A teen pleaded not guilty today to charges that he used an anti-gay epithet during an attack on a fellow student at City College of San Francisco last week.
Jevon Mask, 18, was arrested for the assault, which was reported at about 1 p.m. Thursday at City College’s John Adams campus in the 1800 block of Hayes Street, police and prosecutors said.
During the attack, which occurred after some sort of confrontation at the school, Mask allegedly called the victim a “faggot,” Assistant District Attorney Victor Hwang said.
The victim was allegedly choked briefly but didn’t suffer any serious injuries, Hwang said.
Prosecutors filed assault charges with a hate crime enhancement because of the use of the anti-gay epithet.
The victim “thought that was the intention” of the slur by Mask, Hwang said outside of court today.
But Mask’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Anne Irwin, said the term is “a colloquialism that goes beyond” the anti-gay meaning, and that Mask “doesn’t even know and doesn’t care” about the victim’s sexual orientation.
“This is, at its core, young men mouthing off resulting in a fight,” Irwin said.
She said in court that prior to the scuffle, Mask was walking away from the school and was being followed and taunted by the victim and two of his friends.
Hwang said there was no evidence in the police report that Mask was being followed, and that just the opposite happened–the victim was jumped by Mask.
Irwin said outside of court after the hearing that she thinks the charges were trumped up by Hwang, who prosecutes hate crimes for the district attorney’s office, and that the use of the word “faggot” is common by youth and in popular culture.
“There are a lot of music artists that could be brought in for hate crimes” for using the word, Irwin said. “It has a lot of meanings.”
After Mask pleaded not guilty to the charges, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Samuel Feng ordered him held on $50,000 bail and issued an order for him to stay away from the City College campus.
“What’s troubling is the disparaging remarks made by Mr. Mask … whether he knows what it really means,” Feng said.
Mask is scheduled to return to court for the preliminary hearing in the case on May 20.
Dan McMenamin, Bay City News
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