By Judy Lin - Bee Capitol Bureau
Published 12:00 am PDT Sunday, March 25, 2007
All Neil Kesler heard was "Hey, homie" before a teenager's fist slammed into his face.
The 44-year-old homeless man and his female companion were riding their bicycles to a pizza parlor last March. Five boys trailed them as they got off a light-rail train and attacked them over a catwalk at Power Inn Road. One carried a video camera.
"They were videotaping it like they were doing it for a Web site," said Crystal Hanna, the other victim. Standing a year later inside a homeless park, Hanna is still shocked that teenage boys would attack a woman simply because she has no place to call home.
Hoping to remove the stigma of homelessness and curb future attacks, Sacramento Sen. Darrell Steinberg has introduced a bill to make attacking homeless people a hate crime. The bill, Senate Bill 122, would add a person's homeless status along with disability, gender, nationality and race to criteria for hate crimes. Prosecutors could seek up to a year in jail and $5,000 in fines.
"It horrifies me that this kind of behavior can occur," said Steinberg, who said his bill "will send a message that we ought to do everything we can to tell people that this is unacceptable."
Steinberg, a Democrat, made his mark in the Assembly as the author of Proposition 63, which is now funding the expansion of state mental health services. His new bill puts California alongside a small but growing number of states considering tougher laws in response to more visible attacks on the homeless. Often conducted by young adults with no apparent motive, some of these so-called "bum fights" are taped and posted on the Web.
Steinberg, a Democrat, made his mark in the Assembly as the author of Proposition 63, which is now funding the expansion of state mental health services. His new bill puts California alongside a small but growing number of states considering tougher laws in response to more visible attacks on the homeless. Often conducted by young adults with no apparent motive, some of these so-called "bum fights" are taped and posted on the Web.
According to the National Coalition for the Homeless, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada and Texas have introduced similar legislation to make attacks on the homeless hate crimes.
The proposals have been spurred by cases such as the death of 54-year-old August Felix in Florida, who was fatally beaten and kicked by four youths. Police there described attackers of terrorizing the homeless man "for sport."
Homeless advocates say change is needed in response to growing violence against the homeless. The number of reported homeless attacks jumped 65 percent nationwide over the past year, resulting in 122 attacks and 20 deaths in 2006, according to the coalition's most recent study released in February. California saw 11 attacks in eight cities in 2006, but the homeless say countless incidents go undocumented.
The proposals have been spurred by cases such as the death of 54-year-old August Felix in Florida, who was fatally beaten and kicked by four youths. Police there described attackers of terrorizing the homeless man "for sport."
Homeless advocates say change is needed in response to growing violence against the homeless. The number of reported homeless attacks jumped 65 percent nationwide over the past year, resulting in 122 attacks and 20 deaths in 2006, according to the coalition's most recent study released in February. California saw 11 attacks in eight cities in 2006, but the homeless say countless incidents go undocumented.
Gregory Chapman, 50, said he was attacked four or five times in downtown Sacramento last year with frozen paintballs while sleeping in his bedroll on the sidewalk at night. "You can't really hear anything because the paintballs are really quiet," Chapman said. "Then you hear poof, poof, poof."
Chapman said it was impossible to know who shot at him. His assailants always escape in their vehicles.
"To me, that is a hate crime because they're deliberately throwing it at homeless people," said Sister Libby Fernandez, executive director of one of Sacramento's homeless services center, Loaves & Fishes.
Sometimes the assailants are caught and brought to justice, such as in the beating of John Jewett two winters ago. Jewett's two attackers -- one a juvenile -- were convicted of attacking him with a tree branch and pipe in midtown Sacramento, scratching his cornea and splitting one nostril.
Other times, a life is lost without explanation.
Ken Massie, a 50-ish homeless man who camped out on the American River Parkway, was shot to death by a masked gunman back in February 2002. His name is now inscribed on a memorial wall at Loaves & Fishes.
Homeless outreach workers said Massie suffered from mental illness and severe hearing loss, but preferred reading to drinking. Sacramento police Officer Mark Zoulas, who has spent more than a decade patrolling the city's streets, remembered Massie as a model homeless person who "packed up like a backpacker and rolled on into Loaves & Fishes before police arrived." Police never found the gunman despite a $1,000 reward.
James Little says he has been shot by paintballs and pelted with eggs while walking near the 12th Street bridge. "I'd go chase them but I can't catch up to a car," Little said.
Little says assailants know where to find the homeless. For example, many hang out near Union Gospel Mission's men's shelter, on Bannon Street north of the railyard.
Angie Mendoza, program director of Loaves & Fishes' legal clinic, said she hopes the senator is including language in the bill that will ensure the law won't be abused. "I hate to sound cynical but it might be a tool for law enforcement to clean up the homeless population," Mendoza said. "All of a sudden, you're an ex-felon and you get into an altercation with another homeless person, and there's your third strike."
Zoulas, the veteran police officer, said he supports the bill's intent, but questioned whether it is necessary. "Why can't it be severe for anybody who beats up anybody?" he asked. "If someone's preying on another person, then it should always be severe."
Steinberg agreed, but stressed the need to educate society. "It's intolerable," he said.
Kesler and Hanna, the homeless couple attacked at Power Inn Road, never learned the identities of the teens who sent them to the hospital. To this day, Kesler still won't let Hanna ride the light rail by herself.
"People wonder why we stick together," Hanna said. "It's because we're scared."
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