From a distance, the elderly gentleman with two hearing aids and a rainbow-covered wagon looked like another festive participant in Omaha's Gay Pride parade. That's what Kendra Konrady thought, at least.
| KC volunteers at the Omaha Gay Pride Parade |
A few seconds later, she was in a headlock.
Konrady admits she has little tolerance for religious zealots with a penchant for overstepping their territory. "All of a sudden I hear, 'The Lord hadeth this, that and the other business,' " she says. "But I'm thinking, Kill them with kindness."
| The rainbow-shrouded religion wagon |
The crowd quickly responded and the man backed off. Konrady marched up to the next police officer she could find and told him what happened. Two other witnesses confirmed that the man pushed Konrady away from the wagon and put her in a headlock.
The man was William Crilly, a 66-year-old Omaha resident. According to the police report, "The suspect, who stated he was just trying to get them away, was arrested for assault."
| Crilly, wearing a black ball cap, points at Konrady, behind the woman in the white shirt |
News of the scuffle spread through the crowd, drawing people to the HRC booth, Main says. As a result, the group signed up 159 new members. They're still considering their legal options in Konrady's assault.
I tried to get Crilly's reaction, but when I dialed his home number, a woman answered. She said that William wasn't available. When I told her why I was calling her tone hardened. "He's going to speak to his lawyer tomorrow and he won't be speaking with anybody until after that," she said.
I left my number. He hasn't called me back yet.
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yeah the hater plead guilty to 3rd degree assault....I haven't called the DA to find out his penance.probably probation.which probably doesnt matter much to a retired 70 yr dude.
s'okay,
I cant let the ignorant genius above( who won't even provide his/or her real name{COWARD}) be the last to leave a comment. Especially a hateful one. Anywho i just wanna take this hot minute to thank everyone and ANYONE who supports HRC, and those who continue to fight for EQUALITY. I am so grateful to be apart of an organization that empowers me to be me_KON_
Excuse me stupid! The first assault occurred when the homos came out of the closet. WAKE UP THE HELL UP AMERICA! SEE MASSRESISTANCE.ORG and the FISTGATE TAPES! These same "nice" people assaulting our kids with YOUR TAX DOLLARS. Recruiting and teaching 14 year old children with your money how to "fist" each other and that ANY KIND OF SEX IS NORMAL! If they don;t recruit your kids the move will end as they are DYING OF DRUGS AND AIDS faster then ANY OTHER CHOSEN LIFE STYLE!
RIK--
when did annoying someone become grounds for assault?you also need to watch the video posted above proving the harassment these geezers antagonized us with! i wasn't looking for a battle. i put my hand in the air to show him I wasn't stooping to his level. He continued to try to force me down on the ground. Of course i was going to let CRILLY know he was not welcome at our event. We know we aren't welcome at their churches so we dont show up there to rain on their parade (pun intended). This man is also part of Operation Rescue who shot down DR. tiller. These RIGHT WING RADICALS continue to promote violence and hate and we are here condoning peace, love and EQUALITY. Until that day comes we can't stop and won't stop.
Had Kendra kept on walking and ignored the guy, we wouldn't be discussing this. She instigated the conflict, pure and simple.
She chose the battle and chose poorly.
And to use this as a means to justify a hate crimes bill is just silly. That demeans real hate crimes.
Wow...how pathetic. Organized religion is the BIGGEST TERRORIST THREAT ON US SOIL!!!!
Hopefully soon these old pieces of bigoted garbage will start to die off and we can finally start to live happily.
Disgusting.
Jason,
I really hope you are yourself a "faggot." Otherwise, you are not allowed to use that word. Thank you.
I saw this whole thing happen right in front of me. That's me and all of my friends and grandmother (the woman in the white sleeveless shirt) in the 2nd and third pictures. I'm the tall guy in the gray shirt with shades and the camera. My boyfriend is by me in the yellow shirt.
That man did have this young lady in a headlock and it looked like he tried to throw her on the ground too. I have pictures of the just before and after the assault. I too was thrown off by the rainbow wagon. I also have a video of the guy pulling the cart after his friend was arrested.
Here's the link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
Jason - who you calling a faggot? Got a problem with that? Are you Crilly's niece, I mean nephew?
PITCH EDITORS: Do you tolerate this kind of posting?
Crilly was baiting people by being there. I hope they throw him in the slammer.
This was assault, clearly. And it should be dealt with as such but exactly why is this a justification for so-called "hate crime" legislation? Isn't assault already illegal? Hate crime laws don't criminalize actions since they are already illegal. It punishes thoughts and beliefs. We don't need new laws that delve into what people believe. We just need to enforce the laws against assault that we already have.
Wow, and I don't know if anyone else noticed, but that looked to me like a coffin wrapped in a gay pride flag. A COFFIN!
Crilly's little wagon looks like a coffin with wrapping paper. I wonder what would happen if someone from HRC tried to march without permission in a Knights of Columbus parade? What gall these homophobes have. They want the right to punish everyone who doesn't think the way they do, and they don't even think the rules of society apply to them.
He was their with out our permission and we are looking into a parading w/0 a permit charge. All i wanted them to do was leave he had ample to time to skat before we got to the officers he practically followed me there....mmmmeehh
How did this yahoo get into the parade in the first place? Sounds like he illegally snuck in and was there to cause problems to begin with. Throw the book at him in court!
Jason,
We were granted a permit to have a parade through downtown Omaha. We were staging a peaceful march, passing out stickers and NOT rattling the other side. We had faced hecklers before that, but responded with smiles, nods, and peaceful demonstration of LOVE FOR HUMANITY. It is people like you and the hecklers with your hate filled language that incite the others to violence. The word "faggot" is incredibly hurtful and damaging to our society, way more so than our monogamous relationships are to your hetero lifestyle. We are not "old faggots." We were 20 and 30 somethings from all walks of life, Gay, Straight, Bi-Sexual, Transgender...all ages, all races, marching in unity for peace. I do not walk into churches that preach against us and force my views upon them. All I want is to be treated with respect and equality, and feel safe walking down the street or in my own home. There were about 80 witnesses that saw the incident. Kendra held up her hands to show that she would not fight back. This was an old man attacking a young girl...and almost forcing her to the ground. However, you are probably the type that stands up for wife, child, and pet abusers too, if they were "asking for it." My consolation is that the younger generations are open minded, enlightened, and compassionate toward our community, and for that I say Praise be to God...and the Real God that created me in his image and preaches love and compassion, not your god that preaches hate and violence. Just remember, Do unto others.
Sincerely,
-Christene Main
HRC Membership and Community Events Co-Chair
HRC Volunteer Coordinator
This was a GAY pride event. The "religious old codger" came to do the "rattling". The side that resorts to violence is the only "jerk".
I'd like to see both sides of this story. Even if the old bastard does call back, etc; the Pitch will likely overlook a response. Sounds like a load of shit. some good old kansas city faggots and a religious old codger trying to rattle each other while surrounded by those in support of said faggot's cause. conveniently two witnesses (in support of the "cause") saw some sort of incident. both sides at fault for being jerks. Charges will be dropped and this goes away quietly in the night.
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