Thursday, 4:30 PM
Three Lowell teens indicted in alleged hate crime
By Suzanne Smalley, Globe Staff
Three 19-year-old Lowell men have been indicted by a Middlesex grand jury for what authorities are calling a hate-based attack on a transsexual man in Lowell on June 2.
Jules Ruggs, Jeffrey Buchannan, and Jonathan Artis are accused of following the victim home from a nightclub and punching him repeatedly, the Middlesex district attorney's office said today. The men allegedly used epithets about the man's sexual orientation prior to and during the beating and told the victim, "We don't like your kind in our neighborhood."
The victim's lip was severely lacerated and his back was injured in the attack, authorities said.
All three men are charged with violation of constitutional rights, assault and battery for purpose of intimidation due to sexual orientation, and assault and battery. They are to be arraigned in Lowell Superior Court July 25.
A lawyer for the men could not be immediately reached for comment.
