So much hate to go around. The man was severely injured enough to be in critical condition once he got to the hospital, but when he made his way to the police on the street, they were too busy to bother with him. It's likely not a coincidence that this took place in the heart of the Mormon faith, one of the most aggressively anti-gay activist forces in the world.
And what an indictment of the American health care system - the man was in critical condition after an attack and he wouldn't call an ambulance because he knew he didn't have money for a doctor. That is the American health care system that the Republicans call #1. It's a joke compared to what they have here in France - costs here are 1/3 to 1/10th of what they are in the states. The average American emergency room visit costs $1000. In France, I believe my base fee for visiting the emergency room, including a series of eye exams from a couple of specialists, including the head of the entire department (they knew I was upset about the prospect of major surgery in a foreign land, so they got a consult from the top dog), was 27 euros, or about $38 at today's exchange rate. We're number one!
From the Salt Lake Tribune:
The man stomped on the side of Hall’s head.
Hall, who is 5 feet 10 inches tall and 150 pounds, had his jaw fractured in three places, and a chip of his jawbone jammed into his brain. His cheekbone also shattered and he lost six teeth.
Hall managed to get up after the attack, which Hall estimates lasted less than a minute. He walked toward a police officer and a medical crew that was about a half-block away. He said the police were busy working on something else and didn’t get any information from him. Hall persuaded the medics not to call an ambulance.
"I knew I didn’t have any money for a doctor," Hall said through a wired-shut jaw on the front porch of his Salt Lake City home.
Salt Lake City police are investigating whether anti-gay sentiments motivated the attack that left Hall in critical condition, but they aren’t saying much about the case and aren’t providing any suspect information. (emphasis added)
