2
The New York Times Company
The New York Times
April 2, 1998, Thursday, Late Edition - Final
SECTION: Section B; Page 3; Column
1; Metropolitan Desk
LENGTH: 832 words
HEADLINE: Bias as Motive Is Disputed In West
Village Stabbing
BYLINE: By DAVID KOCIENIEWSKI
BODY:
An anti-gay remark uttered
in a conversation among three Queens teen-agers in the West Village early
yesterday led to a fistfight and stabbing that left a man hospitalized,
the police said.
The incident, which began shortly after 1
A.M. outside Two Potato, a bar on the corner of Greenwich Street and Christopher
Street, was classified as a possible bias crime, said Capt. Barbara Sicilia.
But Captain Sicilia, commander of the Police Department's bias unit, emphasized
that the incident did not appear to be a "gay-bashing" attack.
The Queens teen-agers apparently went to
the Village to enjoy the social scene along the piers during one of the
first balmy nights of the year, the police said, and became embroiled
in a fight when Colin Brown, 22, overheard one of the teenagers use the
word "faggot." Mr. Brown, who lives in New Jersey, was standing with friends
outside the bar when he confronted the 14-year-old girl who made the remark,
the police said. Her brother, Robert Cockrel, 18, rushed to her defense.
After an exchange of punches -- it was not
clear who attacked whom first -- Mr. Cockrel pulled out a paring knife
and stabbed Mr. Brown once in the chest, the police said.
"An anti-gay remark is made, just in passing,"
the captain said at a news conference. "The victim took offense to it,
and had some words about 'what are you doing here?' "
"The male, who did not make the anti-gay
remark, defends the female," Captain Sicilia continued. "A fight ensues,
a knife came out. That is why I'm saying the motivation is not a strong
bias attack."
Doctors at St. Vincent's Hospital and Medical
Center performed emergency surgery to treat a wound to Mr. Brown's liver,
the police said, and last night his condition was upgraded from critical
to stable.
The police quickly arrested Mr. Cockrel,
his sister and their companion, but would not release the identities of
the two teen-age girls because they are juveniles.
Despite those speedy arrests, people who
work against bias-related violence angrily denounced the Police Department's
characterization of the case, saying that investigators were "re-victimizing"
Mr. Brown by attempting to draw a distinction between yesterday's incident
and previous bias attacks.
"The N.Y.P.D. repeatedly sets the bar for
the definition of what is bias at a level which is absurd and is not realistic
or connected to the manner in which crimes are actually perpetrated,"
Christine Quinn, executive director of the New York City Gay and Lesbian
Anti-Violence Project, said. "It seems to us that you need to have somebody
carve 'faggot' across your forehead and then carve 'I did it because I
hate faggots' across your stomach for the police to think it is bias related.
Crimes do not happen this way."
Mr. Cockrel, his sister and their companion
were arrested on state charges of assault and possession of a weapon,
and if the incident is ultimately classified a bias crime they could be
subject to additional Federal prosecution on charges of violating Mr.
Brown's civil rights, Captain Sicilia said.
In the West Village, a neighborhood with
a large gay population, some residents said they were uncertain whether
the incident should qualify as a bias attack.
Steve Robison, 38, watched the incident from
across the street and then saw Mr. Brown collapse onto a bucket of red
tulips at a street corner flower shop.
"I don't think it's a bias incident, it's
just words back and forth," said Mr. Robison, who works at Landmark, a
gay bookstore on Christopher Street. "We see that a lot in this neighborhood:
people yell 'faggot,' they get mad, and they're probably just different
sets of the same life style."
In Mr. Cockrel's neighborhood, Springfield
Gardens, Queens, his friends and relatives said that they were shocked
to hear him accused of any crime of violence. Since last summer, Mr. Cockrel
has lived with his grandparents, who described him as an even-tempered
teen-ager who was still recovering from his mother's death last year.
His grandfather, Walker Brown, said Mr. Cockrel
called him yesterday afternoon from jail and insisted he had acted in
self-defense.
"He told me some guys were picking on his
sister," said Mr. Brown, a maintenance worker for the city's Parks Department.
"They wouldn't leave her alone. They wanted to jump him. He defended himself."
Mr. Cockrel's friends described him as a
tolerant person who mixed easily with people of different sexual orientations.
Xavier Green, who was planning to take Mr. Cockrel to Kennedy International
Airport yesterday to apply for a job as a skycap, said he and Mr. Cockrel
used to socialize in Greenwich Village precisely because its streets bustled
with such an ostentatious mix of different life styles.
"He didn't hate gays," said Mr. Green, who
described himself as bisexual. "I respected him, he respected me. He never
said a slur, nothing. That wasn't him. We liked to hang out in the Village,
on Christopher Street, to see the sights."
GRAPHIC: Photo: Robert Cockrel, center, was
arrested yesterday on assault and weapon possession charges after a fistfight
and stabbing in the West Village. (William Lopez for The New York Times)
Map/Chart: "HOW IT HAPPENED: Stabbing on
Christopher Street"
Yesterday morning's stabbing in Greenwich
Village occurred after an anti-gay comment was overheard by Colin Brown.
Here is a reconstruction of the assault, based on police reports.
1. About 1:15 A.M., near the Two Potato Bar,
Mr. Brown overhears an anti-gay slur by one of three teen-agers. An argument
begins.
2. A fistfight starts. According to the police,
one of the teen-agers, Robert Cockrel, pulls out a knife and stabs Mr.
Brown, who then runs up Hudson Street and collapses.
3. Two of the teen-agers are immediately
caught. Mr. Cockrel is found in a West 10th Street stairwell about two
hours later.
(Source: Police and witnesses)
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: April 2, 1998
|