Man who claimed he was beaten for being gay admits he made it all up

cnredd · #1 (**permalink**) 08-09-2012, 04:21 PM

You know...If you're going to be deceptive and try to paint yourself as a martyr and victim, make sure there's isn't a YouTube video that shows otherwise...

Man who claimed he was beaten for being gay admits he made it all up after police receive video of him hitting HIS OWN head after back-flipping off a curb

Joseph Baken, Backflip Fail, Fake Anti Gay Attack, Missoula Montana, Full Video - YouTube

Quote:

A young man who told police he was beaten up in a would-be hate crime appeared in court today admitting that he made the entire incident up.

The story of Joseph Baken travelled from Missoula, Montana across the country when a picture of his scratched and bruised face made waves on the internet.

Now, Baken has declared in court that he made the false police report after video surfaced of him attempting to do a back flip and failing.

Police say that Baken initially 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.

The site alleged that the fictitious assailants used anti-gay curses targetted at Baken's homosexuality.

'Nobody deserves this, especially no just because of your sexuality,' the organizers wrote on the Wipe Out Homophobia page.

Shortly after the case began to rise to national attention, police received an anonymous video of Baken attempting to do a backflip off of a street curb and subsequently hitting his face on the sidewalk.

As a result, he was charged with filing a false police report, to which he plead guilty on Wednesday.

Police officer Scott Brodie says the decision to file charges was partially due to the fear and anger prompted by his claims.

Now the same anti-homophobia sites are criticizing Baken, saying that he was making light of an issue that is extremely serious to many who are true victims of hate crimes.

The only shining examples in this case? The Missoula police and officials who Montana activists are praising for their swift and sharp response to the claims.

I think they should forcefully change his name to "Morton Downey Jr"...

Joe Shoe · #2 (**permalink**) 08-09-2012, 06:46 PM

I find it fascinating that this seems to be more common than one might think.

There was another thread about a separate faking event of this nature awhile back. (http://www.politicalwrinkles.com/civ...tml#post435826 )

Obviously there's a good deal of this going on.

Another thought is this ...
Some people define hate crimes as instilling fear. The above quote about the perpetrator of this faking was "Police officer Scott Brodie says the decision to file charges was partially due to the fear and anger prompted by his claims."

Ironically, how is this any different?

Manitou · #3 (**permalink**) 08-11-2012, 11:55 AM

I got a sudden attack of homonausea when the camera guy remarked that the liar had a "cute belly".

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