Thursday, 2 October 2008
Throwing the Book at Them
Zoe Brain
http://aebrain.blogspot.com/2008/10/throwing-book-at-them.html Three men charged with assaulting a transgender woman in Lowell in June 2007 pled guilty this week to charges of assault and battery for purpose of intimidation due to sexual orientation and civil rights violations. Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone's office had urged Superior Court Judge James Lemire to sentence each of the men to one year in prison, but the judge instead sentenced each of the men, Jonathan Artis, Jules Ruggs, and Jeffrey Buchanan, all 20 years old and all from Lowell, to two years probation, 50 hours of community service, and diversity training.
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The three men attacked the victim, Jenine Nickola, in the early morning hours of June 2, 2007, as she walked home on Bridge Street. They followed her, shouting and calling her "->-bleeped-<-got." Nickola headed towards the nearby Centerville police precinct, but when she was 200 feet from the building the three men hit her in the head from behind and repeatedly assaulted her, continuing to shout slurs and telling her, "We don't like your kind in our neighborhood." The attack left her with severe lacerations to her lip and strained back muscles. Once the men left Nickola went to the police, who caught the three men about 20 minutes later.
