Queer Death Case Not Important

The Advocate reported today that the Detroit Police Department closed the case of an elderly who suffered fatal injuries when he was hit in the back of the head with a pipe and called anti-gay slurs. The Wayne's county medical examiner determined that AndrewAnthos' degenerative spinal condition was exacerbated by a fall and did not support accounts that he had been attacked. This finding came despite eyewitness accounts that Anthos was attacked and Anthos' own disclosure that he was attacked. The picture to the left is a sketch of his attacker.

The Detroit Police Department has failed in their duty to protect and serve. The taxpayers of the city of Detroit and the state of Michigan deserve more than what the Detroit PD is delivering. Perhaps this case was too hard or too distasteful for the Detroit PD to fully pursue, but that is not their decision to make. Every citizen of Detroit has the right to justice. Who else will fall out of favor with the Detroit PD and not get the protection they are entitled to? Will it be a woman? An African American? A Latino? A handicapped person?

The closing of this case embodies the injustice that Queers in the United States continue to endure. This is why hate crimes go unreported and unnoticed. Shame on the Detroit Police Department and the Department's Police Chief, Ella M. Bully-Cummings. You have failed Andrew Anthos and you have failed all of Detroit.