“They couldn’t tell me anything,” he said. “We’re waiting on the folks from DC to get through the paperwork.”
Doe heard from the FBI again two weeks after the initial meeting, and had to reach out to them in August for updates, but he’s not heard from them since, and given up trying to find out more.
He received no timeline for charges; no idea when and if he’ll need to go to court, or what will happen to the man who beat him unconscious.
“They told me they’d try not to bother me, to keep me out of it, which I understand,” Doe said in a recent interview with GayRVA. “But I just want this to be resolved, and I don’t want this to be swept under the rug.”
The attacker did face criminal prosecution for the assault.
He had a court date this past August, but the case was Nolle Prosequi, which means he was left free to leave the courthouse, but the County could come back and charge him at a later date.
FBI Richmond Division Media Coordinator Dee Rybiski said the agency does not comment on ongoing investigations, and could not confirm or deny if an investigation into Doe’s attack was taking place, though she said the agency was aware of the incident.
Rybiski said timelines for federal crimes are not easy to nail down, even with evidence like videos of the attack.
“All aspects of an investigation need to be vetted and oftentimes interviews lead to additional work that must be completed,” she said.
Over at the Richmond Criminal Division of the US Attorney’s Office, Public Information Officer Laura H. Taylor was similarly tight-lipped, and said the Department of Justice does not comment on ongoing investigations, nor do they confirm or deny their existence.
Taylor said it’s not unusual for a the DOJ to take on a case initiated at the state level, but, again, timelines are hard, if not impossible, to nail down.
Neither the FBI nor the DOJ could confirm the attacker was currently behind bars, or if he was facing any kind of indictments.
This leaves Doe in the dark on the issue, and while he understands Virginia lacks specific hate crime laws protecting LGBTQs, he doesn’t understand how or why the federal justice system has abandoned him.
“You can’t go around discriminating and hating on people because you don’t agree with it… I didn’t do anything to that man and he beat the crap out of my face,” Doe said.
“For him to be free and clear is not fair.”
