On February 17, 2013, violence broke out at a home owners association (HOA) meeting at The Springs, an upscale country club in Rancho Mirage, California. The residents of The Springs are celebrities, athletes, political figures and other high-profile individuals. Rancho Mirage has been called “The Playground of Presidents.” A YouTube video has recently emerged which details the incident, described as gay bashing and a hate crime.
Below is a synopsis of the information provided on the YouTube video, included at the bottom of this article.
The victim of the hate crime and his spouse were residents of The Springs. The two men attended the Board of Directors annual HOA election proceedings where the victim’s spouse, was a candidate. Text from the video, as well as statements made by the victim’s attorney, alleges the couple received threats prior to their involvement in the election.
The attackers targeted the candidate’s epileptic partner. Gay slurs were yelled at the couple during the meeting and the victim was brutally shoved, kicked and beaten by board members and residents. The victim suffered epileptic seizures during and after the attack and has been diagnosed with brain injury.
The text in the video alleges the head of security at The Springs, David Archer, was at the meeting and held several of the residents at gunpoint in an effort to keep them from rendering assistance to the victim during the attack. The video alleges that Archer “misrepresented himself as a police officer,” but so far no charges have been filed against him.
A Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) was filed by the attackers against the victim and his partner in the spring of 2013 and was subsequently dismissed. Testimony disclosed that Archer, who previously worked for the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, had been directed to bring a gun to the annual meeting by Board President David Rothstein and Secretary Basil Xipolitos.
In an effort to subvert a potential lawsuit, Archer, along with The Springs HOA board member Reesa Manning and HOA employee Jay Perry, filed criminal charges against the victim at the suggestion of the Riverside County Sherriff’s Department. Those charges were “dismissed in the interest of justice” on September 30, 2013 by the District Attorney’s Office.
Attorney Melanie Roe told KESQ, “There were far too many hateful, homophobic statements uttered at the town hall meeting.” She added, “He [the victim] suffered a significant life altering injury as a result of the incident and he continues to suffer from a permanent disability.”
Roe explained that the victim’s spouse, who lost the election, tried to make a statement but was not permitted to speak. He wasn’t given a microphone and was heckled. As the meeting ended, a newly elected board member shoved the victim and then “several men attacked him, dog piled on top of him, gave him quite the beating,” said Roe.
The victim’s live-in caretaker came to his defense. “He [the caretaker] was taken down to the ground and later held at gunpoint outside of the room,” said Roe.
After spending a week in the hospital, the victim filed a multi-million dollar civil lawsuit for his injuries and for negligence and discrimination.
One of The Springs residents is California Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer. Liberals Unite reached out to the senator twice for a statement and has received no answer. A statement was also requested via phone message to the manager of The Springs Home Owners Association regarding the attack and as yet, no one from the country club has responded.
Liberals Unite has obtained a letter sent to all who reside at The Springs from “A LARGER group of concerned Springs residents.” Our source, who prefers to keep their identity private, furnished a pdf file of the letter and screen shots provide the text:
Multiple sources have reported on this hate crime including a blog titled Trends in Hate, and the incident was also chronicled in a book, Hate Crimes In America 1968-2013.
Additional photographs of the victim’s injuries are included in the video below. It was released on February 7, 2015. Within hours of its release, the hactivist vigilante group, Anonymous, commented:
“This is an outrage. The Springs Country Club must be exposed and held accountable for this Hate Crime. Anonymous is legion. Anonymous does not forgive. Anonymous does not forget.”
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