RIVERSIDE - More than 100 people gathered in front of a Riverside church Friday night to demand that dismissed hate-crime charges against the men accused of killing Jeffery Owens be refiled, as parents of the defendants staged a counter-protest.

Chani Beeman, chairwoman of the city's Human Relations Commission, said Owens' slaying last June outside a Riverside gay bar challenged the community to demonstrate that hate crimes will not be tolerated.

"The (Riverside Police Department) met the challenge," she said, standing in front of the United Church of Christ downtown, between a rainbow flag and a banner that read "Stand Up to Hate." "Our community met the challenge as we stood shoulder to shoulder during the week after the murder. The DA's office met the challenge.

Across the street from the church, about a dozen people, including family members of four of the defendants in the case, stood silently in a line, holding signs and facing the backs of the protesters.

"We sit every day in the courtroom and we hear the facts," said Yolanda Gallardo, mother of defendant David Martinez. "This was not a hate crime. They are not murderers. They were provoked.

"If you're going to run in front of a speeding car, you're going to get hurt," Gallardo said about Owens and his friends. "You might get killed."

Owens, 40, of Moreno Valley was stabbed June 5 during a late-night argument in the parking lot of The Menagerie bar. He bled to death about eight hours later after he was given an overdose of an anti-clotting medicine at Riverside County Regional Medical Center.

On Jan. 21, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Patrick Magers ordered six people to stand trial in connection with Owens' death.

Dorian Gutierrez, 19; Ramon Rabago, 19; Miguel Ramos, 19; Viviano Cruz Marin, 26; and David Leal Martinez, 19, all are charged with murder. Wendy Plasier, 27, was charged as an accessory after police said she gave a false alibi for Marin. Arraignment is set for Tuesday.

Mike Bussee, 49, a friend of Owens' who also was stabbed that night, did not attend Friday's rally because of a family emergency. Bussee said in a telephone interview that although he isn't angry with the prosecutor or judge, he thinks Magers made a mistake when he dismissed the hate-crime allegations.

"It was definitely not a fight. It was an unprovoked attack," he said. "Even the defendants admitted they attacked us for no reason. I will always know, in my heart of hearts, that it was a hate crime."

Reach Andrea Cavanaugh at (909) 368-9460 or acavanaugh@pe.com