 Topic: Arson possible hate crime in Lethbridge
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aManOnaJourney
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Joined: 30 July 2006
Location: North Lethbridge
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| Posted: 11 September 2009 at 5:00pm | IP Logged
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If someone was trying to terrorize Annie Martin and Dana Inkster, it worked.
After being awakened around 4:30 am Sunday by a car alarm, they were
shocked to discover their vehicle engulfed in flames in the driveway
beside their southside home. In their initial panic and confusion, they
assumed an electrical fault or fuel leak was the cause.
Their shock turned to horror a short time later, however, when a
firefighter informed them he had found clear evidence someone had
deliberately set their Ford Focus on fire. Adding to their distress was
the fact obscenities had been scrawled on the car fender with a felt
marker.
The fire destroyed the car and the extreme heat it generated came
dangerously close to igniting the house as well. Much of the home's
south wall sustained heat damage.
Behind the obvious question of who did this lurks a more disquieting
one: Why? Was it a random act of violence or were they targeted?
"It never occurred to me that someone would have set a fire in our car," says Martin.
Martin and Inkster are open about the fact they're a same-sex couple
and parenting a toddler. The two women are married and have lived
together in Lethbridge four years.
Both say they've been accepted warmly by their neighbours. coworkers,
and the community at large. To their knowledge, they have no enemies.
No one has threatened them or openly shown any ill will toward them.
Obscenities were also found written on another vehicle in a neighbouring yard, leading Lethbridge regional police to suspect the crimes were committed randomly, says Insp. Jeff Cove. "We are open to all avenues of investigation," he says.
Random or otherwise, the incident has left Martin and Inkster unnerved.
Sleep is difficult. They no longer feel safe in their own home. "The impact is so profound," "I don't feel normal at all." If someone intended to instill terror in them by setting their car on fire, the person succeeded, she says.
What also continues to disturb them is the potential the incident had
to turn out so much worse. They can't help wondering whether they and
their son might have perished if the car alarm not awoken them and the
fire had spread to their two-bedroom bungalow.
"It's really devastating. Even though weve been embraced in the community, that's a shock that's really hard to get over," says Inkster. "I know we'll rebound from that, but it's a horrible, disappointing feeling."
One possible lead is a young man with a backpack who was seen riding a
bicycle past the couple's home early Sunday as their car burned.
Despite the blaze lighting up the pre-dawn darkness, the man rode by
without even casting a look toward it, according to a witness.
Both women are professors in the Fine Arts department at the University
of Lethbridge. Inkster teaches new media and Martin teaches art.
They noted the irony that one of the few items on the car which survived the fire was a bumper sticker with the message: Commit random acts of kindness.
"We're really gentle people," Inkster says. "It breaks your
heart to think that anyone thinks committing arson is a reasonable way
to spend your waking hours."
says Martin, occasionally wiping away tears.
Was arson a random act or hate crime?
Car Set On Fire With Obscenities Scrawled On Fender
Gerald Gauthier, LETHBRIDGE HERALD - Sept 10, 2009
__________________
"What have you done today to make you feel PROUD?"
(Proud by Heather Small, Queer as Folk Soundtrack)
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