A 15-year-old Orange City boy was charged with a felony battery count after allegedly assaulting and brutalizing a 16-year-old Palm Coast boy while calling him a “faggot.” The incident , captured by surveillance cameras, took place at a SMA Healthcare shelter in Daytona Beach that bills itself as a “Safe Place.” The victim was so severely beaten that his right eye was partially shut, may have suffered a broken wrist, and was taken to the hospital.
The 15 year old attacker would normally have faced a first-degree misdemeanor battery charge. The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office charged him under an “enhanced felony battery charge” under the state’s hate crime law, as the alleged attack was motivated by prejudice.
A sheriff’s deputy responded to SMA Healthcare’s Beach House at 3875 Tiger Bay Road just after 9 Friday morning on reports of a battery complaint, according to the 15-year-old’s arrest report. Beach House is a shelter for youths ages 10 to 17 who stay there briefly for being homeless, runaways, truants or what SMA terms “ungovernable,” and need a brief “time out” to give families a chance to regroup and move reunify. It is not a disciplinary facility, but a crisis shelter.
A Beach House supervisor described a physical altercation between the two juveniles–Isaiah Loring, the 15 year old, and the Palm Coast boy. According to the deputy’s report following a review of the surveillance video, Loring and the other boy were sitting next to each other in a multipurpose room with several other residents when Loring says something to the victim, then stands and walks over to the victim, who remained seated. “Towering” over the victim, the report states, Loring then attacks the other boy with closed fists, striking him multiple times, mounts him, and continues punching him in the face before staffers finally intervene and remove him.
The victim’s parent reported to the facility. The alleged victim told the deputy that he identifies as gay, that his attacker knows it, and that he continually fired the “faggot” slur at him, upsetting him to the point of making him cry. That had taken place before the assault, but the Palm Coast boy left the multipurpose room to gather himself and wash his face. When he returned, Loring attacked him, accusing him of snitching to staffers that he’d been name-calling him. The 16 year old told Loring that he had not snitched. Loring called him a faggot again, and attacked him.
The attack left the victim with a partially closed right eye from swelling, the report states, with abrasions elsewhere on the face, and that appeared to be a broken wrist. The boy’s father took him to Halifax hospital for evaluation and treatment, and sought to pursue charges. Loring told the deputy he did not intend to speak with him. Authorities’ attempt to locate his parents were fruitless. Loring at the time was on probation for battery. He was also charged with a probation violation, a felony.
Florida law, the Volusia Sheriff’s Office reported, provides for enhanced charges against a defendant if the commission of a crime “evidences prejudice based on the race, color, ancestry, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, homeless status, or advanced age of the victim.”
The incident does not take place in a vacuum. The day before in Palm Coast, a junior at Flagler Palm Coast High School was suspended for distributing and encouraging fellow-students to wave gay-pride flags at a brief demonstration protesting the Florida House passing a law forbidding teachers to discuss sexual and gender identity matters with younger students, and potentially enable them to out them to their parents. (See: “Anti-‘Woke’ and ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bills Clear Florida House Following Emotional, Futile Debates.”) A parent last month was arrested on charges of brutalizing his son for wearing make-up. Two school board members in Flagler, Jill Woolbright and Janet McDonald, have sought to ban books, particularly books with LGBTQ themes, and have succeeded in one regard so far, and McDonald censored the same student leader suspended Thursday at a school board meeting in 2020, when he attempted to criticize her.
Less than a month ago, Lomack J. Bennett, a 33-year-old Palm Coast resident, was charged with felony child abuse and battery by strangulation after allegedly assaulting his son while questioning his sexual identity, and for wearing make-up. The alleged crime appeared to have been similarly motivated by prejudice against the boy’s orientation, ordinarily compelling the third-degree felony charges to be enhanced to second-degree felonies. The charges were not. On Feb. 25, the State Attorney’s Office dropped the charges altogether. Bennett in a separate case still faces a second-degree felony charge of selling cocaine and a third-degree felony charge of unlawful use of a cell phone. Bennett is out on bond, and the no-contact order regarding his son has been revoked.
The Centers for Disease Control in August 2020 issued a report showing that lesbian, gay and bisexual students face twice as much bullying at school than do heterosexual students (33 percent compared with 17 percent).
