Second Victim of Alleged Gay Bashing Speaks Out

Different versions of the assault emerge in online forum
By: Reyhan Harmanci

A second victim of an alleged gay bashing in Oakland spoke out Friday, after a man claiming to be a witness to the assault challenged a published account of the incident.

The challenge led to a heated exchange between the man and the two victims in the comment section of The Bay Citizen.

Adel Castellon said that he was "trying to stay positive" after learning that his face was broken in five different places -- from the bottom of his eye to his jaw -- in the attack. 

Castellon said he and his bandmate, Brontez Purnell, were unlocking their bikes outside Club Paradiso Wednesday night, when two men leaving the club made homophobic remarks to them. According to Castellon, the verbal exchange turned violent during the course of the 15-minute encounter, and he suffered the worst injuries.

On Thursday, The Bay Citizen reported Purnell's version of the events. According to Purnell, the two attackers said, "You're in the wrong club" and "If you were in Jamaica you'd be dead by now." Purnell said that when he confronted the two men, they punched him and Castellon.

After The Bay Citizen published Purnell's account, Kevin Bynes, who described himself as a witness, offered a different account of the incident and criticized Purne.

"The so called victim rode around on his bike yelling at the two guys in the black SUV repeatedly and it wasn't until the so-called victim spit on the driver and tried to break his window with his bike lock that the two accused 'gay bashers' reacted by chasing the guy away," Bynes wrote in the comment section of The Bay Citizen. "This man TOTALLY provoked this situation and initiated the violence."

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"That was NOT a gay bashing, and I think it is dangerous for us to suggest that every time a gay person gets into a fight its a gay bashing," he wrote.

Bynes said he witnessed the incident from across the street, and affirmed Castellon's statements that Castellon had been trying to pull Purnell and one of the men apart, when Castellon was punched in the face.

Bynes, who identified himself as a gay activist, did not respond to calls for comment -- and the Oakland Police Department did not respond to repeated calls and emails about the incident.

Purnell replied to Bynes online. "If your such a sensible homosexual, why didnt you HELP US?," he asked. "WE WERE THE VICTIMS OF VIOLENCE, verbal and otherwise. I threw my bike lock AFTER they punched me and Adal." Purnell said that he used the lock "to pause them long enough to get their plate number."

Castellon also responded to Bynes in the comment section, defending Purnell and insisting that the two attackers used "homophobic comments" before the assault.

Castellon explained that he decided to give an interview to The Bay Citizen after he read Bynes' remarks. "What I want to be clear about is that they initiated contact between our two parties," Castellon said.

Vince Mackey, head of VM Security LLC, said that his security firm had an officer stationed at the club on Wednesday. He said that none of his employees witnessed the altercation firsthand. He added that they became aware of the incident only after a bleeding Castellon asked to use the club's bathrooms. 

"I can assure you that the venue and my company, we do not discriminate based on orientation, race, creed -- that would never come into play," he said. Mackey said that he has never known of a crime to have taken place at Paradiso, besides some "scrapes."

While Castellon and Purnell insist that they were punched because the two men perceived them to be a gay couple (Purnell is gay and Castellon is straight), it remains unclear whether the incident would be classified as a hate crime.

The state's penal code defines a hate crime as "any act of intimidation, harassment, physical force, or the threat of physical force, directed against any person, or family, or their property or advocate, motivated either in whole or in part by the hostility to the real or perceived ethnic background, national origin, religious belief, gender, age, disability or sexual orientation, of that person with the intention of causing fear and intimidation."

According to Maria Morales, Intervention Director at Community United Against Violence, a San Francisco-based anti-violence non-profit, California's definition of a "hate crime" is a narrow subcategory of what she terms "hate violence," the majority of which she contends goes unreported. 

"For us, what's important to know is that the violence was motivated by hate," she said. 

This week, the California Attorney General's Office reported that hate crimes against gay men decreased 10.8 percent from 120 in 2009 to 107 in 2010. According to the report, hate crimes based on sexual orientation represented 25.2 percent of all hate crimes reported last year.

Purnell and Castellon filed a police report right after the incident, and are awaiting word on their investigation. Castellon will have surgery on Tuesday.

"I don't have insurance," he said, "which is making this whole situation harder."