Expanded at 7:20 p.m.
Gay man who reported hate crime admits he lied
By Anonymous [no one at the AP wants to be identified as having exposed a gay hate crime hoax; that would be a career-killer!]
August 9, 2012 6:47 a.m.
AP/GOPUSA
MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) - A man who reported being beaten outside a Montana bar because he's gay, drawing national attention, has pleaded guilty to filing a false police report after a video showed him causing his own injuries while horsing around.
Police say Joseph Baken claimed three men beat him early Sunday after he went into a Missoula bar, announced it was his birthday and asked if anyone knew where he could find a gay bar.
Photos of Baken's badly bruised face were posted on an anti-homophobia Facebook page and other sites, and the case prompted widespread support from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
Baken was charged after police received a video of him trying to do a backflip off a curb and hitting his face on the sidewalk. Lt. Scott Brodie says the decision to file charges was partially due to the fear and anger prompted by his claims.
Baken pleaded guilty Tuesday.
Gay man pleads guilty to false report of attack in downtown Missoula
By Gwen Florio
August 8, 2012 7:00 a.m.
(82) Comments
Missoula Independent
A man who reported to police that he was beaten outside the Missoula Club early Sunday morning because he was gay has been cited for making a false report to law enforcement.
Joseph Baken, 22, pleaded guilty Tuesday afternoon in Missoula Municipal Court.
“The decision to file criminal charges was due in part to the sense of fear and anger that quickly developed after Baken had identified a specific business and possible suspects in his allegations,” Missoula Police Lt. Scott Brodie said in a statement.
News of Baken’s original report, along with a photo of his badly bruised face, circulated widely on the Internet Sunday and Monday, prompting outrage at what hundreds of people saw as gay-bashing.
But on Tuesday, Missoula police received a video that showed Baken trying to do a backflip off a curb on North Higgins Avenue at about 2:30 a.m. Sunday and striking his face on the sidewalk, Brodie’s statement said.
Baken had contacted police at about 4:30 a.m. Sunday and told them that three men had beaten him outside the Mo Club at about 1:30 a.m. after he asked where to find a gay bar.
“Joseph Baken was contacted by Missoula police detectives and during a subsequent interview he admitted that the alleged assault against him did not occur as it was reported,” the statement said.
Missoula Police Chief Mark Muir credited community cooperation in quickly resolving the case.
That resolution “will hopefull [sic] allow the GLBTI [What’s the “I” for?] community some needed relief from the fear that was virally spreading across the country,” Muir said.
The photo of Baken’s injuries was displayed on Huffington Post and the Wipe Out Homophobia page on Facebook, among others. The initial report prompted renewed calls by some to add sexual orientation to Montana’s bias law.
On Tuesday afternoon, both the Huffington Post and Wipe Out Homophobia posted a caution that the attack was in question.
“Looks like we have all been had,” said Wipe Out Homophobia’s post, prompting hundreds more comments. This time, much of the outrage was directed at Baken.
He did not return telephone calls from the Missoulian on Tuesday.
Jamee Greer of the Montana Human Rights Network praised the response to the initial report, as well as law enforcement’s investigation of the false report.
“Members of the Missoula community responded to reports of an anti-LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) assault in a productive and swift way, and that is great news for this community and all the people who live here,” Greer said.
“The city of Missoula should be proud of the way it responded, and we will continue to work toward including assaults that target Montanans based on their sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression in the legal definition of hate crimes in our state,” Greer said in a statement.
Reporter Gwen Florio can be reached at 523-5268, gwen.florio@missoulian.com or @CopsAndCourts.
[Some surprisingly representative readers’ comments follow:
animalfries - August 07, 2012 2:35 pm
Is it still a hate crime if I go punch this guy in the nose for tarnishing Missoula across the internet?
Dub - August 07, 2012 3:09 pm
Yep, a back flip off the curb with a face plant on the pavement would do it---do they deduct points for a bad landing???
Stan Reck - August 07, 2012 4:38 pm
You won't see an honest apology from the GLBT community for jumping to conclusions. Welcome to hypocrisy.
MTminded - August 07, 2012 4:52 pm
Friends don't let gay friends flip drunk.
on the way back - August 07, 2012 6:05 pm
This young man owes Missoula a HUGE apology. He needs to find a therapist that will help him with his "victim" fantasies. The GLBT community owes Missoula an apology as well. Perhaps you should consider verifying the facts before yelling about rednecks and drunks. We don't need you jumping to conclusions just because one person claims a "hate crime". Seems like the pot calling the kettle black.
Bob - August 07, 2012 6:18 pm
I cant help but wonder what Mr greer and others would be saying at this moment about the missoula community if the video never existed.
