RIVERSIDE: A gay man is fatally stabbed outside a downtown bar. No arrests have been made.

06/08/2002

BY JOSE ARBALLO JR. AND TANYA SIERRA
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE

RIVERSIDE - The fatal stabbing of a gay man is being investigated as a hate crime after he and another victim were attacked outside a Riverside bar frequented by gays and lesbians.

A deputy district attorney who prosecutes hate crimes said the attack is one of the rare times such an incident has turned deadly.

Moreno Valley resident Jeffery Owens, who was active in Inland gay organizations, died Thursday at Riverside County Regional Medical Center after he was stabbed in the parking lot behind The Menagerie.

Attack recalled

Bussee, a marriage and family therapist at a psychiatric hospital, said a group gathered at the bar earlier in the evening to celebrate a mutual friend's birthday. At one point, Bussee said, they went outside.

"We were standing out at the van and out of the corner of my right eye I noticed a guy coming up to me real fast," Bussee said. He said his first thought was that the man was going to ask for change or a lighter.

"But his movement was too aggressive," he said. "Then he just swung and hit me in the jaw -- just out of the blue."

He fell into the van and then felt what he thought was a punch to his back. "I had no idea I had been stabbed," he said.

"I'm really convinced that he was standing up for me," he said. "He was protecting me."

Riverside police Lt. Meredyth Meredith said Owens was with a group of people when they were confronted by four to six men.

There is no indication anyone in Owens' group was armed or knew the attackers and robbery does not appear to be a motive, Meredith said.

The presumption is that they were attacked because of their sexual orientation, she said.

Bussee said the man never said anything before hitting him.

But Owens' partner, Jeff Holland, who also saw the attack, said he heard the attackers reference their homosexuality.

"They specifically said, `You want some trouble . . . fag, here it is.' "

It wasn't until the group was driving to Owens' home in Moreno Valley to cool off that they realized Owens and Bussee had been stabbed.

"He was bleeding profusely," Bussee said about Owens.

Bussee was treated in the emergency room but Owens needed surgery, Bussee said. By 3 a.m. on Thursday, Owens was out of his first surgery and begining to recuperate, Bussee said. But at 6 a.m. he was told Owens had to go back into surgery. He had been stabbed at least four times. Owens died shortly after 8:30 a.m.

Impromptu memorial

Police first received reports of trouble outside the bar just before midnight, but officers were told everyone had left by the time they arrived at the scene, Meredith said.

"There was no indication a crime of that nature had occurred," Meredith said.

The next report came in about 1:40 a.m., when police received a call from the hospital where the victims were taken.

Dozens of friends and strangers gathered in impromptu vigils in the parking lot where a makeshift memorial of candles, flowers and messages had been placed.

"One act of hate will never take away all your acts of love," said one message posted on a tree, which was surrounded by a large collection of candles and flowers along the sidewalk.

A steady stream of passers-by stopped to pay their respects Friday afternoon, some kneeling as they mouthed a prayer or to read the notes for Owens.

Holland and Owens' brother, Brent, spent the day making funeral arrangements.

Owens well-known

One friend said Owens was doing what he enjoyed when he was attacked. He was showing photos he had taken in Joshua Tree. Owens recently quit his job at the Inland AIDS Project to pursue his interests in photography and stained glass, his friend Don MacLeish said.

MacLeish, who has known Owens since 1992, says they met doing volunteer work on an AIDS quilt.

"He was very outspoken. He really got in your face," said MacLeish, as he tried to fight back tears. "I miss that. He was a true friend. He either liked you or didn't like you. And if he liked you, he would do anything for you."

Friends and family remembered Owens on Friday evening in a candlelight vigil outside the bar.

Bussee said Owens and his partner, Holland, had been together for several years.

"They just loved each other," Bussee said. "I've never seen two people -- gay or straight -- be so devoted to each other. I admired the relationship I saw them having."

Mayor Ron Loveridge, who was told about the killing by police, said he was "deeply saddened and angry" about the incident and the circumstances surrounding it. He said it was critical the attackers be caught and the incident be condemned in the strongest terms.

Hate crime prosecution

Davis, who prosecutes hate crimes in western Riverside County, said hate crimes in most cases involve name-calling or harassing communication and, in rare instances, a physical assault. It's rare when it turns fatal, he said.

The fact that someone may use a racial slur or derogatory remark about someone's sexual orientation during an attack does not automatically make it a hate crime, Davis said. The race or sexual orientation has to be a "primary factor" behind the attack, he said.

"If someone robs someone then utters a racial slur during the robbery, then that does not make it a hate crime," Davis said. "But if someone targets someone to rob because of their race, then that is a different matter."