In recent months the Volusia Sheriff’s Office has identified two other cases that involved enhanced charges due to evidence of prejudice: The June 2021 arrest of a 21-year-old man who yelled racial slurs and pointed a gun at a family driving through the DeLand area, and the January 2022 arrest of a 58-year-old man who used racial slurs in an unprovoked attack on an occupied vehicle at an Osteen-area gas station. Ormond Beach charged two individuals with felony vandalism last November after they vandalized a city park with anti-Semitic stickers and spray paint.
Two weeks ago in Palm Coast, dozens of anti-Semitic fliers were dropped on Palm Coast driveways in the C Section and in an Ormond Beach neighborhood. Authorities could not identify the individuals responsible, though even if they had, the act is not considered a crime and is protected under the First Amendment.
Eileen Gernet says
Is this what we are teaching children at home these days because I can see the schools are showing signs of this disgraceful behavior. Taking books out of schools that promote understanding and tolerance of people’s right to be what they want to be. Between the 14th and 15th amendments,all rights are guaranteed. Are we teaching equality without exception?
I feel sorry for both families. One family has to come to terms that they have raised a violent bigot and figure out how to fix that. The other family has to somehow teach their child that all people are not this vile. I
We need to adopt a zero tolerance for violence and bigotry immediately.
Mary says
I agree , all this started because of adults
Pissed in PC says
DeSantis and the right wing nut jobs like the 2 on the school board have allowed hate groups to grow in Florida since DeSantis won’t speak out. Then we have the orange leader of MAGAstan that says Nazi’s are fine people, Putin is brilliant. When are Floridians gonna wake the hell up and boot these people out! Florida isn’t free unless you’re a business that doesn’t pay taxes, belong to the most extremist groups, don’t say Gay, don’t teach real history, no affordable housing for the actual workers to live in and free to catch and die from Covid.
DSkeels says
Do you even know what’s in the bill? Have you read it? Probably not. The ignorant always want to remain ignorant. 🇺🇸FL LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
✅HB 1557, which has already passed the House, is ON the SENATE SPECIAL ORDER CALENDAR for TODAY!.
Among the high profile measures yet to get a final vote, this bill is aimed at reinforcing the rights of parents to make decisions about their childrens’ education that has drawn attention because of a provision that would preclude schools from teaching lessons on gender identity or sexual orientation before fourth grade.
Another House-passed education measure (HB 1467) available to the Senate would establish 12 year term limits for district school board members, and also has been controversial for requirements related to how schools choose which books can be on library shelves. With the 55th day of the legislative session having passed over the weekend, the House can no longer take up bills on second reading. Follow House and Senate Sessions Live
Pissed in PC says
Well they said the discrimination part out loud today on the floor. They specifically stated it targeted LGBTQ of all school ages. We all see where you stand! Just another republican full of hate! Enjoy your miserable life.
T says
Wow I’m sorry to the kid no excuse this hate and bloodshed needs to end just because you don’t like who they are or believe in its there choice doesn’t make them a bad person what happen to the true freedom but propaganda threw the net works is to psychology to hate,warp disagree etc can any body say has any come to pass
Chris says
I just want to chime in and say it’s not a choice. I’m gay and had my first crush on a boy in 3rd grade. No one would choose a life that requires them to live in fear and be discriminated against when it would be so easy to just be straight. If it was truly a chose I would choose the easier path, but it’s not a choice.
Lynn says
I do not understand the hate that everyone must be alike. It’s our unique backgrounds etc that make life interesting & always a learning moment. These hare mongers even look angry, why impose their miserable existence on all.
T says
I said who they are and the choices like religion politics etc I didn’t mean that I know its not a choice I should have worded better no disrespect
Jackson1955 says
The ONLY people worried about other people’s sexual orientation are those confused about their own!
When people look to someone like Ron DeSantis to be their moral compass, it’s abundantly clear that they probably need help dressing themselves each morning. If anyone epitomizes the term “empty suit”, it’s Ron DeSantis. I wouldn’t ask him for directions to the other side of the street.
palmcoaster says
Is this what DeSatan promotes? Is he enjoying and condoning this criminal behavior? Hate like this should not divide us, but unite us all to erradicate this evil once an for all from our USA. All my prayers for the total recovery of the injured teen. “Father, forgive them, because they don’t know what they’re doing.”
Steve says
Try him as an Adult and see how he likes being locked up
T. Megee says
I’m going to stir this pot that needs stirred. I’m a Christian and I support LGBTQ people rights to live in this nation as free and equal with the same guarantee to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness the constitution promises EVERYONE (supposedly).
