Brody's Notes... UNC Gay Freshmen Attacked- University Police Say Attack Is A Hate Crime

Quinn Matney via WRAL.com

By Mark Singer (Washington DC) APR 12 | An openly gay freshman at the University of North Carolina was severely burned last week when a man attacked him on campus in what university police are classifying as a hate crime.

19 year old Quinn Matney said the attack happened on the Craige Residence Hall footbridge near his dormitory on the Chapel Hill campus.  Matney said that the man suddenly grabbed him by his left wrist and said; “Here’s a taste of hell you f—-ing fag,” while holding a heated unidentified object to his skin causing third- and fourth-degree burns that damaged three nerves and a tendon, leaving the freshman with no feeling in his thumb and limited mobility in his index finger:

"It has burned all the way through the flesh and burned through muscle and tendon." Matney said he tried to pull away — but the man didn't let go until Matney threw a hard punch to the assailant's face.

LGBTQ students on campus along with their straight allies are angered that university officials waited two full days before issuing an alert to students.

Jeff Deluca, co-president of the UNC's Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender and Straight Alliance, said he is alarmed by the administration’s initial silence on the attack:

“A very blatant hate crime against a GLBT individual occurred on this campus, and we only heard about it by word of mouth,” DeLuca said.

In an interview with the University's student run newspaper, The Daily Tar Heel, DeLuca said GLBTSA is holding a public forum to discuss the incident during its regular Thursday meeting, and has invited school administrators to attend.

“The community has a right to feel kind of shocked and scared by what happened, but we’re here to try to allay those fears and let people know about the resources available and also to address the issue of how the student body was notified,” he said.

At GLBTSA our main concern, though, is making sure that we rally up around Quinn and do everything we can to support him in this time where he needs our community’s support the most.”

In a statement issued Monday, UNC Chancellor Holden Thorpe said the school's public safety department is notifying federal authorities that they are classifying the attack as a hate crime and "will bring the strongest possible charges against the attacker."

Thorpe also acknowledged that UNC officials are reviewing the way they alert students about crimes. The Daily Tar Heel reports:

Winston Crisp, vice chancellor for student affairs, said current notification methods warn students when there is an immediate danger.

Crisp, who will attend the GLBTSA's public forum Thursday, said these policies are being reviewed, especially following last week’s armed attack.

“We have learned from feedback from the campus on recent events there may be a need for another level of information that we push out to the campus,” he said.

Jeff McCracken, Director of the UNC Department of Public Safety said that the attacker is being sought on charges of aggravated assault.

“We don’t have any suspect information that we could comment on at this point in time,” he said.

According to Matney his assailant appeared to be a white younger man or teen, standing 5 feet 10 inches, with a large build and short brown hair, he said.