The Menagerie's owner, David St. Pierre, and past owner, Madaline Lee, said the fatal attack was the worst in the bar's 20-year history. Over the years, they said, bar patrons have been subjected to sporadic insults and anti-gay aggression on the street.

The bar posts staff at the front door and back gate to protect patrons, St. Pierre said.

After a recent rash of car burglaries, the Menagerie joined with restaurants Mario's and Back to the Grind to hire a security guard to patrol several parking lots used by patrons, he said.

The security guard was in a parking lot across the street at the time of the fatal attack, St. Pierre said. The guard saw only part of the assault, which took place between parked cars.

St. Pierre plans to meet with Riverside police to discuss ways to increase patron safety. But he vowed never to give in to fear and close the bar.

Meredith called the bar a "quiet place" with very few calls for police. "It is not considered a problem bar or problem location," she said.

Staff writers Pat Murkland and Sharyn Obsatz contributed to this report.

The Press-Enterprise June 9, 2002 -

Horrified city stands together

SLAYING: Police investigate a gay man's killing as residents and merchants speak out.

06/09/2002

By GEORGE WATSON, SHARYN OBSATZ and LISA O'NEILL HILL
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE

RIVERSIDE - Patrons showed up Saturday night at a downtown Riverside gay bar determined to celebrate an annual "Prom Night" formal despite a fatal stabbing outside the club just three nights earlier.

Police are investigating the killing of Jeffery Owens, a gay Moreno Valley man, as a potential hate crime.

"I think it's scary because you never know what will happen to you, (but) I can't live too much in fear of other people," said Aimee J. Rivas, 29, a lesbian who has been coming to the bar, called The Menagerie, for years. Rivas grew up in Bloomington and now lives in Los Angeles.

Karon Horta/The Press-Enterprise David St. Pierre owns The Menagerie in Riverside, where a vigil will be held at 8 tonight in memory of Jeffery Owens, who died Thursday after he was stabbed behind the downtown bar.

Owens and Michael Bussee, 48, were attacked by several people about midnight Wednesday behind The Menagerie, police said. They stood in the parking lot when someone approached Bussee, punched and then stabbed him in the back. Owens tried to intervene and also was stabbed, police said.

After two operations, Owens died shortly after 8:30 a.m. Thursday.

Different folks

The clientele who frequent The Menagerie and Sandy's Pub next door could scarcely be more different. Sandy's is a gritty saloon where men play pool under sagging lights or nurse beers at the smoky bar while eyeing the woman who refills their mugs. The Menagerie caters to gay men who dance through the evening to a DJ. Paintings of nude men hang on gold-colored walls.

But last week's slaying of Owens, 40, has pulled this seemingly odd couple closer together.

The wall that separates the bars does not prevent their customers from mingling. Sandy's serves only beer and wine, so customers wanting liquor know they can head to The Menagerie for a hard drink. Some regulars also like singing karaoke there on Monday nights, while The Menagerie's customers visit Sandy's to shoot pool.

The owners of both establishments are speaking out together against the crime. They also hope the attack that took Owens' life won't diminish years of hard work by neighborhood businesses to turn around the University Avenue area.

"It's absolutely wonderful that you can have a gay bar and a straight bar get along," Sandy's owner Sandy Beam said Saturday. "A lot of people will just say, it's a gay man and it just affects a gay community. And that's ridiculous. We're all community."

Bussee returned Saturday to his friend's memorial after buying extra vases to hold all the bouquets. He said he was glad people decided not to stay home.

"We can't let idiots like this intimidate people getting together with their friends," Bussee said.

History

There was a time a decade ago when people stayed away from University Avenue because they thought it was too dangerous and too dirty, recalled Debra Madore, who bought the Lake Alice Trading Co. bar and restaurant 13 years ago. Now everyone tells her she's in a fabulous location as nights are busy with bar-hoppers.

That's why Madore is so horrified by the killing, so worried that it will rob the neighborhood of its great advances.

"I feel our city has been violated," Madore said. "We're not some hick town that doesn't tolerate the differences in people. We're an educated community."

Many people wonder how much Riverside Wednesday Night, the weekly market fair held nearby, might have contributed to the attack.

"One night a week you have this seedier element," said Miles Gullingsrud, who serves coffee at Back to the Grind, a nearby coffeehouse.

Menagerie owner David St. Pierre said he has no idea whether Market Night was a factor but that there have been problems in the past.

"There're a lot of younger kids, and some in gangs," he said.

At the coffeehouse, people shared memories of Owens, focusing on his life instead of his death.

