{"id":165936,"date":"2021-03-02T01:08:29","date_gmt":"2021-03-02T09:08:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=165936"},"modified":"2021-03-02T12:39:45","modified_gmt":"2021-03-02T20:39:45","slug":"missouris-ameristar-casino-site-of-possible-hate-crime-violence-against-two-men","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/missouris-ameristar-casino-site-of-possible-hate-crime-violence-against-two-men\/","title":{"rendered":"Missouri\u2019s Ameristar Casino Site of Possible Anti-Gay Hate Crime"},"content":{"rendered":"

Missouri authorities are investigating a possible hate crime after two men suffered serious injuries in an attack this past weekend outside of the Ameristar Casino Resort Spa St. Charles.<\/p>\n

\"Two
A St. Charles, Mo. police SUV shown here. The police department is reviewing evidence of whether a violent altercation at the Ameristar Casino was a hate crime. (Image: KOAA<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Both men were treated for injuries at local hospitals from alleged punches and kicks. They will require continuing medical treatment, KTVI<\/em>, a local TV station, reported.<\/p>\n

The assailants allegedly made anti-gay slurs before attacking the two men, according to one of the victims. But the attackers continued to beat up the men despite their pleas to stop the violence.<\/strong><\/p>\n

One man suffered a fractured nose and eye-socket. The injuries will require surgery. The other man was attacked and became unconscious, KTVI<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n

The two men had been inside the casino early Saturday. They were accompanied by friends and relatives.<\/p>\n

One of them had too much to drink, the report said. So, the second man was assisting him to their car in the casino\u2019s parking garage. That is when the violence erupted. A third man who was with a group heading into the casino allegedly taunted the two men. He made a motion like he was going to punch them, reports said.<\/p>\n

A punch was thrown, and two or more people in the group allegedly started beating the two men.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I\u2019m crawling over to him, I\u2019m begging them, \u2018Please stop. Please stop. We\u2019re done.\u2019 Then they hit me in the stomach, I say, \u2018please, we\u2019re done, we\u2019re done.\u2019 They say, \u2018(profanity) right, you\u2019re (profanity) done,\u2019\u201d<\/strong> KTVI<\/em> reported the man\u2019s allegations.<\/p>\n

Hate Crime Allegation in Question<\/h2>\n

St. Charles police and a local prosecutor\u2019s office were continuing to investigate the crime early this week. Police have yet to classify it as a hate crime.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a dispute as to what type of language was used back and forth,\u201d St. Charles Police Lt. Tom Wilkison told KTVI. \u201cAt this time, we don\u2019t have anything to support that the two people got beaten up or targeted because of their sexual orientation.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If any of the assailants are convicted of a hate crime, the number of years in prison would increase from a possible four years to seven years based on Missouri law, the report said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It appears the incident was captured on video surveillance cameras at the casino. But KSDK<\/em>, another local TV station, said the tape does not include any audio of the statements made during the altercation.<\/p>\n

Victim Asks: How Do We Feel Safe Now<\/h2>\n

\u201cHow do we go anywhere and feel safe if we get attacked there, especially someplace like Ameristar, who should have top-notch security. If it happens there, it could happen anywhere,\u201d <\/strong>the victim told KTVI.<\/em><\/p>\n

In response to the incident, Ameristar<\/a> released a statement to local media that they have a zero-tolerance policy for those who commit acts of violence or intolerance.<\/p>\n

