Alleged assault on gay couple prompts calls for hate-crime protection

CITY COUNCILMAN Jim Kenney has a clear message for federal authorities: Help Philly punish the people who savagely beat a gay couple.

Kenney told his colleagues yesterday that he has asked the feds to investigate the alleged attack on Sept. 11 near Rittenhouse Square, because Pennsylvania's hate-crime law does not cover acts motivated by a victim's sexual orientation.

He noted that the suspects in the case appear to be from the suburbs: Sources have told the Daily News that several "persons of interest" in the case are alumni of Archbishop Wood High School in Warminster, Bucks County.

"If you are a homophobe or a racist and you're from the suburbs, from outside the city, we really don't want you to come here," Kenney said. "We don't want you to use our restaurants. We don't want you to walk our streets. We don't want you to enjoy our city life. We can live without you."

In a letter yesterday to U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger, Kenney asked the Department of Justice to investigate and federally prosecute the case under the federal Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

Memeger's office has "received the letter and is aware of the matter," said office spokeswoman Patty Hartman. She declined to comment on whether the office is investigating the beating.

Meanwhile, Kenney said that one "very heartening" result of the incident was regular citizens teaming up on Twitter, Facebook and other social-media platforms to investigate the attack.

"So it shows that Philadelphians do care about each other," he said.

Caryn Kunkle, a close friend of the two victims, echoed that sentiment last night.

Her online petition demanding that state lawmakers add sexual orientation to the standards protected under Pennsylvania's hate-crime law had gathered 3,578 signatures by 11:15 last night.

"The point of changing the legislation isn't to punish these attackers more," Kunkle said. "It's so I don't have to go to Hahnemann [University Hospital] again and see my friend bloodied and bruised.

"It's for the benefit of everyone in this city."

As the debate over legislation raged, Philadelphia police yesterday continued to question more than a dozen people who allegedly were involved with or witnessed the incident, on 16th Street near Chancellor.

One of those "persons of interest," Fran McGlinn, resigned his post as an assistant basketball coach at Archbishop Wood late Wednesday, according to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

McGlinn, 25, did not return a call seeking comment last night. His lawyer, Brian McVan, declined to discuss the case with the Daily News yesterday.

Police say a group of about 12 twentysomethings crossed paths with the two alleged victims after dining at La Viola West, an Italian eatery two blocks away.

Through their lawyers, some of those alleged attackers told investigators that they had acted in self-defense, and that one of the two victims had initiated the violence by punching a female member of the group, according to sources close to the case.

Kunkle dismissed those claims.

"Self-defense doesn't fit into this puzzle," she said. "If it was a mutual fight, why didn't anyone stick around? Why didn't anyone ask to file a police report?"

The two victims told police that the incident was sparked when someone in the group asked one of the men if his companion was "his f---ing boyfriend."

A fight broke out, during which the men were savagely beaten. One victim suffered multiple facial fractures and his jaw had to be wired shut, the victims told the Daily News.

- Staff writer Chris Brennan

contributed to this report.

Blog: phillyconfidential.com