After pleading guilty in February to beating Brandon White—a beating that was videotaped and send out on YouTube—three young Atlanta men received sentences today of five years in prison and five years of probation.
Dorian Moragne, Darael Demare Williams and Christopher Cain were captured on video brutally assaulting White as he came out of a grocery store in southwest Atlanta, apparently because he is gay. They viciously kicked and punched him and hit him with a tire. Because of the youtube video, the case drew national attention to the issue of gay bashing in the African-American community.
The charges for all three men included two counts of aggravated assault, robbery by force and participation in criminal street gang activity.
“I’ve always said I didn’t want to make any decisions on what time I thought anyone should get, I thought the judge would be fair, and he was,” said White.
All three suspects apologized to White in court.
“I am disappointed in myself because I know better and I also know right from wrong,” said Williams.
“It was wrong for jumping on you and I really do apologize. That’s not the type of young man I am,” said Cain.
“I was wrong in attacking a man I did not know, not because I dislike this person, but because I wanted to gain the approval of other people around me,” said Moragne.
White said he didn’t think the apologizes were sincere. “If you’re going to apologize, it comes from your heart, your gut and your mind. It doesn’t come from a piece of paper,” said White.
During the sentencing, Judge T. Jackson Bedford Jr. told Moragne, Williams and Cain that the tragedy had affected a lot of people and that to him, there was no question that they assaulted White based on his sexual orientation.
“You all are the ultimate bullies,” Bedford said.
