In the aftermath of the fucked up attack on two gay men by some gaping asshole with a pot of boiling water, both men are out of the hospital, and the fuckface has been indicted on eight counts of aggravated battery and two counts of aggravated assault.
Also, he doesn’t have a girlfriend anymore (CN for pictures of burn injuries). Nothing kills the romance like damn near trying to kill said girlfriend’s son.
Also, because Georgia sucks and doesn’t have a hate crime anything, the FBI is on the case seeking a hate crime charge. You’d think the dude outright saying that he disapproved of the relationship between Gooden and Tolbert would cinch it.
Here’s hoping for healing for these men, and the book being thrown at Blackwell. As a matter of fact, I want the trial to be just the judge and jury throwing books at him the entire time.
(and seriously, what kind of hate in your heart do you have to have to get a pot, fill it with water, wait for it to boil, go into someone else’s bedroom, and pour it on two other humans? Being burned is a fucking terrible sort of torture, and holy shit, who just continues to pour while two people were probably screaming in pain as their skin boils? Just what kind of human posses this sort of hate? My brain just boggles when I try to think about it.)
This case shows why hate crime laws are needed. There are cases where cops and courts refuse to press appropriate charges, minimize crimes or refuse to file complaints at all because they don’t like or don’t care about the victims (see also: tens of thousands of untested rape kits, sweetheart deals for anti-abortion terrorists who murder doctors).
Had Blackwell filled a pan with cold water and thrown it on the two men it would still be assault, but a defence lawyer could argue it was a spur-of-the-moment action and not meant to cause lasting injuries. But to boil water requires planning and a deliberate, malicious intent. Or are we supposed to believe that he didn’t know how dangerous boiling water and a hot pan are to his own hands?
I looked up what “Aggravated Battery” means in Georgia, and while eight counts could mean life in prison (up to 20 years for each count), a corrupt judge might give as little as one year for each and say “served concurrently”. An attempted murder charge would show how serious the case is.
One thing that’s pissing me off about this story is the reaction some people are having.
“Throw him in jail and pour boiling water on him!”
WTF. That’s a level of barbarism that we should have moved past by now. We’re supposed to be this advanced, modern, Western country and yet people still support eye for an eye actions like this.
I’m with you on that one. Throw his ass in jail and leave him there. No, don’t giggle at the thought of him being raped or beaten up or whatever: Just Detention.
(and for those ready to pick the nits, my “throw all of the books at him” bit Was. A. Joke.)