SAVANNAH, Ga. — Two U.S. Marines accused of knocking a gay Savannah man unconscious will face only misdemeanor charges in the attack after the Justice Department declined to prosecute them for hate crimes, authorities said last Wednesday.
Savannah-Chatham County police arrested the Marines on June 12 after finding 27-year-old Kieran Daly unconscious on a downtown sidewalk. Witnesses said the Marines got upset because they thought Daly winked at them and attacked him as he tried to walk away.
The FBI launched a preliminary investigation into whether the attack warranted charges as a federal hate crime. Stephen Emmett, spokesperson for the FBI in Atlanta, said the Justice Department opted against pursuing hate-crime charges after reviewing the case.
“The matter now rests with local authorities,” Emmett said.
The Marines accused of attacking Daly — Cpl. Keil Joseph Cronauer, 22, and Lance Cpl. Christopher Charles Stanzel, 23, — have been charged with misdemeanor battery in state court. A judge was scheduled to hear the case Sept. 9.
Chatham County prosecutors determined Daly’s injuries weren’t serious enough to seek felony charges against the Marines, said Alicia Johnson, spokesperson for District Attorney Larry Chisolm.
Daly said the Marines are getting off light. The attack left him with $30,000 in unpaid medical bills, he says, and he still gets frequent headaches — though he doesn’t know if they come from stress or a lingering injury.
Daly said he’s certain he was attacked because he’s gay, saying they used slurs.
“I don’t have scars, I didn’t lose a limb,” Daly said. “Psychologically it’s done a lot of damage to me. I can’t go downtown and walk around by myself even in the daylight without looking over my shoulder.”
Daly’s case illustrates why Georgia lawmakers need to revive the state’s hate-crime law, said Kevin Clark, Savannah chapter director of the gay-rights group Georgia Equality.
Georgia hasn’t had a state hate crime law since 2004, when the state Supreme Court struck down a 1999 statute on grounds that it was too vague.
“That was a brutal attack. He could have been killed,” Clark said. “To think the attackers are going to walk away with a slap-on-the-wrist misdemeanor is absolutely absurd.”
Attorneys for Cronauer and Stanzel did not immediately return calls from The Associated Press.
Both men are stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort in neighboring South Carolina. Gunnery Sgt. Chad McMeen, a base spokesperson, said the Marines remain on duty pending the outcome of the case.