But some patrons were frustrated about what they said is a history of anti-gay attacks on the street. They accused police of not taking the problem seriously.

"It's not a big deal if someone gay gets hurt. Cops don't care what happens down here," said Teresa Raef, 21, of San Bernardino.

Seeking killers

"We're working this case extremely hard," said Riverside police Lt. Meredyth Meredith, who supervises homicide and other investigations.

As of Saturday evening, police were looking for the people who attacked Owens, described as four to six males with shaved heads.

Meredith declined to release specifics about the circumstances that led to Owens' death.

But she said police are trying to determine whether a car seen leaving the area around the time of the attack is connected to the crime.

Police continue to investigate Owens' death as a hate crime, Meredith said. Robbery does not appear to be a motive and it does not appear that the victims and suspects knew each other.

Police have not found the weapon used to kill Owens.

Riverside police Lt. Mark Boyer, who supervises the downtown area, said officers have met with St. Pierre and his employees to ensure that everything is all right.

Community responds

Members of community immediately responded to the crime, said Chani Beeman, chairwoman of the Riverside City Human Relations Commission and a board member of the Western Inland Empire Coalition Against Hate.

The Human Relations Commission will hold a special meeting Thursday night at Riverside City Hall to discuss the killing.

Reach George Watson at (909) 368-9457 or gwatson@pe.com

CANDLELIGHT VIGIL

An anti-hate rally and vigil will be held tonight at the site where Jeffery Owens suffered fatal stab wounds.

• WHEN: 8 p.m.

• WHERE: Behind The Menagerie, 3581 University Ave., Riverside

HATE ATTACKS

Some past anti-gay attacks in the Inland area include:

· March 1981: UC Riverside baseball players are accused of attacking a gay activist and his heterosexual friend on campus. The alleged victims are shoved and taunted with anti-gay slurs but decline to file charges.

· 1982: Two men force their way into a gay man's Palm Springs condominium. They call him names, hit him and kick him. The victim suffers a concussion and broken ribs.

· January 1998: Three teens wielding sticks attack a gay Riverside man in Fairmount Park.

· April 1998: Three Riverside men attack a gay man outside a fast food restaurant. The assailants plead guilty and serve county jail time.

· November 2000: A man shouts a gang slogan, yells slurs against gays and punches a 19-year-old Colton man in the face while the victim gathers with friends in downtown Riverside.

· May 2001: A man insults and beats a gay man at a bar in Hemet.

December 2001: Two Winchester men and a Lake Elsinore woman are accused of making racist slurs to a black clerk and beating two gay customers at a Lake Elsinore convenience store.

THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE

The Press-Enterprise June 10, 2002 -

Crowd mourns slaying victim

RIVERSIDE: More than 400 attend a vigil for a gay man whose attack police believe was a hate crime.

06/10/2002

By GEORGE WATSON
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE

RIVERSIDE - More than 400 people packed a parking lot in downtown Riverside on Sunday night to grieve for Jeffery Owens and denounce his slaying, which police believe was a hate crime.

Many came not just because Owens was part of the gay community, but because he was part of the greater Riverside community. Owens, 40, lived in Moreno Valley, where he shared a home with his partner, Jeff Holland, and their two Dalmatians.

The Riverside Police Department released two composites of the attacker who stabbed two men Thursday.

"The last five years have been the happiest of his life," said Brent Owens, the victim's brother, while standing on a podium near where his brother was attacked early Thursday morning. "Jeff Holland, that's where credit is due. You made my brother so happy."

Rabbi Harold Caminker of Temple Beth El in Riverside urged the crowd to not let the attack, which he called a display of unspeakable cowardice, go unnoticed.

"We will not be silent!" Caminker chanted several times with the crowd.

David Shea/The Press-Enterprise More than 400 people gather for a candlelight vigil in the parking lot of The Menagerie bar in downtown Riverside where Jeffery Owens was fatally stabbed earlier last week in a suspected hate crime.

Owens and a friend were attacked by four to six men with shaved heads about midnight Wednesday in the parking lot behind The Menagerie, a bar popular with gays. The friend suffered knife wounds but survived. Owens died several hours later.

Chief Russ Leach told listeners he hoped to announce some new developments in the case in the coming days. He promised that police investigators were digging into every lead. Mayor Ron Loveridge, one of several city leaders to attend, offered his condolences to Owens' family and friends.

At the vigil, police handed out leaflets describing the assault and a description of the attackers. It said they were looking for a black Chevrolet pickup with an extended cab, last seen headed north on Orange Street toward Mission Inn Boulevard. The leaflets also said one of the assailants appeared to be in his mid-20s, was 5 feet, 11 inches tall, 190 pounds, and wearing a white Raiders jersey with black lettering.

