Local

Man who shouted slurs at Alexandria gay couple found not guilty of assault

But judge rules neighbor guilty of misdemeanor disorderly conduct

Published

3 years ago

November 9, 2021

The July incident was captured on a Ring doorbell camera.

An Alexandria, Va., General District Court judge on Monday, Nov. 8, issued a verdict of not guilty for 57-year-old Thomas Wood on a charge of misdemeanor simple assault against a gay man that police and prosecutors listed as a hate crime.

Following a four-and-a-half-hour nonjury trial, Judge Thomas Kelley Jr. ruled that two video and audio recordings that captured Wood repeatedly shouting anti-gay slurs at his two next door neighbors, Kyle Metz and Metz’s husband, Leo Liu Metz, in a July 3 incident did not provide sufficient evidence to prove Wood physically assaulted either of the two gay men or committed a simple assault under Virginia law.

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Joe Cahoon, who acted as the lead prosecutor in the case, argued that both Kyle and Leo Metz testified at the trial that Wood raised and swung his arms over a fence that separated the properties of Wood and the Metz’s. He said Wood would have struck Leo Metz if Kyle Metz had not pulled Leo away from the fence.

In a separate verdict, Judge Kelley found Wood guilty of disorderly conduct, the second of the two charges filed against him by prosecutors in connection with the July 3 incident. The misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge was not classified as a hate crime under Virginia law.

Under Virginia law, misdemeanor cases such as simple assault or disorderly conduct are brought to trial before a judge without a jury.

While finding Wood not guilty of the hate crime assault charge, Kelley stated from the bench while delivering his verdict that he disagreed with arguments made by Wood in his testimony as a witness and by Wood’s attorney that the altercation was only and exclusively about a dispute over Wood’s parking space in an alley that separates Wood’s house from the house where Kyle and Leo Metz live.

“There is nothing that is said about parking,” Kelley said in referring to the two video recordings with full sound that captured Wood shouting the word “faggots” and asking which of the two gay men was the “wife,” among other insults.

“Are you the wife?” Wood is heard yelling on the video and audio recording. “Are you fucking him every night?” Wood shouts multiple times as captured by the recording.

“It is all about sexual orientation,” Kelley said from the bench while announcing his verdict, even though the hate crime designation ended when Kelley found Wood not guilty on the assault charge.

Minutes later, Kelley handed down a sentence for Wood on the disorderly conduct conviction that includes a $1,000 fine, 90 days in jail with all 90 days suspended, one year of unsupervised probation, and a requirement that Wood undergo counseling for anger management.

Under court rules, Wood could be ordered to serve some or all of the suspended 90 days of incarceration if he violates the terms of his probation.

At the request of Kyle and Leo Metz, and without objection from Wood’s attorney, B.R. Hicks, Kelley approved a stay-away protection order that prohibits Wood from threatening, intimidating or approaching the two gay men.

The dispute between Wood and Wood’s wife, Mary Wood, and the Metz’s began in April of this year, according to testimony at the Nov. 8 trial. Thomas and Mary Wood testified during the trial that the dispute began when the Metz’s moved into the house in Old Town Alexandria on Duke Street next door to the house they had been renting.

According to the Woods, the Metz’s placed a large planter at the edge of their property line that made it very difficult for the Woods to park their car in a space on their own property. Both Woods testified that in the weeks prior to the July 3 incident, they repeatedly and politely came to the front door of the Metz’s house to ask them if they could move the planter to make more room for them to park their car.

But the Metz’s testified that Thomas Wood yelled both anti-gay and anti-Asian slurs at them for at least a month or more prior to the July 3 incident that led to the assault and disorderly conduct charges against Thomas Wood. Leo Metz is Asian American.

The July 3 incident received widespread publicity on social media and on local TV news broadcasts when the Metz’s released the video and audio recording of the incident captured on their Ring camera video surveillance system. A second video of the incident was taken by another nearby neighbor, Julia Kennedy, who testified at the trial that she witnessed what she believed to be Thomas Wood subjecting Kyle and Leo Metz to homophobic slurs during the July 3 incident.

Prosecutor Cahoon played both videos on a large video screen several times during the trial. He noted that Thomas Wood’s loud and prolonged shouting of anti-gay slurs and other insults that the Metz’s interpreted to be threats reverberated across the neighborhood, creating a disturbance that clearly constituted disorderly conduct.

