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.â€
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.â€
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…
Exactly!