other than their belief that he was a homosexual," Knoll told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in Wednesday's editions.

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nbc5i.com

Student's Beating Investigated As Hate Crime
POSTED: 4:31 PM CDT October 13, 2004
UPDATED: 6:39 PM CDT October 13, 2004

CLEBURNE, Texas -- A party earlier this month resulted in the severe beating of one Cleburne High School student, and authorities believe the victim's sexual orientation prompted the attack.

If investigators charge the suspects with a hate crime, the case would be raised from aggravated assault to first-degree felony assault.

The alleged hate-crime motive surprised residents and police in the small town, southwest of Fort Worth, Texas.

* (see below) "I don't know of a crime like this happening in Cleburne before," Knoll said. "I mean, we have assaults, we have fights among kids and things like that, but anybody singled out because of a specific reason like their sexual orientation or their race or something like that is very rare here."

The victim had surgery Wednesday to repair multiple broken bones in his face. Doctors anticipate the student will need further reconstructive surgery.

* See Greg Palast’s Writing
Things Like That Do Happen Here - from The New York Times
The New York Times
Sunday, June 7, 1998

“ Live here long enough and you discover that at the heart of small-town life there is special form of communal cowardice. It's called "being neighborly," a coded phrase for enforced silence about our sins, failures and nasty secrets.
This small-town omerta enshrouds all acts, from child abuse to abuse of our countryside. ”

source: http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=25&row=1