Hate Crime Guilty Plea In Baltimore Beating
BALTIMORE (AP) -- A New York man has pleaded guilty to a hate crime in the beating of a man he believed was gay at a Baltimore hotel.
Ajit Kapur, 30, of New York pleaded guilty Wednesday in Baltimore Circuit Court to second-degree assault hate crime and received a three-year suspended sentence.
Richard Tso, the man who was attacked while visiting from Seattle in August, says he was heading to his hotel room when he heard Kapur call out a homosexual slur, but he ignored it. A short time later, he says Kapur cornered and attacked him in the hallway, beating him to the ground.
Tso has since helped found TAP America, a non-profit "dedicated to strengthening America through tolerance, Americanism and patriotism." He says Kapur donated $500 to the organization.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
