BOULDER - Booze and biases are being blamed for an outbreak of violence bruising this town's tolerant image.

"These shameful acts do not represent the values of our city," said Mayor Mark Ruzzin and City Manager Frank Bruno in a joint statement Monday.

"We believe that diversity enhances our community and is to be embraced and celebrated. These acts will not be tolerated," they said.

According to eyewitness statements, Justin Dwayne King, 23, of Boulder, was walking arm in arm near the Pearl Street Mall with his 18-year-old friend, Anthony Loose, when two reportedly drunk attackers used a derogatory word for gays and shoved King.

Eric Schorling, a 21-year-old University of Colorado student, swung at King, who dodged and punched Schorling in the face, witnesses said. Adam Perez, 21, got King in a headlock while Schorling kicked at King's face three times, breaking his glasses, according to witnesses.

"I felt like I couldn't swallow, couldn't talk," King told Fox 31 News. He said he freed himself and confronted Schorling and "I hit him again in the face."

Perez was arrested on charges of second-degree assault and bias-motivated crime and Schorling on charges of third-degree assault and bias-motivated crime.

Meanwhile, in a separate attack, Boulder police are looking for two men who allegedly used the n-word when confronting a man of mixed race, then beat him, causing serious injuries.

That assault happened 24 hours before Sunday's incident and about six blocks away.

The first suspect in that case is described as white, 19 to 22 years old, about 5-foot-10 and 190 pounds. He had curly brown hair and was wearing a blue polo shirt. The second suspect is described as 19 to 22, about 5-foot-11 with short blond hair. He was last seen wearing a black North Face jacket.

Another high-profile assault occurred Feb. 20. On that night, a student at Boulder's Naropa University was severely beaten by two men in her apartment after they made sexual advances and she told them she was a lesbian.

Ruzzin said the spate of incidents may have much to do with the nicer weather bringing out larger crowds on weekend nights.

Still, "when you do have a rash of them, it does generate concern about what might be causing them. Boulder doesn't have a reputation for this kind of thing. We need to take time to look at these incidents and let the police continue to work the cases. We may want to hold a community forum."

Deputy Mayor Suzy Ageton said the incidents will likely be the subject of discussion at tonight's or next week's City Council meeting.

"I don't think any of us know, at this point, what to attribute it to," Ageton said.

"We're going to see if we should have a larger community effort of some kind to talk about this. It's horrifying to all of us to have these kinds of events in our community."

In his own words

Anthony Loose, 18, of Boulder, talks about Sunday's attack

It was about 1:30 in the morning. A few guys behind us made a comment to the extent that we were faggots.

Justin (his friend Justin Dwayne King) asked, 'What's up with that?' Just being calm, trying to shed light on the situation.

That's when one of the guys shoved him. The other guy got behind him, so Justin knew he had to do something.

I was about five to 10 feet away. I didn't want anybody telling police that I was involved in the fight. I asked all these people to stick around because we needed all the support we could get.

I don't like to stereotype, but the common stereotype is that if one gay guy fights two straight guys, the straight guys are going to win.

But Justin surprised a lot of people.

There were a lot of people supporting the two other guys, and a lot of people supporting us. One guy in particular I want to thank. He saw most of what was going on and stuck around and told police his story.

Justin is doing great, he's not really hurt. We both live in Boulder and work in Denver.

I'm happy to let the police and the courts deal with the situation from here. What those guys did was really wrong. They may be the types who would never say anything like that if they hadn't been drinking.

They may have already learned their lesson. I'm sure they have opinions about homosexuals.

But if people could just learn to keep their opinions - opinions they know are going to offend other people - to themselves.

scanlonb@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-442-8729

Back to Top