From the Gloucester Daily Times:
Police have made one arrest in the beating of a Salem man, which a family member is calling a hate crime, and are expecting more.
William Chadwick, 21, of 5 Elwell St., Gloucester, was arrested yesterday at 3:30 p.m. on charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. Police said they have another suspect and are close to making an arrest.
Injured in the fracas was Justin Goodwin of Salem, who is in his 30s. His brother, David Kain of Peabody, said Goodwin's jaw was shattered, and his nose, an eye socket and a cheek bone were broken. Kain said that his brother underwent nine hours of surgery Sunday at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston and is scheduled to go through more.
According to what Goodwin told him, Kain said bouncers threw his brother out of the bar after Goodwin came to the defense of his sister, who was in an altercation with several other women. Goodwin told his brother he was escorted out through a side door that leads to the alley next to the tavern.
Police said Goodwin's sister told them she was jumped by five women in the tavern's womens bathroom, and that her brother and boyfriend tried to break up the fight when she left the restroom.
According to police, the tavern bouncers kicked out everyone involved in the melee.
Goodwin, who is a homosexual, told Kain that once he was in the alley, six men shouted anti-gay slurs at him while beating him.
Channel 7 News has video coverage.
6 comments:
There are so many things wrong with this situation. Mostly I hope that Justin Goodwin and his sister will heal in all ways from this horrific hateful terror.
Seems like the patrons (especially male) of the bar thought it was okay for his sister to be in a fight, (and might have even enjoyed watching). It's refreshing that Justin is a gentleman and cares about his sister.
I'm glad that one of the six has been apprehended, but it won't be enough until all six have been found and receive appropriate justice. I also believe that the women in the altercation with his sister need to be questioned. Your post doesn't indicate what her injuries might have been.
thank-you for sharing this story
Thank you for your comment. I'll make sure to keep this story up to date so we know what's going on as it happens.
The question of whether or not this is a hate crime is not a simple matter, but we will get to the bottom of this.
I emailed my state rep., state senator, and congressman to make sure they knew about this vicious attack. I am hoping they will make a public statement regarding the matter.
Why do people think it is still okay to hurt others because they are gay?
The hate, fear and anger in people never ceases to amaze me.
Sigh.
I am one of the suspects, (william chadwicks) ex girlfriend and mother to our beautiful 3 yr old little girl. I am saddend by all that is happening with this case. I feel bad for what happened to justin. I feel worse for whats happening to william and jonathon. Two brothers and fathers themselves. William, father to my daughter and Jonathon, a father to a beautiful 1 yr old little boy. They are both being publicly bashed and made to look like monsters when truly they are innocent and would NEVER beat someone up because they were gay. If Justin wasnt gay this story would never even have made the news. But all because of that little fact all of a sudden its this huge deal and it supposedly all occured because he was gay. Im sorry but its a crock and its not fair to pull the gay card. If people would stop focusing on the fact that he is gay and trying to press that this was a hate crime and maybe we'll come across the real motive and story of why what happened happened im not justifying anyone being beating like that im just sayin if he wasnt gay they would have to find a real motive behind what happened and what led up to it.
Anonymous, perhaps you would like to tell us why the Chadwicks decided to beat this man so badly that he needed 9 hours of recostructive surgery?
Gay issue and hate crime aside, what the heck happened that made them do this? I'm sure I speak for many when I say that we are all concerned about the level of violence shown. If there are circumstances that would cast a favorable light on their case feel free to share them, the community wants to know what happened.
Someone has been updating the Myspace page for one of the Chadwicks, perhaps you could post something there if you don't want to talk here?
I assure you anything you post here will remain so that others can read what you've written; that seems fair.
ya justin and his gf werent so innocent, i know him, the chadwicks and most the people involved, it wasnt all the gloucester kids fault, they left alot out.. btw justin died of an overdose not to long ago, 2 weeks after he testified against the chadwicks who are now in state prison
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