Georgia Gay Man Sentenced to 10 Years for Defending Himself

By John Mack Freeman

Atlanta resident Luke O’Donovan was violently attacked outside of a bar in Atlanta, GA in December 2012 by five men. The men stabbed him several times while shouting homophobic slurs at him. O’Donovan defended himself successfully with a pocketknife and made it to an area hospital for treatment.

Sounds like a happy ending to the story, right?

Police arrested O’Donovan for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. This week, he was sentenced at his trial to ten years in prison for injuring his assailants while defending himself from a hate crime.

Via PinkNews:

The Luke O’Donovan Support Committee issued a statement about O’Donovan’s sentencing, saying: “This is the epitome of a hate crime. Witnesses report seeing between five and 12 men attacking O’Donovan, stomping on his head and body, and stabbing him in the back while calling him a ‘faggot.’

“The demonization of O’Donovan’s actions is a part of a growing trend: criminalizing those who successfully defend themselves from hate crimes.”

The committee added: “O’Donovan’s defense team was only able to negotiate the 10-year sentence after video footage surfaced of one of O’Donovan’s assailants participating in an attack of a transgender woman on July 3.”

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2 thoughts on “Georgia Gay Man Sentenced to 10 Years for Defending Himself

  1. Forgot about the hate crime… simply put, theman was defending himself. They were probably gonna kill him… doh, hence he has the right to protect himself… end of discussion…

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