Police released two composite sketches Sunday of the stabbing suspect in the crime.

David Shea/The Press-Enterprise Alexis Petancourt, 11, wipes away a tear as she and Stephanie Lopez, 11, participate in the Sunday vigil.

Two witnesses met separately with a Riverside Police Department sketch artist Friday night, and their descriptions and the resulting composites are similar, Detective Rita Cobb said. Their descriptions of the man were similar to descriptions of the assailant already given by the victims and witnesses to the attack, Cobb said.

The two witnesses did not see the stabbings but were in the vicinity. Cobb declined to further identify them or be more specific about where they saw the man.

David Shea/The Press-Enterprise Susan Daniels of Riverside places a candle at a memorial for Jeffery Owens in downtown Riverside during a vigil

Cobb said anyone with information about the case should call her at (909) 320-8027 or Detective Fred Kelvington at 320-8062.

Staff writer Gail Wesson contributed to this report.

Reach George Watson at (909) 368-9457 or gwatson@pe.com

Forum

A public meeting on "Confronting Hate in Our Community" is set for 7 p.m. Thursday at Riverside City Hall, 3900 Main St.

The Press-Enterprise June 11, 2002 -

Murder in a parking lot

06/11/2002

I tried to picture Jeffery Owens' murderer returning to the scene on Sunday night.

He would have seen hundreds of people -- from the gray-haired mayor to a green-haired young man in the crowd -- mourning the death of, quite simply, one of us.

He would have heard himself branded a "coward" -- a domestic terrorist, really, whose hateful attack silenced one man but may have awakened a city.

He might have sneered at the candles, speeches and hand-written messages on a sprawling "memory cloth." But his gut might have knotted with the first faint flicker of uncertainty: He could pay dearly for what he had done. Eventually, he will.

Yet, this scene-of-the-crime memorial -- a parking-lot gathering beneath the ornate steeple of Riverside's historic First Congregational Church -- was free of calls for revenge. As the RPD sought to question a young Hispanic male with a shaved head and a Raiders wardrobe, Riverside tried to absorb yet another violent, senseless death.

We have traveled a rough road from Tyisha Miller to RPD Detective Doug Jacobs to Jeffery Owens. We have not always traveled it well -- or together. We have compiled an uninspiring history of spin doctors, made-for-TV rhetoric, racial distrust and AG decrees.

But it strikes me that things are different now, and not just because the Riverside police are neither "heavies" nor victims in this case.

Mayor Loveridge condemned this murder right off the bat. Sure, who wouldn't have? But he didn't allow a vacuum to take hold. Though not a gifted speaker, he showed up at Sunday's memorial and there was comfort in his words. His presence is what counted most.

Things are different now because Riverside police have regained some of the public confidence they lost in the Tyisha Miller days.

"Accept us as your police department because we are," RPD Chief Russell Leach told The Menagerie parking lot crowd. No boos, hisses or snickers. "Help us solve this case."

Things are different now because Riverside is hearing from its newer voices -- Leach and Temple Beth El Rabbi Harold Caminker. Openly gay, openly eloquent and openly determined that hate crimes will not go unanswered, Caminker repeated time and again, "Silence equals death."

This echo of the "No Justice, No Peace" incantations of recent years accompanied the rabbi's stern warning: "It can destroy a community if people refuse to speak out."

But a mayor, police chief and rabbi can do only so much. Word circulated that gay men have been repeatedly attacked in this parking lot, but the incidents are never reported. If true, this can only embolden attackers. Silence, quite literally, may have equaled death.

I didn't know Jeffery Owens. I'm not sure how many who attended this memorial ever met him. I am sure his death cannot be allowed to slip into the mists of memory. If silence emboldens attackers, tragedy must embolden a community.

The mayor spoke of the "friendship and fellowship" a mere stroll through downtown Riverside on a pleasant Wednesday night holds for so many. These are priceless gifts we so willingly and effortlessly exchange with one another. They are the essence of a city; we hoard them at our peril. Keeping this friendship and fellowship alive may be the best way to honor the memory of Jeffery Owens. We can't give in, if only for his sake. After all, he was one of us.

Reach Dan Bernstein at (909) 368-9439 or dbernstein@pe.com

The Press-Enterprise June 11, 2002 -

Police still probe killing

CRIME: No arrests have been made in the fatal attack in Riverside on a gay man last week.

