Philadelphia Anti-Gay Attack Suspects Arrested

On September 11, 2014, a gay couple was severely beaten in Philadelphia by a band of white 20 somethings after the couple was taunted by anti-gay slurs.  Now, three of the attackers have been arrested.  One is the daughter of Chalfont, Pennsylvania Police Chief Karl Knott, which makes one wonder what gays must face in Chalfont from police.  The take away is that it is still dangerous to be gay in America even in progressive cities like Philadelphia. Too many of us forget the danger that lurks out on the streets.   The New Civil Rights Movement reports on the arrests:

The three, left to right, are Kevin Harrigan, 26, Kathryn Knott, 24, and Philip Williams, also 24. They are all charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person (REAP), and criminal conspiracy in the September 11, anti-gay hate attack that left a same-sex couple in the hospital.

At least one of them is accused of of having called the two gay men "dirty faggots," and asking one of the victims if the other victim was his "fucking boyfriend" before allegedly assaulting them.  

It is perhaps telling that the police chief's daughter, Kathryn Knott has a history evidenced by her twitter account of embracing the usual Christofascist/Tea Party agenda:

In addition to the homophobic tweets, there appears to be evidence of excessive drinking, a belief she is owed things, including money, anti-immigrant beliefs, and disturbing claims of privilege for being the daughter of a police chief.

Here's how police described the incident that gave rise to the arrests:

On September 11, 2014, at 10:45 pm, the complainant, a 28 year-old male, along with a friend, a 27 year-old male, were on the 1600 block of Chancellor Street when they were approached by a group of unknown white males and females. As the group approached the complainants they made disparaging remarks about their sexual orientation. The group then attacked the complainants holding them while other members of the group punched them in the face, head and chest. During the assault one of the complainants dropped his bag containing his cell phone, wallet and credit cards. When police approached one of the suspects picked the bag up from the ground. The group then fled and were last seen north on 16th Street towards Walnut Street. Both complainants were transported to Hahnemann Hospital for multiple injuries. One complainant was treated for fractures and deep lacerations to his face requiring surgery and his jaw wired shut.

Suspect Description: A group of approximately 10-12 white male and females all in their early 20′s “clean cut” and well dressed. One suspect was described as having a husky build, brown hair, wearing a brown shirt and shorts.

One member of the group is believed to have been Fran McGlinn, a former student and assistant basketball coach for Archbishop Wood Catholic High School. It is suggested that a number of the attackers were former students at Archbishop Wood Catholic High School.  Thankfully, McGlinn has been fired from his assistant coach position.