Street Spirit March 2006

Epidemic of Hate Crimes Against Homeless People

A Report by the National Coalition for the Homeless 

Even a church can't always provide sanctuary from violence. A homeless man was beaten and left unconscious in a pool of blood at a church in Fairfield, California. The homeless father, who was living in his car at the Parkway Community Church, was left blind and neurologically damaged by the beating.

On February 8, 2005, Maria Catherine King, a homeless woman weighing less than 100 pounds, was brutally beaten and killed in Berkeley, California. The suspects were two 18-year-old males. The victim, 49-year-old King, a legal writer and advocate, was known for giving out cookies, free legal advice and a shoulder to cry on.

A witness testified that he saw two hooded figures kicking something "as if they were kicking a soccer ball as hard as they could." As the two attackers walked away, the witness testified, one turned back, got a running start and "jumped on the object with both feet." After the savage assault, King was taken to Highland Hospital in a coma. She never regained consciousness, and died 12 days later.

Killing for fun

On May 28, 2005, in Holly Hill, Florida, five teenagers charged with killing a 53-year-old homeless man said they did it "for fun" because they "needed something to do." The five teens left the scene and returned numerous times to kick Michael Roberts and beat him with their fists, tree branches, and a large log. The victim weighed a little more than 100 pounds. One of the attackers was described as several inches taller and weighing in at over 200 pounds.

The autopsy report indicates that Roberts died of blunt-force trauma to the head and body. His ribs were broken, his skull was fractured, and his legs were badly injured. The boys returned several times to make sure the job was done.

"It's not a surprise to hear of kids attacking a homeless man; it's happened before," said Del Hillman of the Homeless Assistance Center in Daytona Beach. "It's an easy target. There's rarely a day that I don't walk the line and see someone who has been beaten up, whether their mouth is busted open or they have stitches."

"The real thing here is as a community we've decided there's no legitimate place for the homeless," said Troy Ray, executive director of Halifax Urban Ministries. "Until there is, they will be subject to all kinds of violence."

"Bum-Bashing" in Los Angeles

On August 16, 2005, in Los Angeles, two 19-year-old men, allegedly inspired by the "Bumfights" video, took to the streets, hitting sleeping homeless people with aluminum baseball bats and leaving an elderly man in critical condition with severe head wounds.

The suspects, William Orantes and Justin Brumfield, told officers they had just watched a controversial DVD in which homeless people are videotaped fighting each other and wanted to do some "bum bashing" of their own, L.A. Police Chief William J. Bratton said. Both suspects were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

"This was a vicious, cowardly crime that even veteran officers such as myself find hard to believe," Bratton said. "This happened to one of our most helpless communities because they're not only homeless, but often mentally ill. These dehumanizing crimes will not be tolerated."

Homeless father beaten in Fairfield, California

On August 18, a homeless man was beaten into unconsciousness and was found in a pool of blood in a church parking lot in Fairfield, California. Police discovered the victim lying unconscious with blood pooled around him. He was beaten, stomped on and appeared to have suffered severe head trauma. He was left blind and neurologically damaged by the beating

The victim of this savage attack was a homeless father who was living out of his car at the Parkway Community Church. The victim, Joseph Pettaway, 47, remained in critical condition at Sutter Roseville Medical Center. The three suspects, Stephen Armstrong, 18, Tyler Giugni, 19, and Corey Reitmeier, 17, pleaded innocent to attempted murder, mayhem and assault charges. The three youth were ordered to remain in jail on $500,000 bail until their next court appearance.

Brutal beating with baseball bats

On January 12, 2006, three homeless men were brutally beaten with baseball bats under cover of darkness in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The victims include Jacques Pierre, 58, and Raymond Perez, 49, who were both listed in serious condition for several days and are recovering not only from the visible broken bones, lacerations, and deep bruises, but also from internal damage to both their mind and body.

Less fortunate was Norris Gaynor, 45, who suffered similar injuries but died of head trauma and internal bleeding within hours of arriving at the hospital. A video surveillance camera captured the inhumane pummeling of Pierre, which led to the arrest of William Ammons, 18, Brian Hooks, 18 and Tom Daugherty, 17.

The chilling footage shows a defenseless Pierre, struggling unsuccessfully to escape, while enduring unmerciful blow after blow to his head and body from two of the teens wielding baseball bats and smiling, taking apparent pleasure in this act of absolute hatred.