Defense attorney Hicks pointed to Thomas Wood’s testimony in which Wood claimed he was shouting the word “maggot” and not “faggot” most of the time when he became outraged that he could barely park his car in the space on his own property because of the Metz’s planter blocking access to his parking space. The Metz’s have said the planter was completely within their property line.

They testified that the incident began about 9:30 p.m. on July 3 when they heard a loud crashing sound outside their house and became worried that someone hit their own car. Before going outside, they said they watched the video from the Ring camera linked to their cell phones and saw Thomas Wood shouting insults over the fence that separates the two houses.

The two gay men testified that they then went outside to find out what was happening, and immediately were subjected to anti-gay insults by Wood.

In response to questions from defense attorney Hicks, Wood insisted he is not homophobic and his anger on the night of the incident was based completely on the parking dispute and not on the sexual orientation of Kyle and Leo Metz.

“He is not a homophobe at all,” defense attorney Hicks told the Washington Blade after the trial.

A friend of the Metz’s who attended the trial told the Washington Blade that the parking space on the Wood’s property was too small for their car and that they, not the Metz’s, were responsible for their parking problems.

Although Kyle and Leo Metz testified that Wood reached over the fence and attempted to assault Leo, which prosecutor Cahoon said constituted a simple assault under Virginia law, defense attorney Hicks argued that nowhere on the two videos was there any image showing an assault or an attempted assault.

Prior to the judge’s verdict, Hicks argued that Wood should not be convicted of a hate crime because his words of “anger” were protected under the free speech provisions of the U.S. Constitution, even though his words were not “politically correct.”

Hicks couldn’t immediately be reached after the trial to determine if Wood plans to appeal the verdict finding him guilty of disorderly conduct.

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Virginia

Man went on ‘homophobic rant’ inside Va. pub that displayed Pride flags

Suspect arrested on charges of public intoxication, assaulting police officer

Published

42 mins ago

July 3, 2024

Lou Chibbaro Jr.

Justin Wayne Hendricks was arrested in the case. (Photo courtesy of the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center)

The Hawk & Griffin British Pub located in Vienna, Va., posted a message on Facebook last week saying a man was arrested after going on a “homophobic rant” inside the pub on June 28 when he saw that LGBTQ Pride flags were displayed at the pub for Pride month.

“Last night we had an incident here at the pub when a man came off the street to accost patrons in our beer garden because of our flags displayed for pride month,” the Hawk & Griffin Facebook posting says. “He then spit on our windows and came inside to confront our staff and patrons with homophobic rants,” the posting continues.

“Our manager and staff handled the situation very professionally and police were called to investigate and later arrested a man a couple of blocks away,” the message says. “We want to thank the Vienna Police Department for their quick response. We are and will continue to be community focused and we will never stop working to create and maintain a place of inclusion and tolerance,” the statement concludes.

Vienna police charged Justin Wayne Hendricks, of no known address, with misdemeanor counts of being “drunk in public” and providing false identification to a police officer and with a felony count of assault on a police officer. A police spokesperson said Hendricks was also found to be in violation of an outstanding arrest warrant from Alexandria, Va., related to a prior charge of failing to register as a sex offender.

The spokesperson, Juan Vazquez, said Hendricks is currently being held without bond at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center. Online records for the Fairfax County General District Court show that Hendricks is scheduled to appear at a preliminary hearing on Oct. 9.

“On Friday, June 28, around 9:28 p.m. the Vienna Police Department responded to reports of an intoxicated individual threatening customers of the Hawk & Griffin,” a Vienna police statement says. “Upon the arrival of the officers the individual had already left the premises but was promptly located at an address nearby,” according to the statement.

The statement adds that Hendricks was subsequently charged with being drunk in public, providing false information about his identity to police, and assault on a police officer along with being served with the outstanding warrant related to the prior charge in Alexandria of failing to register as a sex offender.

Details of the prior sex offender charge couldn’t immediately be obtained from online court records. However, the online records show that Hendricks has at least a dozen or more prior arrests between 2014 and 2023 on charges including public intoxication, trespassing, and failing to register as a sex offender.

Police spokesperson Vazquez said it would be up to prosecutors with the office of the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney to determine if a subsequent hate crime related charge would be filed in the case.

Virginia

Parades, community events held to mark Pride Month in Va.

