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QUEENS: Gay Activist Lou Rispoli Near Death After Savage Attack
Well-known NYC activist Lou Rispoli is reportedly not expected to survive after a brutal attack on the streets of Queens last night. Andy Humm reports at Gay City News:
Lou Rispoli, described by friends as the heart and soul of the gay community in Sunnyside, Queens, where he has lived for more than 30 years, was attacked by two men with whom he was seen walking at 2 a.m. on October 20 outside 41-00 43rd Avenue. He was hit in the head with a blunt object with such force that neighbors who heard the assault but did not see it thought he had been shot. Rispoli has been removed from life support and is now in hospice care at Elmhurst Hospital. He will not survive, and this will be a homicide, said City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, fighting back tears, at an October 25 press conference. Van Bramer, who is gay and represents Sunnyside, said the assault on Rispoli, whom he knew as a friend and someone who worked on his 2009 campaign, is a tragedy for our neighborhood and our city. The victim is 62 years old.
Police do not yet know if the attack was a bias crime. City Councilman Van Bramer today held a press conference urging residents of the neighborhood to come forward with any information they may have. Rispoli married his partner of 31 years last summer shortly after same-sex marriage became legal in New York state.
http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2012/10/queens-gay-activist-lou-rispoli-near.html#disqus_thread
hrmjustin
(71,265 posts)TDale313
(7,820 posts)My thoughts are with him and his loved ones.
Deep13
(39,154 posts)Irishonly
(3,344 posts)I am doing a K&R because people need to see the story. It is heart breaking and it makes me feel a cold rage against the animals that beat a wonderful man. I will still hope he survives.
trailmonkee
(2,681 posts)WillParkinson
(16,862 posts)He is in hospice, not expected to survive.
trailmonkee
(2,681 posts)prayers and blessing to him and his friends and family
Chorophyll
(5,179 posts)I hope these thugs are found and brought to justice.
badhair77
(4,222 posts)My thoughts are with his family, friends, and community.
aquart
(69,014 posts)It's not enough but it will have to do. 31 years they were together!
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)This kind of terrorism needs to stop. This world just seems to be getting more and more hateful every day. What the hell is happening in this country?
Marinedem
(373 posts)I would hardly call it "Terrorism".
We already have a word for what this is. Murder.
I just hate when the word "terrorism" is thrown around by people all willy nilly. I hated it from 2000-2008, and I hate it now.
He was beaten to the point that it will shortly be deemed a murder.
Words stop having meaning when you throw them around.
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)It doesn't have to be about bombs and ethnic groups. It has to do with intimidation of any group of outsiders that the perpetrators want to intimidate into silece and submission.
chalky
(3,297 posts)n/t
HappyMe
(20,277 posts)This is very sad news.