Two Cape men face charges for 'hate crime'

Two Cape Girardeau men face felony assault charges after allegedly beating another man in what Missouri law considers a "hate crime," said Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle.

Shaun J. Cole, 30, of 2826 Whitener St., and Eric L. Frymire, 22, of 611 W. Washington Ave., were arrested and charged Thursday with third-degree assault-hate crime as a result of an incident that occurred Aug. 31.

According to a probable-cause statement, it started off as a verbal assault when the victim and six others were gathered in a parking lot on Whitener Street.

Frymire and Cole allegedly followed the group to one of the apartments in the lot, threatened them and hurled derogatory sexual remarks at them.

The group of people entered the apartment and shut the door to avoid any further altercation with the pair, the statement said.

When the threats persisted from outside the door, one man inside tried to step out to tell them they weren't welcome at the residence. Forcing the door open, Cole allegedly called him a name and hit him in the head with his fist, according to the sworn statement.

Frymire jumped in, and the fight continued into a bedroom, where they pinned the man to the bed and began striking him repeatedly until the police were called, the statement said.

A second probable-cause statement dated Thursday and written and signed by Swingle, added that the attack was triggered by the victim's sexual orientation. Witnesses described hearing Frymire and Cole use derogatory language directed at the victim and his friends.

Third-degree assault would normally be a misdemeanor, but the hate crime charge elevates it to a class D felony, meaning Cole and Frymire could face up to four years' imprisonment if convicted.

The crime used to be called "ethnic intimidation," Swingle said, but Missouri repealed the statute and replaced it with 557.035, elevating a crime motivated by the race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation or disability of the victim to a felony.

Swingle said he can recall four other hate crimes charged in Cape Girardeau County and said his office generally sees about one a year.

"We don't see very many of these in Cape Girardeau County," Swingle said.

The most recent before Thursday's arrests involved a man targeted because he had a prosthetic leg, Swingle said.

bdicosmo@semissourian.com

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