Janice - August 07, 2012 7:37 pm
Nope. Unless it's a gay person, no rage is allowed.
Cato - August 07, 2012 8:29 pm
A lynch mob, by any other name, is still a lynch mob.
Andy B Hammond - August 07, 2012 9:03 pm
Nice attempt at trying to spin this incident. This type of violence happens to all classes of people, not just LBGT.
Lobo Bandito - August 08, 2012 2:30 am
Sorry Gary, but I rushed to the judgment that something was fishy from the few facts we did have. Beat up at 1:30 am but waits 3 hours to report it??? Is gay but asks where a gay bar is?
I agree with "Common Sense": he should be charged with a hate crime against non-homosexuals...
give him his own medicine. Fight fire with fire...
Other wise he ends up like the Gifford case... Dude goes on a murder rampage... but afterwards admits sanity and guilt, avoiding the death penalty. Now he's costing the state $40,000 a year minimum for his 3 hots and a cot. By the time he's dead he will cost the tax payers what, $2.5 million dollars!!! He deserves death just like Joe Baken deserves to be punished for a hate crime. He could have ruined multiple lives, possibly families and a business.
Also reminds me of the Lesbians that painted hate stuff on their garage and then called the cops on their neighbors... They got caught too but let off easy.
America needs to stop being politically correct and start chopping off the hands of thieves, the pointing fingers of lying GLBT and the balls of child molesters...
We would have lots less problems if their was a real consequence for our actions!
old farmer - August 08, 2012 7:42 am
I would think filing a hate crime report that he knew was not true could be considered a hate crime. Why is it always a one way street .
MTDutch101 - August 08, 2012 8:17 am
I don't necessarily think that the LGBT community as a whole owes anyone an apology, but I do hope that they've learned a lesson about jumping to conclusions. This guy has made it more difficult for anyone legitimately targeted or persecuted because of sexual orientation to get any traction with a valid complaint in the future. Also, the reaction of the LGBT community, and for that matter, those who support them shows a disturbingly blase attitude regarding facts and a reasonable, measured response. A pretty sad chain of events.
J555-5 - August 08, 2012 9:10 am
Homophiles and other protectors of protected groups will always leap before they look.
Also, what's with the "GLBTI?" What's the "I" for? "Indecided" at this time? We need some more vowels so we can have a decent acronym. Until then, it will be BLT-GI for me.
Jerry204 - August 08, 2012 9:23 am
So where is the community outrage about a false claim from a special, protected class who makes a false claim against the white, straight community? Will this not affect all future claims of abust and hate?
COMMON SENSE - August 08, 2012 9:34 am
The question is not "Why is it always a one way street ?", but should be 'Why do good and descent people always seem to get rundown in this street and why is the bus always being driven by a bunch of self-important special interest minority groups?'. I have no problem with such people wanting to be treated like everyone else. I DO have a problem when they start demanding special considerations under the law that the rest of us DON'T have. Justice means equal rights and laws for ALL people regardless of race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, age etc...
There is a word for laws that apply to or favor one group over or under the rest; DISCRIMINATION! and discrimination is ALWAYS WRONG REGARDLESS OF WHO IS ON WHICH SIDE! There is only one race; the HUMAN race.
Icewings - August 08, 2012 10:54 am
You actually make a very valid point. There should not be any such thing as a hate crime, because it is too hard to distinguish whether a crime was committed against a person because of their minority status or for other reasons that would make it NOT a hate crime.
If I punch a guy because he's a jerk and he happens to be gay it is not a hate crime. But who can read my mind and know for sure I didn't punch him because he's gay? Too complicated.
Battery is battery period. And falling on your face trying to do a flip is just hilarious!
Andy B Hammond - August 08, 2012 12:58 pm
"Breeder"? Really? Is that what you call us now?
[N.S.: “Breeder” is one of many epithets militant homosexualists hang on normal people.]
Looks like Mr. Baken - and his co-conspirators - made accusations against three "breeders" that could have ruined their lives had the truth not come out when it did. They would have had to face the lynch-mob that was evidenced here in the Missoulian yesterday and that exists in Missoula once their names were made public.
Darpaas - August 08, 2012 2:18 pm [In response to a homosexualist commenter jwb3982 - August 08, 2012 11:31 am, in the next section.]
I just don’t even know where to start with this. You start out that you cannot believe all the hate and ignorance on this board. Then two thirds of your mindless rant is nothing but hate and ignorance. The LGBT are a special interest group, so are the black’s (NAACP), Native Americans, Hispanic’s, basically everyone that is not white. With that being said how would you feel about a “White Pride” parade or a “Proposition Heterosexual Downtown Missoula Pub Crawl”? I can feel all the hate that is brewing from this comment.