06/11/2002

By LISA O'NEILL HILL and JOSE ARBALLO JR.
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE

RIVERSIDE - Police on Monday continued to pursue numerous leads in the stabbing death of a gay man in the parking lot of a downtown Riverside bar, and credited the public with providing information.

"People have been really willing to talk with us and to work with us and to help out in whatever way they can," said Riverside police Lt. Meredyth Meredith, who is supervising the investigation of the homicide, which is suspected of being a hate crime.

No arrests have been made in the death of Jeffery Owens, 40, of Moreno Valley, who was attacked about midnight Wednesday in the parking lot behind The Menagerie, a University Avenue bar frequented by gays and lesbians. Owens' friend, Michael Bussee, 48, also was punched and stabbed.

Police are looking for four suspects, one of whom made a slur about homosexuals before stabbing Owens.

Owens' partner, Jeff Holland, has said the attackers said: "You want some trouble . . . fag, here it is."

Hate crime angle

Meanwhile, Supervising Deputy District Attorney John Davis, who prosecutes hate crimes in western Riverside County, said it is too early to know whether the attack will be prosecuted as a hate crime. But he said if the case turns out to be filed as a hate crime involving Hispanic suspects and gay victims, it will be rare.

"These kinds of crimes are committed by young white males," he said.

For the attack to be considered a hate crime, the sexual orientation of the victims had to be a primary cause for the attack, rather than an incidental element of the crime, Davis said. Simply because a slur is uttered, he said, does not make it a hate crime.

The men and their partners were outside the bar near a van looking at photographs from a trip they took to Joshua Tree in April when, Bussee said, he was punched in the face by a man described as Hispanic, in his mid-20s, with a shaved head. The assailant was described as 5 feet 11 inches tall, about 190 pounds, wearing a white Raiders jersey with black letters, baggy jeans and high-top tennis shoes, police said.

Bussee said he was also stabbed by that man. He said neither he nor Owens realized they had been stabbed until later.

Police said three other Hispanic men -- all in their mid-20s, all with shaved heads, and all wearing baggy pants and black Raiders jerseys with silver letters -- also were at the parking lot. It is unclear whether Bussee and Owens were stabbed by the same assailant or whether Owens was attacked by more than one person, police said.

Bussee and Holland have said previously that a combination of factors -- features and darker skin color -- convinced them the men were Hispanic.

Meredith said investigators are looking at the possibility that the suspects are gang members but said they also are pursuing numerous avenues.

Anyone with information about the crimes is asked to call Detective Rita Cobb at 320-8027.

'He was defending me'

Owens, who had been active in Inland gay organizations, was upset his friend had been attacked and came to his defense, Bussee said Monday.

"Jeff was riled because I had been hit and he was mad at the guy. He was defending me, which was like him," Bussee said.

Owens scuffled with a man or men, then went to tell a bar doorman to call police, Bussee said. Owens then walked after a man in the other group who was approaching a truck and told him to come back and not be a coward or something similar, Bussee said. Bussee said he did not witness what happened next but said Owens' partner told him that several men knocked Owens to the ground. That apparently was when Owens was stabbed.

The truck drove away and Owens was able to get back in the van, said Bussee, who called police from his cell phone as his group was leaving the parking lot.

Police said they are investigating whether a black mid-1990s Chevrolet pickup is connected to the crime. The truck, which has an extended cab, is lowered and may have chrome wheels, was seen leaving the area around the time of the crime, police said.

On Sunday night, hundreds of people showed up for a vigil at the bar where Owens was stabbed.

"I think this has struck a note, not just with the gay community, but with people of conscience, people who care," Bussee said.

Reach Lisa O'Neill Hill at (909) 368-9462 or loneillhill@pe.com

The Press-Enterprise June 12, 2002 - 

Panel to discuss death of Moreno Valley man

REACTION: The Human Relations Commission will hear about what's being called a hate crime.

06/12/2002

By LISA O'NEILL HILL
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE

RIVERSIDE - At a recent vigil for a gay man fatally stabbed, hundreds denounced hatred and remembered his life. At a Thursday Human Relations Commission meeting, people will have the chance to vent and talk about what to do next.

"There's a lot of fear and people are feeling vulnerable and I'm hoping that as a result of this meeting, they will see they are not alone and there are people who will stand up and say this will not happen to anyone in the community," Chani Beeman, chairwoman of Riverside's Human Relations Commission, said.

Beeman said she expects a large turnout at the Thursday meeting. Many people who attended the vigil for Jeffery Owens, 40, of Moreno Valley, who was fatally stabbed June 5, said they would also attend, Beeman said.