Upwards of 30,000 people attended PrideFest in Norfolk on June 22

Published

20 hours ago

July 2, 2024

Sean Koperek

Shi-Queeta-Lee at Arlington Pride in Arlington, Va., on June 29, 2024. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Activists across Virginia last month held a series of events to mark Pride Month.

Hampton Roads Pride, a volunteer-run organization founded in 1997, held 37 different Pride events throughout the region in June.

Their biggest event, PrideFest, which is part of their larger three day event, Pride Weekend, celebrated its 36th anniversary on June 22. Pride Weekend took place from June 21-23 and began with a block party at NorVa in Norfolk.

PrideFest took place at Town Point Park, and an estimated 30,000 people attended. More than 70 venders participated, while Todrick Hall and Mariah Counts are among those who performed.

Another PrideFest event with a DJ in the afternoon and live music at night took place in Virginia Beach on June 23. Congressman Bobby Scott and U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) are among those who attended Pride events in Suffolk on June 30.

Norfolk Mayor Kenneth Alexander, along with members of the Norfolk and Virginia Beach City Councils, also attended the Pride events in their respective cities. Jamar Walker, the first openly gay federal judge in Virginia, also took part.

“You know people all throughout Pride Month, at all of our various events, tell me all kinds of stories about their own experiences and the past of this community … and some of our older folks especially, remember when we couldn’t have this,” Hampton Roads Pride President Jeff Ryder told the Washington Blade on Monday during a telephone interview.

“It was a great year,” he added. “It was a big achievement for us to have unique celebrations in each of our seven communities. Each of these cities is so different from one another, but to be able to create a Pride celebration that’s unique in each of those places was really great, and I think really well received by folks who may not have felt represented previously. We’re always trying to do better, to embrace every aspect of our community, and take a big step forward there this year.”

State Dels. Adele McClure (D-Arlington County) and Alfonso Lopez (D-Arlington County) are among those who spoke at Arlington Pride that took place at Long Bridge Park on June 29. The Fredericksburg Pride march and festival took place the same day at Riverfront Park in Fredericksburg.

Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin on June 10 hosted a Pride Month reception in Richmond.

Youngkin in previous years has hosted Pride Month receptions, even though Equality Virginia and other advocacy groups have criticized him for supporting anti-LGBTQ bills.

The Republican governor in March signed a bill that codified marriage equality in Virginia. Youngkin last month vetoed a measure that would have expanded the definition of bullying in the state.

Baltimore

Baltimore street named in honor of trans activist

Iya Dammons is founder of support groups Safe Haven in Baltimore, D.C.

Published

2 days ago

July 1, 2024

Lou Chibbaro Jr.

Iya Dammons was honored last week in Baltimore. (Photo courtesy Iya Dammons)

Baltimore city officials and LGBTQ activists participated in a ceremony on June 29 officially dedicating the renaming of a street in honor of transgender woman Iya Dammons, who founded and serves as executive director of the LGBTQ services organization Maryland Safe Haven.

A section of Baltimore’s 21st Street at the intersection of North Charles Street, where the Maryland Safe Haven offices are located, has been renamed Iya Dammons Way.

The ceremony took place six years after Dammons founded Maryland Safe Haven in 2018 and one year after she launched a Safe Haven operation in D.C.in 2023 located at 331 H St., N.E.

A statement on its website says Safe Haven provides a wide range of supportive services for LGBTQ people in need, with a special outreach to Black trans women “navigating survival mode” living.

“Through compassionate harm reduction and upward mobility services, advocacy support, and community engagement, we foster a respectful, non-judgmental environment that empowers individual agency,” the statement says. “Our programs encompass community outreach, a drop-in center providing HIV testing, harm reduction, PrEP, medical linkage, case management, and assistance in accessing housing services,” it says.

Among those participating in the street renaming ceremony were Baltimore City Council member Zeke Cohen, interim director of Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs Alexis Blackmon, and Dominique Morgan, an official with the national foundation Borealis Philanthropy, which provides financial support for transgender supportive nonprofit organizations, including Safe Haven.

“This is a significant achievement and historic moment for our city,” a statement by Maryland Safe Haven announcing the ceremony says. “Iya Dammons has been a tireless advocate for transgender rights and has worked tirelessly to provide safe spaces and resources for transgender individuals in our city,” it says. “This honor is well-deserved, and we are thrilled to see her contributions recognized in such a meaningful way.”