Victim Of Alleged Hate Crime Speaks Out
Woman Claims She Was Attacked Because She Is Gay
POSTED: 7:12 pm EDT July 11,
2003
UPDATED: 8:22 pm EDT July 11,
2003
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BOSTON -- An East Boston woman is recovering from a terrible beating she suffered during a Fourth of July outing in a neighborhood park. The victim, a lesbian, said she was the victim of a hate crime.
NewsCenter 5's Mary Saladna reported that more than 200 stitches from two surgeries are disturbing evidence of the brutal beating Lisa Craig endured at the hands of her attackers."They were out for trouble and they were going to get it no mater what," Craig said.Craig said a 15-year-old girl and her friends attacked her at Pierce Park in East Boston. Craig, her partner and her two daughters were picnicking and watching fireworks.The trouble allegedly began at the park's playground with gender slurs. Craig said the teen bothered her and her family later as they picnicked on the grass."They all walked by on the path and they started with the slurs again in front of the children. We asked them to please knock it off and take it elsewhere," Craig said.The alleged physical attack came later at an ice cream truck near the park's entrance."She saw us and started again with the name calling. We said, 'Please, we have children here. Please take the fight and go. Just leave.' And she came over and punched me," Craig said."The girl just reached over the crowd and popped Lisa in the head," Debbie Riley, Craig's partner, said.Riley said the teens continued to punch and kick Craig as she was bleeding on the ground.The Boston Police Department is still investigating, but Boston's mayor spoke out about the case."We are not going to tolerate it no matter what it was -- either gay bashing or individual attacks. There are human rights. No matter what it takes, we are going to get to the bottom of it. We are going to try to get to the bottom of this crime," Mayor Thomas Menino said.Riley claims a Massport police officer could have arrested the teens at the scene but instead let them go."The officer said, 'Get the F*** out of here before I arrest you,'" Riley said.A Massport spokeswoman would not comment on the incident.
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Mary Saladna Reports On Alleged AttackCopyright 2007 by TheBostonChannel.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