Owens was attacked in the parking lot of The Menagerie, a downtown bar frequented by gays and lesbians. A man punched Owens' friend, Michael Bussee, 48, in the face, then stabbed him. When Owens confronted the assailant and three others, an anti-gay slur was said and Owens also was stabbed. He died the next morning at Riverside County Regional Medical Center.

Police describe suspect

Police are looking for four men, and have issued a composite of one: a Hispanic man in his mid-20s with a shaved head. Witnesses described that man as 5 feet 11 inches tall, 190 pounds, and wearing a white Raiders jersey with black letters, baggy jeans, and high-top tennis shoes. No arrests have been made.

Riverside Police Chief Russ Leach said his department has evidence to suggest that what happened is a hate crime. He would not specify that evidence.

"This was a brutal attack on individuals based on who they were," he said.

Owens' death has reverberated throughout the gay and lesbian community, and beyond.

Byron Clements, 42, of Palm Springs, a bartender at Wolf's Den in Cathedral City, said it is terrible that a hate crime can occur in this day and age. Wolf's is a gay bar that welcomes everyone, he said.

Especially horrible, he said, is that Owens was attacked outside a gay bar where he had gone to socialize with friends and have a good time.

"It's like a hunting expedition," said Clements, who is gay.

Clements said he and his friends watch each others' backs.

"If anybody were to get in my face, I don't know what I would do," Clements said. "I would call 911, for one thing."

Others feel vulnerable

Nancy Tubbs, director of UCR's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Center, said Owens' death was a shock and a reminder that people in her community are vulnerable to hate crimes. The Menagerie, Back to the Grind coffee bar and other places have long been considered safe places where gays and lesbians can go and feel comfortable, she said.

"What do you tell students now? Hopefully, this is an aberration and the local businesses down there are working with city services. It does make us think twice," she said.

Councilman Chuck Beaty, whose ward includes downtown, said he saw a cross section of people at the vigil for Owens.

"We will not tolerate violence and in particular we will not tolerate hate crimes," Beaty said. "We have made such progress. We have so many things going on."

At Tuesday's council meeting, the mayor and council members denounced the fatal attack and said that they support efforts like the Human Relations Commission.

"Hate crimes against any individuals, because of their race, religion, gender, age, ethnicity, abilities, disabilities, language or sexual orientation will not be tolerated in the city of Riverside," Councilwoman Laura Pearson said.

Reach Lisa O'Neill Hill at (909) 368-9462 or loneillhill@pe.com

Metting

What: Human Relations Commission meeting. Discussion about fatal stabbing in the parking lot of a gay bar in Riverside.

Where: Riverside City Council Chambers, 3900 Main St.

When: 7 p.m. Thursday

The Press-Enterprise June 14, 2002 -

Crowd turns city meeting into eulogy

DIVERSITY: A gay man's death unites Riverside in calls for tolerance and mutual respect.

06/14/2002

By MICHAEL CORONADO
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE

RIVERSIDE - Nearly 200 people turned Riverside's City Hall into a place of hope Thursday night, condemning hate and praising diversity during the city's Human Relations Commission meeting.

The turnout was in response to the killing of Jeffery Owens, 40, of Moreno Valley, who was stabbed June 5 in the parking lot of The Menagerie, a downtown bar frequented by gays and lesbians.

Owens was attacked after he confronted four men, one of whom had stabbed his friend Michael Bussee, 48. During the assault, someone shouted an anti-gay slur, police and at least one witness said, and stabbed Owens, who died the next morning at Riverside County Regional Medical Center.

Bussee survived.

"I have never felt unsafe until last week," Bussee said Thursday night. "I want to feel safe again . . . and know we're not going to get stabbed in the back by some faceless hate-monger."

Bussee's voice cracked as he closed his statement.

"I miss him. Please don't ever forget him," he said, as audience members stood and applauded.

Owens' death has reached into the corners of the Inland area. About 400 attended a downtown vigil Sunday night to grieve for Owens. Police call his slaying a hate crime.

Riverside Police Chief Russ Leach pledged that one day residents will be able to walk city streets free of hate walking alongside them.

Statements condemning hate crimes were read from various organizations, including the Greater Riverside Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Riverside Community College, Coalition for Common Ground and UC Riverside.

Riverside police Lt. John Wallace asked the audience to not be fearful of reporting hate crimes. He urged victims to remember details, preserve evidence and, most of all, tell authorities.

The city's Human Relations Commission studies prejudice and discrimination issues in the community and advises the City Council.

In 2001, 26 hate crimes were reported in the city based on race, up from 17 in 2000. In 2001, five were reported based on sexual orientation, down from seven in 2000.

