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Marines In Alleged Homophobic Assault In Savannah Claim They Were Subject Of Verbal Advances

06/15/10-by Bridgette P. LaVictoire
Colonel David Robinson, Commanding Officer of MAG-31, has issued a statement regarding the assault on Kieran Daly by Corporal Keil Joseph Cronauer and Lance Corporal Christopher Charles Stanzel. Either Corporal Cronauer and Lance Corporal Stanzel is alleged to have struck Daly from behind causing the openly gay Daly to fall to the ground unconscious. He then hat two seizures. Indications are that the two men had been bar hopping and may have been waiting to ambush Daly when he came out of one of the bars near Johnson Square in Savannah, GA. According to a comment left on the LezGetReal site, “Then back to the fact that Johnson Square is a OUTDOOR PARK in downtown SAVANNAH…. not to mention footsteps away from the largest gay club in the southeast… ok its 3:45 am…. in the dark.. yes there are street lights in the square… but you think are they enough light from above to give a passer-by the opportunity to see something as minute as a wink.” The woman who left the comment is Cricket Epps of Savannah Pride. Johnson Park is, indeed, not well lit.

According to Cronauer and Stanzel, they were not only winked at, but they were the subject of unwanted verbal advances and that they were closely followed. They were also, apparently, threatened. They ran instead of attending to the man that they knocked down, and tried to escape down Congress Lane, an alley that runs parallel to Congress Road.

The statement from Colonel Robinson:

Although this certainly does not justify the actions of the Marine who punched the individual, it is important for us to consider both sides of the story. . .The United States Marine Corps does not tolerate discrimination or violence of any kind between military members and the citizens we defend. Military authorities and civilian agencies are cooperating. As the investigations shed more light onto the situation, the appropriate actions will be taken regarding the uniformed service members involvement and if it is determined that civil or criminal laws were broken, the individuals will be held fully accountable.

Currently, the Savannah Police Department, FBI, and NCIS are investigating this particular incident. The investigation is ongoing. The two Marines remain confined to barracks pending the results of these investigations.

The LGBT Community is up in arms about this assault. There is an old Russian proverb that goes “no one lies like an eyewitness.” This is not disparaging, but there are always differing views from any witnesses to a crime or an event. The various law enforcement units that are investigating will have to sort through the witnesses in order to determine the exact course of events.

The last word is that Kieran Daly is recovering in hospital from bruising to the brain.

LezGetReal reached out to the base to get a full run of Colonel Robinson’s statement as well as any additional information that they may want the LGBT Community to know about this assault. Unfortunately, this information has not arrived at this time. LezGetReal is more than willing to run any information that the Marine Corps and MAG-31 might want to let the Community know.