Coloradoan
By: Sara Reed

The Anti-Defamation League on Tuesday condemned a possible bias-motivated crime that occurred in Fort Collins Saturday night.

Bruce DeBoskey, the ADL’s Mountain States Regional Director, said Colorado is “no place for hate.”

“Perpetrators of hate crimes send a message to their victims – and everyone else who shares the victim’s characteristics – that minorities are not welcome or safe,” he said in a statement. “Our communities must unite and send the opposite message loud and clear – that all people, of any color, sexual orientation, gender, ability, religion or ethnicity are welcome, safe, protected and included in our society.”

Fort Collins police are investigating a report that two white males allegedly verbally and physically harassed a 50-year-old black male about 9:15 p.m. Saturday as the man left the 7-Eleven at 505 S. Shields St.

The victim, whose name has not been released, rode away on his bicycle. According to the victim, the suspects ran him off the road in the 1300 block of Baystone Drive before getting out of their vehicle and physically assaulting him.

Witnesses reported one of the suspects yelled a racial slur at the victim before leaving the area.

The victim was treated at Poudre Valley Hospital before being taken to the Larimer County Detention Center on an outstanding warrant for trespassing at another 7-Eleven, according to police.

The suspects are described as white males between 18 and 25 and were driving a red Ford Contour or Ford Taurus. There were no new developments in the case Tuesday, police spokeswoman Rita Davis said.

There were five bias-motivated crimes reported in Fort Collins in 2006, according to the FBI.

Last year saw a handful of suspected bias-motivated crimes, including one in June, when at least five white males jumped out of their car and assaulted a group of black and Latino men in their car at a stop light. That case was not officially classified a hate crime.

In November, a man broke his leg during a fight he said began because of name-calling based on his sexual orientation. That incident also was not classified as a hate crime, and police said that although there were “insensitive” comments made, they were not originally directed at the man.