Rabbi Harold Caminker of Temple Beth El in Riverside said that when Owens was killed, the city became a darker place. Only by coming together in greater numbers with a strong, united voice can the community overcome hate, he said.

Others talked of teaching tolerance programs in schools to help show children why it's not OK to make fun of people's race, religion, gender and sexual orientation or the way they look.

Mary Figueroa, president of the Riverside Community College board of trustees, said that all killings need to be given the attention that Owens' death has received.

"We need to stand up for no violence in Riverside, regardless of who the individual is or how they live," she said.

No arrests had been made as of Thursday night in Owens slaying. Police are seeking four men, all with shaved heads, who police said were Hispanic. One is described as being in his mid-20s. Witnesses described that man as 5 feet 11 inches tall, 190 pounds and wearing a white Raiders jersey with black letters, baggy jeans and high-top tennis shoes.

Approximately $3,500 has been raised for the Jeffery Owens Memorial Fund, said David St. Pierre, owner of The Menagerie. After the meeting, a procession of audience members walked to The Menagerie, led by a bagpiper, to commemorate Owens' life.

If you need to report a hate crime, call (866) NO2HATE, or 662-4283.

Reach Michael Coronado at (909) 368-9645 or mcoronado@pe.com

The Press-Enterprise June 16 -

Hate label may not stick legally

HATE CRIME: Such a charge, even in the Inland slaying of a gay man, may be hard to prove.

06/16/2002

By GEORGE WATSON, LISA O'NEILL HILL and JOSE ARBALLO JR.
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE

RIVERSIDE - The slaying of Jeffery Owens appears to have all of the trappings of a vicious hate crime.

As police and witnesses describe it, a group of young men confronted a few gay men around midnight June 5 outside a gay bar in downtown Riverside. As one man was stabbed, Owens tussled with at least one of the assailants and then told a bar doorman to call police. Owens confronted his assailants again. Someone then called him a "fag" and stabbed him repeatedly in the back.

City leaders and members of the gay and lesbian community quickly condemned the attack that took Owens' life and injured his friend, Michael Bussee.

"It's a hate crime," said Police Chief Russ Leach. "The motive was pure hatred."

But there's more at stake than just a label. Proving that someone committed a hate crime, coupled with a murder conviction, can raise punishment to stiffer penalties, even death or life without parole.

Prosecutors with experience in hate-crime cases say it's too early to tell if Owens' slaying would be prosecuted as such. No arrests have been made in the case yet.

What spurred the assailants to attack Bussee is still unknown. Police and Bussee say there was no interaction prior to the attack between Bussee, 48, Owens, 40, and the four men believed to be involved.

"In this case, it sounds like it very well might be a jury question," said Mark Potok, a spokesman for the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala., a nonprofit organization that monitors hate crimes nationally. " . . . (But) it sounds more like a hate crime than not."

Tough to prosecute

A prosecutor who will assist in the Owens case says his office still doesn't have all the facts. A crucial factor for levying the hate-crime charge would be how the events unfolded, said John Davis, a supervising deputy district attorney who prosecutes hate crimes for the Riverside County district attorney's office.

"It might end up being a close call that won't be made until the last moment," Davis said. "If it appears that the victim's sexual orientation was a primary motivating factor for the fight or the stabbing, then it could have been a hate crime. If it appears there was a fight and then someone yells a sexual stereotype, then it would appear to not have been a hate crime."

Prosecutors with hate-crime experience say the struggle would be to show the assailants were motivated by the men's sexual orientation. That means developing a clear motive, frequently the most complicated picture to paint in a courtroom.

"It's very difficult to get in the heads of these individuals," said Michael Gennaco, former chief of the civil rights unit in the Los Angeles U.S. attorney's office. "But there are ways to do it."

Gennaco prosecuted a dozen hate-crime cases when he was with the U.S. attorney's office, including skinheads in Lancaster and white supremacist Buford Furrow.

In 1999, Furrow wounded five people at a Jewish center, then killed a Filipino-American mailman. Furrow bragged to authorities that he killed the postal worker because he hated federal workers and minorities. Due to the hate-crime charge sticking, he was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

Because not every case is as clear-cut as Furrow's, prosecutors need to support the hate-crime allegation through circumstantial evidence and prior or subsequent statements or actions, said Gennaco, who is now the chief lawyer for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office of Independent Review. For example, suspects could have had discussions a week before an attack about their hate for gay people, he said.

Critics

Some critics of hate-crime prosecution have said that it is unfair to punish both the act and motivation for a crime. They also note that people who commit similar crimes can be punished differently depending on victims' different backgrounds.

