Correction: A headline on the original version of this story described the two defendants as brother-sister. They are not, according to Anchorage police. According to the charging documents, one of the defendants, Robert Gum, referred to the other defendant, Deanna Powers, as "my sister" in one of the YouTube videos of the attack. But police have determined that the two are not related, police spokesman Lt. Dave Parker said.
Details of a racially motivated attack on a Native man in downtown Anchorage were released Friday as one of the accused assailants appeared in court to enter a not guilty plea.
Anchorage residents Robert Gum, 19, and Deanna Powers, 20, have been charged with assault and harassment following the attack they themselves recorded and posted on YouTube late last month. Powers posted $500 bail after her arrest Thursday, but Gum remained jailed with bail set at $1,000 and made a court appearance Friday.
According to charging documents, Gum and Powers, both white, spewed venom at their victim as they pelted him with bottles and eggs, mocking a Native accent and saying "I want my Monarch (vodka)," while the target of their fury meekly tried to walk away, according to charges filed in court Friday.
Authorities said there was no motive for the crime other than the race of the victim, who has not been identified but was reportedly not seriously injured.
"Obviously it's disturbing, the conduct that's described," Assistant District Attorney Aaron Sperbeck said. "It certainly is not what we want to see in our community and it's something that we're going to actively prosecute to the fullest extent that we're allowed."
Authorities have refused to release the two-part video, which has been removed from YouTube. According to an affidavit by police Detective Todd Summey, the attack took place near 9th Avenue and C Street about a week before it was brought to the attention of police on Aug. 5.
The victim told police he was walking to Bean's Cafe when a car pulled up alongside him and the occupants began throwing things at him, taunting him with remarks including, "I hate you Eskimos," the charges say.
The first video posted on YouTube -- which Powers recorded with a cell phone camera -- was about a minute long and showed Gum and Powers pulling up to the man on the street with Gum yelling, "Hey, you want to get shot?" He then got out of the car and threw a plastic water bottle at the man, hitting him in the head, as a woman in the background laughed, the charges say.
In another video clip from the same encounter, Gum and Powers -- who Gum refers to as "my sister" -- throw eggs at the man and threaten him as he tries to walk away, the charges say. The man turned to his assailants, saying he didn't have any money and asking that they leave him alone.
"Are you getting hard? I'll hit you in the face and knock your (expletive) teeth out,' " Gum said, according to the affidavit. The man walked away, only to have Powers run up from behind and push him, almost knocking him down, the charges say.
"I was just playing. I didn't mean to push you like that," she says, according to Summey's affidavit.
The victim stood there, extended a handshake and said, "Please don't bother me."
Gum replied, "If you touch my sister, I will cut you," the charges say. Powers pushed the man again, and, at Gum's direction, kicked the man in the behind. After Gum threatened to kick him in the head, the man protested that he wasn't dumb.
"You are dumb," Powers said, according to the charges. "You're a f-----g Native."
The pair took off after spotting what they thought was a police officer in the distance.
They later posted the video on YouTube and someone who knew them reported it. The victim did not report the incident and was not treated for his injuries, police Lt. Dave Parker said.
"We do believe that there are other victims out there," Parker said. "We can't give any details out about that because we need them to tell us."
Court records indicate Gum has a history of criminal charges including misdemeanor assault, destruction of property and minor consuming alcohol.
Powers, who, according to her MySpace page, is from Staten Island, N.Y., appears to have no criminal history in Alaska.
"I'm a pretty nice person until you cross the line," she wrote on her page. "And bitches who talk s--t will get hit END of story."
Efforts to reach Powers Friday at a phone listing for her name were unsuccessful.
According to his MySpace page, Gum is from Anchorage and attends the Whaley Center, which serves emotionally disturbed students. He says he hasn't graduated from high school and has no job. He likes to meet new people but doesn't like big groups and has had a pretty hard life, he wrote.
"i love my mom to death and alwayz will no women will ever get in da way of dat and yes i have been in meny fihgtz for and over my mom.. oh and i been to jail for her," he wrote. "jus dont talk s--t to me and ill be good to you.. im a good person in heart and wont do you wrong if you dont do me wrong."
At his hearing Friday, Gum told Judge Catherine Easter he had no job, no money and claimed to live on the streets. She appointed him a public defender during an exchange that featured a number of flip answers from Gum.
"Sir, let's use some respect here," Easter said.
Public records indicate Gum has lived at a West Anchorage address in recent years. Pictures posted on his MySpace page as recently as last month show him in a kitchen and drinking 40-ounce bottles of Budweiser with Powers.
Gum and Powers are charged with fourth-degree assault and second-degree harassment, both misdemeanors. Anchorage District Attorney Adrienne Bachman said the crimes carry a maximum penalty of up to a year in jail and a $10,000 fine.
"These defendants are charged with causing a man to fear physical injury and harassing him. They are accused of doing this with words and conduct," Bachman said. "If the words or conduct include hateful words, any judge will take that conduct into account when imposing a sentence."
But officials have also been working with the FBI to determine whether the victim's civil rights were violated, she said. FBI Special Agent Eric Gonzalez said the Department of Justice will decide whether to file charges after reviewing the case. A federal civil rights violation is a felony offense, he said.
At the Brother Francis shelter Friday, there was little surprise over a racially motivated assault on the streets.
"I don't know what they had against him, but it is troubling to hear something like that," said Stan Vaska, who is staying at the Brother Francis Shelter. "There have been a lot of racial things happen in the past."
At least twice in Anchorage in recent years -- 2001 and 2003 -- Natives have been targeted by teens with paint ball guns because of their race. Back in 1979, a man was beaten to death with a hockey stick because he was Native.
According to FBI's Uniform Crime Report, eight hate crimes were reported by Anchorage police in 2007 and six in 2006.
"I am absolutely shocked that this kind of behavior continues in this day and age against any kind of people who appear helpless and defenseless, but particularly our Native people," said Patrick Anderson, chairman of the board at the Alaska Native Justice Center.
"I wish folk would learn from it and I hope these two young people learn from it, but at their ages I'm not quite so sure. Tolerance is in short supply in some segments of the non-Native community."
Find James Halpin online at adn.com/contact/jhalpin or call him at 257-4589.
Police arrest pair in assault posted online
By JAMES HALPIN
jhalpin@adn.com