Horrific Hate Crime Inspires Evening Vigil

A brutal homophobic attack in Lincoln, Nebraska, left one woman screaming as she crawled from her house yesterday and inspired hundreds to attend a vigil against hate crimes, the Journal-Star reports. The woman said three masked men burst into her house, tied her up, cut her all over, and carved anti-gay slurs into her body. When they set her floor on fire with gasoline, she crawled to her neighbor's house calling for help.

Police are investigating, but haven't named any suspects. A vigil organized on Facebook got about 300 people to the capitol building last night, where LGBT advocate Karen Bratton-Cranford advised against vigilante justice. "Don't give them the power to control your actions," she said. Another advocate urged protesters to believe in the police: "I have a lot of faith in our police department," he said. "We have a long history of support within our community." (More hate crime stories.)