Hakeem Musa admitted he targeted his victim in an early morning August 2nd beating and robbery near Pine and Broadway because of the man’s sexual orientation. Friday, a King County Superior Court judge sentenced Musa to five months in jail on counts of theft, assault and malicious harassment, the state’s hate crime statute.
With 2010’s jump in street robbery on Capitol Hill, we haven’t reported on very many arrests, let alone convictions. In the case decided by King County Superior Court Judge William Downing on Friday, not only was an admitted Hill street robber sentenced but the judge also handed down a hate crime conviction for Musa’s actions early on a Monday morning in August. In the incident, the victim told police that Musa yelled “This dude’s gay!” before punching him in the face and kicking him until he was unconscious. The beaten man’s phone was found on the ground near the location where officers caught up with Musa after the attack.
Attacks like this one drove some to plan the formation of a Q-Patrol to provide protection on the Hill’s streets. We’ll have to check in with organizers to see where those efforts stand. Time magazine last week profiled a group in San Francisco known as the Lavender Panthers that, the magazine claims, has been doling out vigilante justice on the City by the Bay’s streets. With the uptick in street robberies against gay and straight alike, we hope whatever citizen groups form here on the Hill will be on the lookout to keep everybody safe.
just 5 months for a hate crime?!
And that dude’s spending the holidays in jail! Buh-bye!
So in five months he may do this again. This really dissapoints. But even more dissapointing, Capitol Hill is becoming more and more straight, which is good! Except gay people are now feeling less and less accepted. Which is not good! I went to Neighbors for the 1st time in AGES, and there were straight men cruising for women on a saturday night @1am. Hmmm… Things have changed…!!
For a conviction and sentencing to occur just three months after the assault and robbery seems very fast. I wonder why the system worked so quickly in this instance.
I also wonder if it would be possible to learn more about the bad guy here, Hakeem Musa. What motivates someone to make a specifically anti-gay assault (rather than a “mere” assault). It’s so easy to posit that Musa may have conflicted feelings about his own sexuality. Is that the case? Is there any way that Musa can become rehabilitated? Would it be possible for CHS Seattle to interview him and find out the background for his anger and violence? Could we follow him through his imprisonment and release (especially if he gets out early for good conduct)? Does he have any insights into his behavior that he’d be willing to share with us? If not Musa, would someone else carrying the dishonor of “fag-basher” be willing to serve as a poster boy for us to learn what makes that personality tick and what social services might be useful to reduce the likelihood of recurring violent outlashes in general, and anti-gay outlashes in particular? I, for one, would be very interested in following this case more thoroughly.
Can’t answer much but according to his lawyer’s statement to the court, Musa will face two years of monitoring by the Department of Corrections after his sentence is served and is required to continue treatment at Sound Mental Health.
I am surprised you are not feeling more accepted. You don’t need a specific “gay” neighborhood. Change is good and Capitol Hill is no longer a “gay” neighborhood.
I watched the officer chase and then arrest this guy. He chased him from Pine across Broadway and caught up to him in a parking lot. The guy tried to fight but the officer ended it quickly. When other cops arrived they all exchanged high fives and put him in the back of a cop car and took him away.
I hear ya. It’s not so much the “gay” neighborhood it was in the 90’s. Also no surprise you got a reply turning the issue back around onto you. It was obviously posted by one of the straight folk who moved into the neighborhood after the Gays made it the “cool” place to live.
You’re still in the best neighborhood in the city. You just have to get out and meet people to remember that.
You got the straight right but you really didn’t make the neighborhood “cool” for me.
Hmm…you sound cocky…