US: Three Atlanta men jailed for anti-gay attack
Three men in the Georgia city of Atlanta, US, have been sentenced to five years in jail and a further five on probation for an assault on a gay man.
Dareal Demare Williams, Dorian Moragne and Christopher Cain video-taped punching 20-year-old Brandon White outside a convenience store.
They shouted homophobic slurs as they attacked him. A fourth man was also seen attacking Mr White. Suspect Javaris Bradford has not been caught.
Police tracked down the attackers after video from the incident was put online.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jackson Bedford called the trio “ultimate bullies” and added: “To me there is no question you did it because of his sexual orientation.”
Williams, Moragne and Cain apologised to their victim in court. Mr White was not seriously hurt in the attack.
The newspaper reported that although the incident shocked Atlanta’s gay community, many activists called for restorative justice and more education around gay rights rather than harsh prison sentences.