Jesus’ love is about REDEMPTION and NOT oppression and condemnation.
The majority of people that call themselves’Christian’ that I’ve met in Palm Coast are CINO’s- Christian in name only. They despise the LGBTQ community, the black community and the Jewish community- all of which are Gods children.
Shoot the majority of these white men around here hate women and relegate them to the same position they supposedly won’t tolerate in Muslim communities. They don’t make us wear hijabs and physically walk 10 feet behind but we aren’t allowed to be anything other than domestic care takers and Sunday school teachers and call it biblical- I assure you it’s not biblical at all. Jesus was killed by the religious and powerful because He radically opposed the system that held those people in power.
The lack of actual biblical understanding in our nation is why there is no fruit here.
Jesus never said to punish and persecute those that aren’t Christians but in America- that’s just what our ‘church’ does. Every good Christian with a true understanding of God’s word has the obligation- especially in this community- to speak up about the hate flown here while using the name of Christ to justify it.
At an LGBTQ rally in November I personally witnessed so called ‘militant Christians’ call down the power of Jesus on one hand while threatening an LGBTQ high school student with rape on the other. No one is more responsible for the death of Christianity in America than CINO’s. That’s the ugly truth living in Flagler county. It’s time to expose that evil to the light and let God’s love actually shine.
Steve says
That was Powerful Thank You
Pissed in PC says
You just nailed it! The evangelical Christians have distorted the Bible teachings to fit their narrative! I remember going to Bible school as a child but by the time I was 18 the church was nothing more than intolerant of others that didn’t look down on the poor, the different races and became more of a gossip factory. I left and never looked back. I can pray and read the Bible in my own house without dealing with hypochristians!
Sheila Zinkerman says
Christian Nationalist hate groups have four main targets: Jewish, Black, LGBTQ+ and other marginalized communities. The way to quell their hate is for good people to speak up and report it. There are resources to report hate crimes and biases anonymously through the Anti-Defamation League (ADL.) It has many resources for parents, teachers, and students too.
https://www.adl.org/
If hateful speech is reported, ADL will determine if the speech is protected by the first amendment. If it is, they won’t take legal action, but they will document your report since they measure hate activity throughout the country. If appropriate, your report becomes part of that measurement.
https://www.adl.org/education-and-resources/resource-knowledge-base/adl-heat-map
Florida Hate Crime Coalition is another way that ADL encourages local officials, agencies, and groups to be mindfully active in stopping hate in its tracks at local levels. Lobby your commissioners, law enforcement, government bodies, school boards and other elected officials to join the Coalition. Scroll through the Florida Hate Crime Coalition link below and see the robust, active membership. Perhaps students and parents could lobby the school board, Healthcare Shelters, and other Flagler/Volusia County government bodies to join the Florida Hate Crime Coalition if they haven’t already.
https://florida.adl.org/hate-crimes/members-of-the-florida-hate-crime-coalition/
https://florida.adl.org/florida-hate-crime-coalition/
There also are resources to help prevent hate in our communities. ADL makes it convenient. For example, the Equality Act (H.R. 5/S.393.) passed the House in February. ADL provides us with a link to contact our Senators and tell them to pass the Equality Act. Perhaps the law will modify some hateful behaviors.
https://action.adl.org/ixOthMp?_ga=2.39602979.1448355224.1646568386-1474151080.1646568386
Good people: please document and report hate in our schools, government bodies, offices, political arenas, and extended community. ADL needs this information to accurately track hate in Florida counties to keep us informed and safe while working jointly with our local law enforcement. Thank you.
Kat says
Sadly, there are no surprises here. We have bigoted, misogynistic, racist, authoritarian, and homophobic representation at all levels of government in the state of Florida from the local school boards to the governors mansion. They are trying to alter our Constitution and our laws in order to stay in power, and avoid being voted out by people with conscience. The smacks of late 19th century Russia and 1930s Europe, right here in our backyard. Our own version of pogroms. We the people, either need to act in a manner consistent with our conscience or develop a conscience/moral compass or we will wind up the fourth Reich.
JimBob says
The perpetrator might’ve thought he was at a Flagler School Board meeting and his conduct was thus acceptable.
Pissed in PC says
Are we sure they’re not related?
ASF says
Ten to one, this Isaiah Loring kid has been moved around the country several times, in search of some place that might be able to contain him until he reaches the age where he can unleashed upon the world as an adult. Then, watch out!