You also go on to say that because he was gay that he may have bullied. So the only people in the world that are ever bullied are the LGBT population or just the minorities. That is a very narrow point of view. Think back to high school, I bet you can think of at least one instance of a so-called “nerd” being shoved in a locker, or having their head shoved in a toilet. Are they any less important than the “gay” kid?
I agree with Common Sense. We are all Humans of the “Human Race”, we are not black, white, yellow, gay, transgendered etc. When everyone starts treating people like they are “Human” There will be less of these stories and less of the hate filled comments, from both sides of the aisle.
AAO22 - August 08, 2012 11:38 pm
Moral of the story #1 The boy who cried wolf (hate crime) only made matters worse for others in the future. #2 Those who so quickly jumped to organize a 'protest' and/or contributed to the internet firestorm in this liar's defense should take this as a learning lesson as well. #3 Hate crimes happen all the time, not just to gays.
It is not right to commit hate crimes against others just as it is not right to force the acceptance of homosexuality onto our society.
As for Baken's shameful, cowardly actions, I hope he apologizes to the Missoula community, his supporters, the bar owner and the Missoula Police Department for wasting their time and the county's tax payer money! I also hope he receives the maximum punishment for his falsified report of a crime - just as Baken's supporters would have wanted the maximum punishment for the make believe attackers.
lmmontana - August 09, 2012 9:32 am
This whole event has much more to do with the very sad state of news media and how we deal with it than anything else. Our local options for news are so ineffective that we have begun to believe any unsupported rumor we read on the internet. Remember last year when that young man drown int he Clarkfork? There were at least four different stories in the news about what "really" happened before the truth came out. In an effort to keep ahead of the internet rumor mill our local news outlets print the first thing they can get in print and often without sufficient facts or care. Which leads us to mistrust the news outlets more driving many to the internet which fosters an ugly need for the news outlets to go to print faster and with less facts - it is an ugly cycle.
This is another case of people as sheep taking facebook as gospel and the news media using the internet as a lead without fully researching the "news" they print. Instant information and immediate public response have made us all weak minded and angry. Local news: please take the time to research your articles and pride yourself in facts not speed. Public: please think before you react, consider the source of your information, we are smarter than the gullible masses who blindly follow anything they read online. And to the young man in this case: please seek professional help - there is a life after this and you need to deal with the consequences of your actions like a responsible adult, it's time.
hellgatenights - August 09, 2012 12:54 pm
What is a "Gay" bar? I have always thought of bars as a place for people of any sex or race to meet and relax. Now I have to re-think the whole concept because I certainly would not want the GLBTI community to feel slighted.
If a bar must have a sexual persuasion, then perhaps they will insist on the right to marry as well? I mean.......what's the matter with you, don't you dare JUDGE the bar!
Perhaps the GLBTI community could address this issue......we certainly do not want any exclusion in the garden city.
GaryTinkSanders - August 10, 2012 12:04 am
TwinNumberTwo what this reckless young lad did was almost cause a potential violent protest, he brought a black cloud over the entire city of Missoula and the state of Montana and the good citizens within. Mr baken also damaged the establishments good name and brought false charges on the potential would be perpetrators who could have been found guilty of a crime they did not commit, spend years in prison, loose their jobs, family and what ever else they had because of a false cry from a pathetic little egomaniac. This might not be a hate crime, it is much worse.
Roger - August 10, 2012 7:31 am
You are the ignoramus jwb, and evidently bigoted against white males. Women have had the vote since 1920, and now receive much special treatment. How many men have been drafted into the military and killed or maimed in war since 1920, while women don't even have to register with the Selective Service? Affirmative action has awarded females much special treatment, such as hiring and promotion over more-qualified males, significantly more lenient sentences than males for the same or similar crimes, etc. etc. So for females, it's obviously equal rights and special treatment for them, but no equal responsibility.
Cato - August 11, 2012 10:27 pm
Ironically, Gays prefer to have "their own" places to hang out. They practice the discrimination they object to. Not unusual among any "group," but merely an observation that hypocrisy among "claimed rights" is generally rampant.
Tracker - August 12, 2012 3:15 pm
Oh, brother. By your logic, the media should not have reported the 9-11 attacks until everyone knew precisely how many people died, who was responsible, and exactly how it happened.
Rational adults understand that stories naturally develop and sometimes change as more information becomes available.
This is a case of the news media using the internet as a lead without researching what they print? Try again. The core information of this story was reported by law enforcement, who simply related what they had. Generally, law enforcement officers investigating an incident are pretty reliable sources of information as it begins and evolves - exactly as it was in this case. I doubt the Missoulian used Facebook as the basis for their comments from officers.
