Witnesses Needed in Beating of Man at West Hollywood Bar by Staff and Police
Posted on | March 14, 2006
Normally I would never do what I am about to do in this entry, which is directly copy another blogger’s entry and post it here, but in this rare case I will do so because of nature of the post I feel that it is extremely important to get word of this out so potential witnesses can come forward. This originally appeared on TowleRoad.
I received a disturbing email today about an alleged incident that took place at Here lounge in West Hollywood on Saturday. Seth Hartsfield-Price was reportedly beaten by security and the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Department. Here are the details:
"Security was herding people out of the bar at closing this Saturday night. As Seth was leaving, he could only walk out as fast as the people in front of him. One of here’s security guards shoved him to try and make him move faster but Seth ignored it. When security pushed him again, Seth turned and told the guard not to push him again. The guard then grabbed Seth by the throat and arm and shoved him into the wall. When Seth tried to get away from him, the guard punched him in the head.
The rest of security then jumped in and roughed him up more. The cops didn’t do a thing until another patron yelled at them to do something. When the police did take over, they also took over knocking his head into the sidewalk and kicking him. When Seth asked the officer why he was doing this he was told ‘Because I fucking hate you. You are lucky I didn’t kick your teeth in.’"
Anyone who may have been present as a witness is being asked to fax information to 323-460-4316 or email jack(at)tigerla.com
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One Response to “Witnesses Needed in Beating of Man at West Hollywood Bar by Staff and Police”
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March 16th, 2006 @ 10:51 pm
This incident sounds awful though I am not sure… based on my experience with these cops (they were WHSD???) because, at least in my dealings with them, they seem about as gay friendly as law enforcement can be and consistently so. Maybe this LAPD not WHSD?
Obviously, I am — anyone would be — sympathetic to the victim of a gay bashing… But, since this happened in a bar, at the end of the night — sorry — makes me wonder if the alleged victim was drunk or belligerant or provocative. The idea of Here security spontaneously grabbing his throat and then piling onto a patron with all those witnesses… seems somewhat incredible.
I guess my honest response is, having reread it several times, is that it that there’s a somewhat crafted quality to the story. At no point does this victim yell back — indeed, he’s presented as this silent punching bag. The faggots I know, are not quiet, esp. not ones with a couple drinks in them.
And, finally, if he was as brutally assaulted as described, it would stand to reason that someone would have called an ambulance & seen him to the hospital where his injuries would have been treated.
This call for witnesses… am I to believe that this happened and NOBODY helped him? That he staggered back to his car, alone? Who placed the call to the cops, too? (There would be a record of that, I think. And isn’t there an Internal Affairs investigatory unit that deals with accusations of brutality or misconduct?)
But if this is true, this person will sue for millions and millions of dollars, we’ll be going to protests for the next five years, and he’ll become the gay Rodney King.