Hate crime or not? Cops investigate Midtown attack

John Evans has told police he was beaten outside Blake’s, a popular Midtown bar, because of his sexuality. And though many in Atlanta’s gay community are treating the incident as a hate crime, police have not yet classified it as such.

“People are really upset about this,” said Timothy McGuckin, 34, a Midtown architect and one of more than 700 people who joined a Facebook group, “Take Back Georgia,” formed in the wake of the alleged attack.

On Thursday, a fund-raiser will be held to help pay the medical bills of Evans, a 28-year-old Midtown waiter.

“You just don’t expect things like this to happen. Not here. Not in 2009,” said Jason Andersen, also a Midtown architect, who started the Facebook group. “We want to let our elected officials know this is unacceptable.”

Police are trying to reconcile two very different accounts of what happened to Evans, who suffered some chipped teeth and a bloody lip in the assault. That, and the fact the attack happened in the parking lot behind Blake’s, are about the only undisputed details.

The incident report filed Sunday night by Atlanta Police Det. Raymond Layton made no mention of the homophobic slurs Evans later said he endured. “At the time of this report there is no evidence that this was a bias crime,” Layton stated in his report.

On Wednesday, Evans met with Officer Dani Lee Harris, the Police Department’s gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered liaison. He told her that two men approached him and asked if he was gay, and when he replied yes, they beat him and stole his wallet.

But according to the report previously filed by Layton, who was working off-duty at Blake’s, Evans “had his wallet and cell phone and advised the suspect did not attempt to take or demand any of his property.”

• “(Evans) stated that he met some guys outside the nightclub and they wanted him to come back to (sic) there place. The male stated that he walked with the males behind the business and when they got behind the dumpster a male hit and then kicked him in the face several times,” Layton wrote.

• Layton’s report said the incident occurred near midnight. Evans told Harris he was attacked around 10 p.m.

• Layton also reported that Evans had been kicked out of Blake’s for being too intoxicated. The detective’s statement was confirmed by several employees of the bar who said Evans was asked to leave. But Evans denied to Harris that he had been ejected from the bar.

Asked in an interview Friday about the two-hour discrepancy in the time of the incident, Evans said, “I was trying to get all my stuff back. My teeth were knocked out, I’m trying to call friends for help, I was hysterical.”

Evans denied telling Harris his wallet was stolen, but said his attackers took his credit cards out of the wallet and threw them on the ground. He said they also demanded how much he had in the bank and wanted to take him to an ATM to withdraw money.

“I told them I was a waiter and I didn’t have much money. I was like, ‘I’m broke. Please don’t kill me,’” Evans said.

Evans denied that he had been kicked out of Blake’s. “I was with a big group. Maybe someone else in the group got kicked out and they were confused,” he said.

He did admit to drinking heavily that night, saying, “I had four Jack-and-Cokes at Blake’s and had shared a pitcher of margaritas earlier with some friends.”

Harris is attempting to untangle the divergent accounts. “It’s going to be investigated as a possible hate crime,” she said.

Layton did not respond to an interview request.

However this plays out, the incident has galvanized the gay community.

“I think you’ll see a renewed push for hate crimes laws,” McGuckin said. He’s already scheduled a meeting with representatives from advocacy groups including Georgia Equality and the Human Rights Campaign. Georgia is one of only five states without hate crimes legislation.