Don’t
know if you have been following the newspaper accounts of the unfortunate death
of Raymond Taavel this past week in Halifax or not. The bare facts of the case are that Taavel
tried to break up a fight outside a downtown bar and in the ensuing fight died. The interesting thing about the story is that
because Raymond was a well-known gay activist the case has taken on a life of
its own. Some of Taavel’s friends have
branded the incident a hate crime and claim that there was a homophobic element
to the incident. Probably at some level,
every act of physical violence is a hate crime, but there is no indication that
the accused, Andre Denny, knew the victim was gay.
Others
have blamed the criminal justice system.
It seems that Denny had been free on a one hour unescorted pass from the
East Coast Forensic Hospital and hadn’t bothered going back.
The
truth is, that like most cases of violent crime in our city, the root cause was
alcohol. Even the accused acknowledges that,
he claims the incident was just a “drunken fight”. And yet no one wants to talk about the fact
that if it hadn’t been for alcohol, Raymond Taavel would probably still be
alive today. Have a great week and
remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.
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