Rashawn & Beyond: Anti-Violence News for Queer People of Color: Shocking events put state in unwanted spotlight

Rashawn & Beyond: Anti-Violence News for Queer People of Color

The Rashawn Brazell Memorial Fund aims to establish a sustainable tribute to Rashawn that promotes critical thought about the impact of violence and intolerance, particularly upon queer communities of African descent.

Through this blog, we provide action alerts, event postings and breaking news as a means of informing these communities in ways that enable them to combat racism and homophobia.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Shocking events put state in unwanted spotlight

by Kris Wise
Source: Charleston Daily Mail

Six pesople have been arrested for the torture of 20-year-old Megan Williams of Charleston.

Police say Williams was sexually assaulted, stabbed, beaten, burned and held against her will in a Logan County trailer while her captors assailed her with racial epithets and threatened to kill her.

James Nolan, a sociology professor at West Virginia University, said the case will shine a harsh light on the state. Nolan cited similarities between Williams' torture and the 2000 beating death of 26-year-old Arthur "J.R." Warren, a gay black man from Grant Town whose murder also made national news.

Police arrested two 17-year-olds they said had brutally beaten Warren, loaded him into the back of a car, dumped him on the side of the road and then ran over him multiple times.