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Joseph Baken, seen here in a movie still from the 2011 film "Judas Kiss."
A 22-year-old man who claimed he was badly beaten outside a downtown Missoula, Mont., bar because he is gay actually sustained his facial injuries trying to do a backflip on a sidewalk, police say.
Joseph Baken of Billings, Mont., was charged with filing a false police report after a video obtained by police and the Missoula Independent newspaper cast doubt on his story.
On Tuesday, Baken pleaded guilty in Missoula Municipal Court to the false report charge. He was given a 180-day suspended jail sentence and fined $300, according to the Independent.
Baken initially reported to police that he was attacked early Sunday morning by three men outside the Missoula Club, where he said he had gone to celebrate his 22nd birthday, after asking patrons about the location of a gay bar, according to local media reports.
Pictures of his badly bruised face quickly circulated on the Internet and were displayed on the Wipe Out Homophobia Facebook page and other sites. Gay-rights activists expressed outrage at what they thought was a gay-bashing hate crime.
But Baken’s story began to fall apart after the Independent and the Missoula Police Department obtained what appears to be cellphone video footage that shows Baken trying to do a backflip on a sidewalk in Missoula. He falls short during the landing, smacking his face against the sidewalk.
“Video evidence taken by unidentified sources was examined and demonstrates that Joseph Baken caused injury to himself by attempting a backward somersault and striking his head on the sidewalk at about 2:30 AM on Higgins Avenue,” Lt. Scott Brodie said in a statement.
“Joseph Baken was contacted by Missoula police detectives and during a subsequent interview he admitted that the alleged assault against him did not occur as it was reported,” Brodie said.
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The decision to charge Baken with filing a false report “was due in part to the sense of fear and anger that quickly developed after Baken had identified a specific business and possible suspects in his allegations,” Brodie said.
Baken could not be reached by NBCNews.com for comment on Thursday. A phone call to a listing for Joseph Baken in Billings went unanswered.
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Baken was a featured background player in the 2011 film "Judas Kiss," billed as "an offbeat contemporary drama on a college campus alive with magical realism."
Carlos Pedraza, "Judas Kiss" writer-producer, had posted the picture of Baken's battered face on the movie's website along with news of the alleged attack. In a follow-up blog post on Tuesday, Pedraza said:
"As a journalist, I can now see the initial report raised questions that should have been followed up on before this case rose to the level of national attention that it has (e.g., Towleroad and Huffington Post). As a person who wanted to believe his friend, I admit my bias: I glossed over these questions because I wanted to support my friend. But reporters shouldn’t have.
I posted the news based on press reports and on the fact that a friend and cast member had been hurt. I stand by that decision because anti-gay violence is all too common, and whether this report is true doesn’t change that. Even though the report was false, it doesn’t lessen the value of the offers of support many people had asked me to relay. I am heartened by their stand that such violence is wrong and should be prosecuted."
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Leave a Comment:
You are correct, Curt. This is about a gay lying and destroying any credibility for future REAL crimes against gays.
REPEAT AFTER ME:
Liberalism is a mental disorder, a hoax, a lie and a waste of money...........Other peoples' money!
don't,
I told you.....Liberalism is a mental disorder, a hoax and a lie. Thanks for the confirmation!!!!!!
When you have no argument.....Well, you know what I mean.
Give you p(utzes) enough rope and you'll hang yourselves!
now the fags are bashing themselves cause theyre so ashamed
According to the FBI statistics for 2010 there were about 1,300 "hate crimes" reported that were related to sexual preference. They estimate that about half the actual crimes are reported so if we accept that their catagorization and estimation of percentage reported is somewhat close there were around 2,600 "hate crimes" against homosexuals in 2010. Included in these crimes are 27 that resulted in death.
In the same time period there were about 33,000 traffic fatalities on US roads. Not accidents. Not injuries. Deaths. Seems to me the attention paid to crimes against gays is way out of proportion to the seriousness of the problem. Sure 27 is too many, but when over a thousand times as many people die in traffic accidents as in hate crimes against gays why do the 27 get so much press? Probably because it is like shark attacks and lightning strikes, very unusual.
The shrill voices screaming that America is full of hatred for gays need to get a grip on reality. As long as they don't parade down Main St in Village People outfits with thier tounges in each other's throats most people really don't care what they do in private. Unfortunately for most gays the folks demonstrating with outrageous behavior don't seem to understand that it inspires outrage. Duhh!
If you want to be seen as mainstream act mainstream.
Oh Les, how dare you use factual STATISTICS to make an argument. You must be mean-spirited and homophobic!
HAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAA!!!! Wow, now the idiots are using gay-bashing as an excuse for being....well, IDIOTS. This place is something else.
This action is typical of homosexuals, they are pathological liars.
Most gay-bashing is a hoax to gain sympathy in the press.
Snoopy,
NO!!! Most LIBERALISM is a hoax!!!
Your proof?
Snoop,
Every time one opens his/her mouth!
no not all of theme are liers and im sure you your salf have lied, so would that make your whole family liers?
I thought his sentence should include eating a certain number of Chick-fil-a sandwiches.
Ted,
Good one. Why didn't I think of that??!!
@!$%#
Good One RL! That's right......he did assault a gay man, himself! Throw the book at the idiot! What he did was wrong on all accounts......and the liberal media ate it up. Why are we so quick to take everything we hear that supports our "cause" or "agenda" as truth??? Wake up America and dig deep! Get your head out of the Liberal fog or even the far out conspiracy realm! Come back to reality and do what is right.
Don't Gay people have better things to do?
I heard he went home and put an ice cold Shlong on his face to help with the swelling.
LMAO! I had a Shlitz once that had that real odd smell. I wonder if the labels got mixed...
Go figure, another queer crying wolf, unfoutunatly he didn't kill himself and done humanity a favor.
this is hardly specific to gays, straight people do it too...but it still makes everyone, that lies about being attacked, a selfish, attention seeking, POS....He deserves to have his azz kicked, but not for being gay. He furthers the stereotype that gays are drama seeking misfits and hurts those that are good hearted citizens, that only want to be treated fairly. Shame on this dirtbag! and shame on all the nasty women that ruin lives by falsely accusing men of rape.
sadly those who are addicted to this type of lifestyle are not told the truth. God created us male and female. It's not a planet of all males or all females because God created us with gender. He gave us his commandments and had ordained the sexual relationship for a married man and women. People of course are created with free will but there are consequences for disobeying GOds laws. But GOd is merciful, gracious and forgiving to all who recieve Jesus Christ as lord.
Amen! Well said.
Great, how do you believe anything anymore....typical homo...
what panhandle town? PCB maybe?
He needs to go to a prison for females for the same amount of time that a person penalized for a hate crime of this nature would have been sentenced to. This false reporting to further causes has to be punished severely.
Will he be charged with a hate crime?
Regardless of intent, the sidewalk is guilty of gay bashing. No matter gender or sexual orientation, this is also a lesson that drunken backflips should only be attempted on more forgiving, accepting surface.
I bet the Billings, Montana gay community is up in arms! We need someone like MSNBC's Rachel Maddow who's fair and balanced all over this! Wait...did I just say Rachel Maddow and balanced all in the same sentence?? I'll get back with you...........
Carlos Pedraza must be a complete moron
Somebody charge that sidewalk with a hate crime PRONTO! LOL!
And actually, it DOES lessen the value of others' support, Mr. Pedraza. It lessens it a great deal, since it was support based on a lie from a false accuser!
But I have to say - I don't blame you for initially standing by your friend. You were lied to. I would have done the same thing. But if I were you, would now question how good of a friend Mr. Baken really is.
False intentional reports should be labeled a hate crime against heterosexuals and carry a penalty equal homosexual hate crimes. Same goes for intentional false reports of sexual abuse, etc. Once the accusation is out, the accused is then on the defense from the media, etc regardless of proven. Perhaps the media should be held accountable as well for not doing proper research.
Libs crying about how the sidewalk listens to Rush Limbaugh.
This Carlos Pedraza is really a special. He doesn't care if the report was false, the trouble it caused in the community...he sounds like he wouldn't care if some straight guys were beat up because of this incident...
I posted the news based on press reports and on the fact that a friend and cast member had been hurt. I stand by that decision because anti-gay violence is all too common, and whether this report is true doesn't change that. Even though the report was false, it doesn't lessen the value of the offers of support many people had asked me to relay.
I don't know you or your story, but crimes against gays are not anymore common than any other group - they are just publicized and sensationalized 100 times more so they appear to be more frequent.
I lived in a small town in the 1970's and we had openly gay school bus drivers and gay business owners. NEVER once did a parent or citizen complain about a gay person driving their children to school. NEVER once did I heard a negative comment and the bowling alley / bar was the busiest place in town.
Everybody knew! Nobody cared!
stupid fag.... er, heterosexually challenged individual... he really does need his butt beat, not for being gay, but for lying about it.
well he's already been face fu*#ed. kind hateful to want him to take it from both ends. Unless thats his thing, of course.