As Boulder police search for two young men in the beating of a 21-year-old woman, community activists plan to march in her honor today, and the city’s mayor is condemning the attack.
Police are investigating the predawn assault as a possible hate crime because the victim told her attacker she was a lesbian. Thursday they released a sketch of one of the men, describing him as an associate of the attacker who did not intervene.
“We hope the second man … although (he) did not participate, will feel some remorse and have some sort of conscience and come forward,” said Boulder police spokeswoman Julie Brooks.
The victim – a student at Naropa University – met the two men on the Pearl Street Mall and offered up the couches in her home if they needed a place to stay, police said.
On the way back to her home at 3 a.m. Wednesday, after the men made advances, she told the pair that she was a lesbian and not interested in them sexually. That’s when when one of the men started punching and kicking her, severely injuring her face, police said.
“She is just a kid,” said Blake Weber, executive director of Boulder Pride, a group that serves the gay community. “She just tried to do something nice and offered them a place to sleep on her couches, which is a common college thing to do.”
Boulder Pride organized today’s march and rally, which is slated to begin at 5:15 p.m. outside the Boulder Pride Community Center, 2132 14th St. The march will continue to 13th Street and Canyon Boulevard, the location where the woman was beaten.
The march will end in a rally at the city of Boulder offices on Canyon Boulevard and Broadway Street.
In the past five years, there have been five victims of hate crimes related to sexual orientation in Boulder, with four of the incidents occurring in 2005, according to FBI statistics.
Boulder Mayor Mark Ruzzin denounced the beating Thursday.
“This shameful act does not represent the values of our city,” he said in a statement.
Police said the attacker may go by the name Dominick. He has dark hair and was wearing Mardi Gras beads and a sequined tie. He began pummeling the victim’s face while the other man, described as a skinny, shaggy-haired blond, asked him to stop, police said.
Anyone with information may call Boulder police at 303-441-3330 or Boulder County Crime Stoppers at 303-440-STOP (7867) or submit a tip at crimeshurt.com.
Staff writer Felisa Cardona can be reached at 303-954-1219 or fcardona@denverpost.com.