Robert Davis, a Hemet attorney who has defended several people accused of hate crimes, said each defendant should be treated the same by the law, regardless of the crime's circumstances.

"If you get beat up, do you get beat up any less because you are not gay?" he asked.

He echoed other contentions that hate-crime prosecutions can be influenced by political groups or community activists who demand a harsher punishment. Owens' killing has received extensive media coverage, has been commented on by area politicians and was the focus of a candlelight vigil attended by hundreds of people.

John Davis, the Riverside County prosecutor, said he has never received outside pressure to file a case as a hate crime. He said a decision on how the Owens case would be prosecuted would be made after a review by several people because it involves a killing.

Deciding when to use

Advocates of the hate-crime charge say it is integral for protecting gays and lesbians and people of different races.

Perpetrators of hate must know they can face severe punishments for their actions, said Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino.

Sometimes, prosecutors decide not to use the hate-crime charge if they believe it won't add to the sentence but will instead complicate their case, Levin said.

And while prosecutors can still point out the involvement of hate during a proceeding even without filing a hate-crime charge, Levin said he hopes the added charge would be used in Owens' case. Studies have shown that attacks on gay men are underreported, and to prove hate was involved in cases like Owens' slaying could help gays feel safer telling police of future assaults, he said.

"It's important for our community to call this what it is," Levin said. "I think the symbolism is important."

Reach George Watson at (909) 368-9457 or gwatson@pe.com

The Press-Enterprise June 16

Mourners' cries of pain elicit no answers

MEMORIAL: Friends and family of a stabbing victim pour out love.

06/16/2002

By TIM O'LEARY and HAN KWAK
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE

MORENO VALLEY - Words exchanged outside a Riverside bar. A widely known member of the gay community stabbed in the back.

And then, on Saturday, muffled sobs echoing in a crowded church as family and friends cry and wonder.

About 165 people, two dozen more than allowed by the fire marshal, jammed a sweltering memorial service at Grace Episcopal Church in Moreno Valley for Jeffery Tod Owens, 40, who was fatally stabbed last week outside The Menagerie, a Riverside bar frequented by gays and lesbians. About a dozen more people listened outside the main sanctuary.

Carlos Puma/The Press-Enterprise Jeff Holland, Jeffery Tod Owens' partner, is comforted after a memorial service for Owens.

Latina Leslie of Moreno Valley, one of the speakers who eulogized Owens, recalled their long talks while working at the Inland AIDS Project, conversations that touched on racism and homophobia. Leslie, who is black, said she and Owens felt a kinship.

"He said he knew how it felt to be black and discriminated against," Leslie said.

"He was very compassionate about the gay community," she said after the service."He was aggressively committed."

Many friends remembered Owens, a Moreno Valley resident, as caring, compassionate, adventurous and artistic. Many were still in shock over his death, having known him or frequented the same establishments as he did.

Some were stunned that Riverside had become the site of the latest in a string of anti-gay hate crimes nationwide, which the FBI says claimed 28 lives in 1999 and 16 in 2000.

"Where I live, you get called 'fag' and 'queer.' In Riverside it was more peaceful," said San Bernardino resident Albert Chagolla. "I've gone to The Menagerie and Back to the Grind (in downtown Riverside), and I've never seen anything like that. It hit me quite hard."

Episcopalian priest Jay Tilwit of Redlands agreed, saying many gays perceive Riverside as progressive and open to them.

"It is a peaceful community. That's what makes it so hard," said Tilwit, who still had a wax stain on his black shirt from a June 9 candlelight vigil in remembrance of Owens that attracted about 400 people. Nearly 200 people attended the city's Human Relations Commission meeting Thursday at Riverside's City Hall.

"The stereotypes die hard," Tilwit said. "I think it brought home the fact that these things go on despite the progress that has been made."

Jeff Holland, Owens' partner, told police the attackers made a reference to Owens' sexuality. Riverside police are investigating the homicide as a hate crime. No arrests have been made. Owens, 40, graduated from North High School in 1979. He attended college and served in the Air Force for four years. He loved to cook, take photographs and spend time with his two Dalmatians, Arson and CeeCee.

Mike Bussee of Riverside, who was stabbed once in the back during the attack outside The Menagerie, said his mind was filled with questions that have no answers.

"It's stupid, senseless. I can't understand that hate, where it comes from," he said. "That a stranger could kill another stranger because they are a certain thing or look a certain way. You look for a rationalization, but there is no rationalization."

Reach Tim O'Leary at (909) 587-3133 or toleary@pe.com

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