Sadly, these gruesome accounts are just a few of many that demonstrate the extent of the hate crimes and violence faced by people experiencing homelessness. A new report by the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) documents 84 hate crimes and violent acts that occurred in 2005, collected from newspapers and reports across the country. The report, Hate, Violence and Death on Main Street USA, brings to light the discrimination and senseless violence faced by so many of our country's homeless people.

For seven years, the NCH has tracked a widespread epidemic in crimes targeting homeless people. These are well-documented violent attacks on homeless people that result in injury and, in many cases, the death of members of this vulnerable population.

In the past seven years, NCH has documented 472 violent acts (deaths and non-lethal attacks) committed against homeless people, including 169 deaths. These crimes occurred in 165 cities in 42 states, plus Puerto Rico. The ages of the homeless victims of these violent assaults range from 4 months old to 74 years of age.

The prevalence of homelessness on our city streets allows us to see not only a crisis in housing, but also an increasing pattern of civil rights abuses suffered by our nation's most vulnerable inhabitants. The continued shortfalls in federal funding and political will prolong the problem of homelessness. And now, the dangers of living without a home are more acute due to the overwhelming numbers of hate crimes and violence against homeless people each year.

Homeless people lack the protection of a locked door accorded to homeowners, leaving them in an unprotected position where they are subjected to hate crimes and violence. Sadly, the prevalence of hate crimes against homeless people arises due to the negative stereotypes reinforced by the media and intolerant people.

"What happened in both Fort Lauderdale and Holly Hill can occur in any city. As long as homeless individuals are forced to live outside, they are vulnerable to these attacks," said Michael Stoops, acting executive director of NCH.

NCH hopes to educate lawmakers, advocates and the public about the problem of hate crimes and violence against homeless people; and the new report also calls for a U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) study addressing this issue. In addition, the ever-present goal of NCH is to increase both federal funding and the political will that is absolutely essential for ending homelessness in America by making available affordable and permanent housing to America's poor who live on the streets.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors report released in December 2005 revealed that 71 percent of the 24 cities surveyed reported a 6 percent increase in requests for emergency shelter, with 14 percent of overall emergency shelter requests unmet and 32 percent of emergency shelter requests by homeless families unmet.

Conyers calls for GAO study

U.S. Representative John Conyers (D-MI), along with the bipartisan support of over 20 members of Congress, is calling for a GAO study to assist Congress and the public in obtaining much-needed information on the extent and scope of violent acts and crimes against people experiencing homelessness. This request has been endorsed by over 400 local and national organizations (for a complete listing, please see the full report at www.nationalhomeless.org).

"A GAO study is urgently needed to shed light on this frightening trend of hate crimes and violence against homeless people," Stoops said. "These horrific acts threaten the lives of over 3.5 million women, men and children experiencing homelessness each year."

People who are forced to live and sleep on the streets for lack of an alternative are in an extremely vulnerable situation, and it is unacceptable that hate crime prevention laws do not protect them.

The National Coalition for the Homeless aims to include housing status in the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2005 (H.R. 2662 and S. 1445) and in future pieces of legislation. Through the inclusion of housing status, hate crimes and violent acts toward people experiencing homelessness will be more appropriately handled and prosecuted. Also, if victims know that a system is in place to prosecute such crimes, they are more likely to come forward to report these crimes.

Link between hate crimes and the criminalization of homelessness

There is a documented relationship between increased police actions and the increasing numbers of hate crimes and violent acts against homeless people. "It seems that disturbed violent people take a cue from their cities' responses to homelessness and become emboldened with more violent attacks if the city has portrayed homeless people as the cause of unemployment, decreasing property values, or vacant storefronts," said Stoops.

Advocates from around the country have cited the relationship between municipal actions to restrict visibility of homeless people and hate crimes. This overly broad enforcement of laws passed by city governments specifically targeting homeless people are documented in The National Coalition for the Homeless and The National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty's report entitled, A Dream Denied: The Criminalization of Homelessness in U.S. Cities, [See Street Spirit, February 2006.] The report also ranks the 20 "meanest" cities in the U.S. for violating the civil rights of homeless people.

To read the NCH reports on hate crimes, please go to: www.nationalhomeless.org. For more information, contact the National Coalition for the Homeless, 2201 P St. NW, Washington, DC 20037-1033. Phone: (202) 462-4822. E-mail: info@nationalhomeless.org.

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