Brandon White testified at the sentencing hearing Thursday for the three young men who attacked him and said he is...
State Rep. Simone Bell says she signed onto a letter that was provided by several LGBT activists to Fulton Judge Jackson Bedford during Thursday's sentencing hearing seeking leniency for two of the defendants in the anti-gay assault on Brandon White because she wants the case moved to federal court and pave the way for a state hate crime law to be passed in Georgia.
In a press statement released late Thursday, Rep. Bell said she sees the Feb. 4 attack on Brandon White, 20, an openly gay man, "centered in hate due to his sexual orientation."
Charged in the beating are Dorian Moragne, 19, and Darael Demare Williams, 17. A group of LGBT activists are asking Fulton Superior Court Judge Jackson Bedford sentence them probation rather than a lengthy prison sentence.
Christopher Cain, 18, also charged in the attack, pleaded guilty Thursday to the same charges Moragne and Williams pleaded guilty to on May 29: being part of a gang, two counts of aggravated assault, and robbery by force.
A group of Atlanta LGBTQ activists wrote a letter to Fulton Superior Court Judge Jackson Bedford asking a light sentence be imposed on two young men who pleaded guilty to the Feb. 4 beating of gay man Brandon White, the GA Voice has learned.
According to the letter, the activists believe the attack was motivated by homophobia, but they do not think it will be helped by the attackers serving further time in prison.
A hearing in the case is underway now at the Fulton County Court House, with several of the activists present. Please check back for updates throughout the day.
Christopher Cain, one of the attackers in the brutal assault of a gay man, will appear Monday, June 11, in Fulton Superior Court to charges related to the assault. He is listed on the plea and arraignment calendar, according to a spokesperson from the Fulton District attorney's office.
Cain, 18, has remained in jail since his arrest Feb. 11 after being denied bond by Judge Jackson Bedford for being a threat to the community and for being on probation for when he was arrested.
Two of the other attackers pleaded guilty on May 29 to being part of a gang as well as the attack of Brandon White, 20, on Feb. 4.
A video of the the assault in the Pittsburgh community of southwwest Atlanta in which the attackers repeatedly called White "faggot" went viral after it was uploaded to a hip hop website.
Dorian Moragne, 19, and Dareal Demare Williams, 18, pleaded guilty today in Fulton County Superior Court in the brutal assault Brandon White, a black gay man, on Feb. 4 in the Pittsburgh community. Sentencing hearing will be held in July and the men face up to 15 and 20 years on each count.
During the hearing today before Fulton Superior Court Judge Jackson Bedford, prosecutor J. Gabriel Banks said the assault was instigated by another suspect, Christopher Cain, who alleged that the victim, White, 20, made a sexual advance toward him. Another suspect, Javaris Williams, was also allegedly involved in the attack that was videotaped and uploaded to a hip hop website.
Editor's note: It was reported that the four suspects in this case would go on trial May 29. Yvette Jones, spokesperson for the Fulton DA's office stated the men are on the trial calendar and clarified what will happen.
"The case is being called out alongside several others. The Judge will make a determination which case will move forward and begin the process of jury selection," she said.
Four men charged in a brutal attack on a gay man in February are set to go to possibly go on trial May 29, each charged with two counts of participation in criminal street gang activity, robbery by force and aggravated assault, according to a spokesperson with the Fulton County District Attorney's office.
The men charged in the anti-gay beating of Brandon White are Javaris Bradford, 24; Christopher Cain, 19; Dorian Moragne, 19; and Darael Demare Williams, a minor.
White, 20, was attacked by the four men after he was exiting a grocery store in the Pittsburgh community in southwest Atlanta. The men filmed the attack in which White was repeatedly called "faggot" and uploaded it to a hip hop website where it went viral.
The four suspects will appear before Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jackson Bedford.
A lively group of more than 40 Pre-K children crowded together on a recent Wednesday morning at the ABC Early Learning Academy in Midtown and sat with their legs crossed, fidgeting and giggling while waiting for their speaker to be introduced.
On this day, March 7, that speaker was Brandon White, the gay 20-year old who was brutally beaten in southwest Atlanta last month after leaving a grocery store. A videotape of the attack was uploaded to the internet where it went viral. White’s audience with the children is his first official speaking engagement as part of his new anti-violence campaign, “Speak Out with Brandon.”
“If you guys are being bullied it can make a lot of things you do a lot harder than what they actually are,” White told the four and five-year olds. “If you’re being bullied at school, you may not want to go outside and play with the other kids, you may not want to talk to anyone, you may want to sit in the corner. But you’re not alone in what you do.”