The newspaper did what journalists in this country have done for centuries. It reported information conveyed by a solid source, wrote about some people's reactions, and, just as quickly, revised the story when new information surfaced.
And there were of course the homosexualist commenters and their allies, engaging in damage control:
Serafina - August 07, 2012 6:40 pm
The LBGT community doesn't owe anyone an apology for reacting swiftly to and rallying behind someone that they thought was a victim of a crime based on his sexual orientation. The type of violence that this young man falsely reported isn't a myth, it does happen. Direct your anger at the person responsible, not the entire LBGT community. That's stupid.
[OhMT - August 07, 2012 9:23 pm
"Direct your anger at the person responsible." Too bad they didn't afford Missoulians the same courtesy before the truth came to light.]
jwb3982 - August 08, 2012 11:31 am
Wow, there's so much hate and ignorance on this board. So one stupid kid makes up a story for attention and suddenly that's a rallying cry for all the ring-wing homophobes to point their fingers and demonize the LGBT community. There's a lot of talk on here about how the gay community is a special interest group, a minority seeking special treatment that they shouldn't get and that straight people need the same kinds of protections somehow. If that's your argument you clearly lack the capacity for critical thought. Why was it necessary for Abraham Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, giving special attention to African Americans in the country? Oh yeah, because the group in power (white people) were enslaving them and treating them like property. Why was it necessary for women to seek the right to vote and for protections and fair treatment in the workplace? Oh right, because the people in power (men) weren't treating them as equals. Why did African Americans have to fight for equal rights? Because a lot of whites didn't want them to have them. Why do gay people want the same rights (marriage, hospital visitation, adoption) as straight people? Because they don't have them and a lot of ignorant straight people want it to stay that way. Why do they want protection from hate crimes? Because a lot of ignorant, right-wing, old-fashioned, good-ol-boy, religious, conservative, morons, (like the ones posting on here) like to ride around town and beat up on the "sissy boys" to show them how to act like "real men" ... just like the ignorant, right-wing, old-fashioned, good-ol-boy, religious, conservative, morons used to do with the blacks in their communities decades ago. Minorities have to petition and fight for equality in a world dominated by a majority who thinks things are just fine as they are. If you're a straight, white, christian, male, in this country, things ARE pretty good for you compared to anyone from any other group. It's also pretty hard to put yourself in the shoes of another person and ask how life is from their point of view. That requires a lot of brain power and, sadly, I realize a lot of people just can't do it. I feel sorry for you. So, yes, a stupid kid did something for attention. Chances are he had been bullied for being gay at some point in his life. He'd probably felt discriminated against by his community and his government for not treating him like an equal citizen. And if the people posting on this board are any indication of what people are like in his town, then he may have been beaten up before for daring to step out of line and challenge the status quo with his deviation from what they would consider "normal." But the LGBT community owes you ZERO apology. They simply came to the defense of a young man who alleged he had been bullied by members of the straight community -- a story that, sadly, is all too often not a hoax. When gays start jumping straight outside of straight bars, when they throw bottles at them from moving cars because they're walking down the street with their opposite-sex lover, when they drag straight people out into fields, tie them to fences, and beat them to death for being a "breeder," then we can start talking about what protections the heterosexuals need against the evil gay community. Until then, grow up and educate yourselves.
WJR - August 08, 2012 8:17 pm
jwb3982 - Brilliant post. You said it perfectly.
But, I don't think that this young man intended to create a hate crime sensation. To me it feels like he did something pretty stupid in trying to do a flip off the curb while intoxicated, and probably was too embarrassed to 'fess up to his family, so he came up with a good story for them. It escalated from there.
I am not excusing what he did. False reports, rare as they are, only hurt legitimate cases of abuse. As seen in certain comments on this and other threads.
Still, this is a case of a kid making a bad call, in my opinion. If anyone of you out there has never done that, even on the smallest level, then by all means, cast that first stone.
PercyA - August 09, 2012 10:20 am
Well, jwb, it just means that right-wing homophobes can go back to guilt-free touching of one another under bathroom stalls as they pass toilet paper back and forth - and eventually justify making it back to the glory hole. :)
Greenland - August 09, 2012 2:46 pm
"Gay man pleads guilty to false report of attack in downtown Missoula"
While it is true he lied about being attacked because "he asked where the gay bars were," and that he was attacked because of his "sexual orientation," despite the headline, nowhere was it shown by his statements that he actually was gay, only that he claimed he was attacked because of it. Every part of what he said was a lie, that may have been part of it too.
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