Jan 11, 2007Articles: Singers from Yale attacked in San Francisco
By vanrozenheim
(San Francisco, USA) - Members of an all-male singing group from Yale University say they were taunted with anti-gay slurs, attacked and beaten after singing "The Star Stangled Banner" at a New Year's Eve party in San Francisco. At least three members of the Baker's Dozen a cappella group were hurt. One suffered a broken jaw.
No arrests have been made. Police said they are investigating.
The trouble started when a couple of partygoers began mocking the 16 student singers _ who wore sports jackets and ties _ as preppies, witnesses said.
"You're not welcome here," Sharyar Aziz Jr., an 18-year-old Baker's Dozen member whose jaw was broken, quoted one partygoer as saying. "He called a few members of the group, whether it was fag or homo, very, I would say, juvenile taunting."
Reno Rapagnani, a retired San Francisco police officer whose daughter hosted the event, shut down the party. As the singers headed back to a nearby home where they were staying, another group of young men got out of a van and jumped them, according to Rapagnani.
"They were surrounded, then tripped _ and when they were on the ground, they were kicked," Rapagnani said.
Two other Yale students needed medical treatment following the fight, one for a concussion and the other for cuts and a swollen ankle.
Police said they arrived and found about 20 people fighting in the street. They interviewed some of the participants but let them go after taking their names.
