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.
Under the shade of oak trees on Johnson Square in the historic district of Savannah, Ga., with City Hall as a backdrop, dozens of LGBT activists gathered June 20 to express outrage over the recent alleged beating of a gay man by two U.S. Marines.
While the incident remains under investigation, it raises serious questions about homophobia in the military — which will face significant scrutiny if “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is repealed — and whether Georgia needs to finally pass a state hate crimes law.
The purpose of the rally was to bring attention to the need for a state hate crimes law and to demand that city leaders address violence against LGBT people in Savannah, said Kevin Clark, Savannah chapter director for Georgia Equality, the state’s largest LGBT group.
More than 300 law enforcement and community organization representatives attended the inaugural Matthew Shepard & James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act community conference at Georgia State University on May 18.
Hosted by the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office, the conference was designed to detail the new federal hate crimes act signed into law by President Obama on Oct. 28, 2009.