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LOU CHIBBARO JR
Friday, October 03, 2008
About
200
people
participated
in
a
candlelight
march
and
vigil
Sunday
night
in
honor
of
gay
murder
victim
Tony
Randolph
Hunter,
calling
on
the
city’s
politicians
and
residents
to
join
them
in
a
renewed
effort
to
stop
violence
against
gays.
Hunter,
37,
a
resident
of
Clinton,
Md.,
died
Sept.
17,
10
days
after
he
was
attacked
and
beaten
by
four
unidentified
males
at
8th
and
N
Streets
N.W.,
while
he
and
a
friend
were
headed
to
a
gay
bar
less
than
two
blocks
away.
“The
police
tell
us
they
don’t
have
evidence
that
this
was
a
hate
crime,
and
that
it
was
a
robbery,”
said
Dana
Fonville,
a
friend
of
Hunter’s
and
the
lead
organ
izer
of
the
march
and
vigil.
“But
the
person
or
persons
who
did
this
committed
a
senseless
and
hateful
act,
and
now
we
have
to
do
all
we
can
to
fight
back
against
this
violence
in
our
community.”
Many
who
joined
in
the
silent
candlelight
procession
—
including
D.C.
City
Council
members
Jack
Evans
(D-Ward
2),
Carol
Schwartz
(R-At-Large),
and
Kwame
Brown
(D-At-large)
—
agreed
that
the
city’s
existing
programs
aimed
at
curtailing
violent
crime
aren’t
working.
Patrick
Mara,
who
is
challenging
Schwartz
in
the
November
election,
and
Lee
Brian
Reba,
the
openly
gay
deputy
chief
of
staff
for
D.C.
Council
Chair
Vincent
Gray
(D-At-large),
also
participated
in
the
vigil.
The
gathering
occured
two
days
after
Mayor
Adrian
Fenty
issued
a
statement
condemning
the
violence
that
led
to
Hunter’s
death.
That
statement
came
after
some
gay
activists
criticized
him
for
not
speaking
out
sooner
on
Hunter’s
murder
and
on
other
recent
anti-gay
assaults
in
the
city.
“My
administration
has
a
zero
tolerance
policy
towards
hate
crimes,”
Fenty
said.
“We
take
all
incidents
of
homicide
and
assault
very
seriously,
and
it
is
a
high
priority
of
mine
to
decrease
violence
on
our
streets.
“The
death
of
Mr.
Hunter
as
a
result
of
his
attack
on
Sept.
7
is
a
tragedy,
and
my
thoughts
are
with
his
family
and
loved
ones.”
Gay
activist
Peter
Rosenstein,
who
criticized
Fenty
for
not
speaking
out
sooner
on
the
Hunter
murder,
issued
a
statement
after
the
vigil
that
called
on
Fenty
to
“personally
convene”
a
meeting
of
community
groups,
gay
business
leaders,
police
officials,
and
D.C.
schools
Chancellor
Michelle
Rhee
to
address
the
issue
of
anti-gay
violence
and
“its
root
causes.”
“Our
leaders
must
become
personally
involved
because
literally
lives
are
at
stake,”
Rosenstein
said.
Christopher
Dyer,
director
of
the
Mayor’s
Office
of
Lesbian,
Gay,
Bisexual
&
Transgender
Affairs,
who
also
participated
in
the
vigil,
said
his
office
is
involved
in
ongoing
school
programs
to
address
anti-gay
bias,
and
Fenty
supports
expanding
such
programs.
The
candlelight
march
began
at
Metropolitan
Community
Church,
whose
congregation
at
5th
and
Ridge
Streets
N.W.
is
comprised
mostly
of
gays.
Following
a
memorial
service
for
Hunter
at
the
church,
participants
walked
about
five
blocks
through
the
heart
of
the
city’s
Shaw
neighborhood
to
the
site
where
Hunter
was
attacked.
Before
reaching
their
destination,
participants
walked
past
public
housing
projects
that
city
officials
say
are
home
to
some
of
the
youth
gangs,
or
crews,
that
have
been
implicated
in
a
rash
of
violent
muggings
and
shootings
in
the
neighborhood.
The
candle-carrying
marchers,
among
them
same-sex
couples
holding
hands,
also
walked
past
BeBar,
the
gay
club
at
1318
9th
St.
N.W.
where
Hunter
was
going
when
he
was
attacked
at
about
11:30
p.m.
Sept.
7.
Police
said
a
group
of
four
black
males
appearing
to
be
between
19
and
22
years
old
jumped
Hunter
and
his
friend,
Trevor
Carter,
seconds
after
they
stepped
out
of
their
car.
Cash
and
car
keys
were
among
the
items
the
attackers
took
from
Hunter,
according
to
a
police
report
and
accounts
by
Hunter’s
friends.
Last
week,
Assistant
D.C.
Police
Chief
Diane
Grooms
said
homicide
detectives
were
“very
close”
to
closing
the
case
and
making
one
or
more
arrests.
‘Enough
is
enough’
Rev.
Abena
McCray
of
D.C.’s
Unity
Fellowship
Church,
which
has
a
mostly
black
gay
congregation,
led
a
brief
ceremony
on
a
sidewalk
where
police
say
Hunter
and
Carter
were
attacked.
Participants
in
the
procession
stopped
and
placed
their
candles
on
the
sidewalk.
McCray
knelt
and
touched
the
pavement
with
her
hands.
“This
is
the
exact
spot
of
the
beginning
of
him
being
taken
away,”
she
said,
referring
to
the
police
discovery
of
Hunter
unconscious
at
that
location.
“We
ask
you
for
a
healing,
Lord,
at
this
space
where
someone’s
head
was
beaten
for
no
real
reason
other
than
ignorance,”
McCray
said.
“Tony,
we
call
your
name
because
you
have
made
an
awareness.
As
long
as
your
memory
is
alive,
you
are
alive.”
At
McCray’s
request,
the
participants
began
chanting,
“Enough
is
enough,”
a
call
initiated
earlier
in
the
evening
by
transgender
activist
Dee
Curry.
During
the
earlier
gathering
at
Metropolitan
Community
Church,
Pastor
Charlie
Arehart
joined
Hunter’s
friends
and
local
activists
in
expressing
hope
that
Hunter’s
death
would
prompt
the
community
to
take
action
to
stop
violence
against
gays.
Friends
of
Hunter
described
him
at
the
gathering
as
a
warm
and
caring
person
who
considered
his
Christian
faith
to
be
an
important
part
of
his
life.
Fonville
said
that
on
Sept.
7,
hours
before
Hunter
was
attacked
and
taken
to
the
hospital
in
critical
condition,
he
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