Drug Charge at Casino Last Summer<\/h2>\n

Also, the St. Charles casino was the site of Ledra A. Craig, 43, allegedly selling fentanyl<\/a>. He was charged last August.\u00a0The drugs may have led to another man\u2019s death.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Missouri authorities are investigating a possible hate crime after two men suffered serious injuries in an attack this past weekend outside of the Ameristar Casino Resort Spa St. Charles. Both men were treated for injuries at local hospitals from alleged punches and kicks. They will require continuing medical treatment, KTVI, a local TV station, reported. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":165938,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMissouri\u2019s Ameristar Casino Site of Possible Hate Crime Against Two Men<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Two men suffered serious injuries outside of the Ameristar Casino Resort Spa St. Charles this past weekend. They claim it was a hate crime.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/missouris-ameristar-casino-site-of-possible-hate-crime-violence-against-two-men\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Missouri\u2019s Ameristar Casino Site of Possible Hate Crime Against Two Men\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Two men suffered serious injuries outside of the Ameristar Casino Resort Spa St. Charles this past weekend. They claim it was a hate crime.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/missouris-ameristar-casino-site-of-possible-hate-crime-violence-against-two-men\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-03-02T09:08:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-03-02T20:39:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/KOAA.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"576\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ed Silverstein\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgedsilv\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ed Silverstein\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/missouris-ameristar-casino-site-of-possible-hate-crime-violence-against-two-men\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/missouris-ameristar-casino-site-of-possible-hate-crime-violence-against-two-men\/\",\"name\":\"Missouri\u2019s Ameristar Casino Site of Possible Hate Crime Against Two Men\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/missouris-ameristar-casino-site-of-possible-hate-crime-violence-against-two-men\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/missouris-ameristar-casino-site-of-possible-hate-crime-violence-against-two-men\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/KOAA.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-02T09:08:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-03-02T20:39:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b3771b02527bcbda9af984b9b1ff098e\"},\"description\":\"Two men suffered serious injuries outside of the Ameristar Casino Resort Spa St. Charles this past weekend. They claim it was a hate crime.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/missouris-ameristar-casino-site-of-possible-hate-crime-violence-against-two-men\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/missouris-ameristar-casino-site-of-possible-hate-crime-violence-against-two-men\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/missouris-ameristar-casino-site-of-possible-hate-crime-violence-against-two-men\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/KOAA.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/KOAA.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":576},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/missouris-ameristar-casino-site-of-possible-hate-crime-violence-against-two-men\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Missouri\u2019s Ameristar Casino Site of Possible Anti-Gay Hate Crime\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b3771b02527bcbda9af984b9b1ff098e\",\"name\":\"Ed Silverstein\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-6-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-6-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Ed Silverstein\"},\"description\":\"Ed Silverstein is a senior reporter covering gambling law and crime news for Casino.org. Ed is an award-winning journalist with credits ranging from the Associated Press to American Lawyer Media. Ed joined the Casino.org news team in 2019 after decades of experience in legal reporting. His past reporting and editing assignments include Cowles Business Media, Columbia University Press, the Connecticut Post, and Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc. Besides the law and its application to the gaming industry, Ed\u2019s areas of expertise span business, politics, education, and state and local government. Ed holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Connecticut and master\u2019s degrees from Harvard and Yale. His professional awards include recognition from the New England Press Association and New England AP News Executives. Ed currently resides in Connecticut, where he enjoys photography and bowling in his spare time. Contact Ed at ed.silverstein@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/ed-silverstein\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgedsilv\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/ed-silverstein\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Missouri\u2019s Ameristar Casino Site of Possible Hate Crime Against Two Men","description":"Two men suffered serious injuries outside of the Ameristar Casino Resort Spa St. Charles this past weekend. They claim it was a hate crime.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/missouris-ameristar-casino-site-of-possible-hate-crime-violence-against-two-men\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Missouri\u2019s Ameristar Casino Site of Possible Hate Crime Against Two Men","og_description":"Two men suffered serious injuries outside of the Ameristar Casino Resort Spa St. Charles this past weekend. They claim it was a hate crime.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/missouris-ameristar-casino-site-of-possible-hate-crime-violence-against-two-men\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2021-03-02T09:08:29+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-03-02T20:39:45+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":576,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/KOAA.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ed Silverstein","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@casinoorgedsilv","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ed Silverstein","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/missouris-ameristar-casino-site-of-possible-hate-crime-violence-against-two-men\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/missouris-ameristar-casino-site-of-possible-hate-crime-violence-against-two-men\/","name":"Missouri\u2019s Ameristar Casino Site of Possible Hate Crime Against Two Men","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/missouris-ameristar-casino-site-of-possible-hate-crime-violence-against-two-men\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/missouris-ameristar-casino-site-of-possible-hate-crime-violence-against-two-men\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/KOAA.jpg","datePublished":"2021-03-02T09:08:29+00:00","dateModified":"2021-03-02T20:39:45+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b3771b02527bcbda9af984b9b1ff098e"},"description":"Two men suffered serious injuries outside of the Ameristar Casino Resort Spa St. Charles this past weekend. They claim it was a hate crime.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/missouris-ameristar-casino-site-of-possible-hate-crime-violence-against-two-men\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/missouris-ameristar-casino-site-of-possible-hate-crime-violence-against-two-men\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/missouris-ameristar-casino-site-of-possible-hate-crime-violence-against-two-men\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/KOAA.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/KOAA.jpg","width":1024,"height":576},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/missouris-ameristar-casino-site-of-possible-hate-crime-violence-against-two-men\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Missouri\u2019s Ameristar Casino Site of Possible Anti-Gay Hate Crime"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b3771b02527bcbda9af984b9b1ff098e","name":"Ed Silverstein","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-6-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-6-1-96x96.png","caption":"Ed Silverstein"},"description":"Ed Silverstein is a senior reporter covering gambling law and crime news for Casino.org. Ed is an award-winning journalist with credits ranging from the Associated Press to American Lawyer Media. Ed joined the Casino.org news team in 2019 after decades of experience in legal reporting. His past reporting and editing assignments include Cowles Business Media, Columbia University Press, the Connecticut Post, and Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc. Besides the law and its application to the gaming industry, Ed\u2019s areas of expertise span business, politics, education, and state and local government. Ed holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Connecticut and master\u2019s degrees from Harvard and Yale. His professional awards include recognition from the New England Press Association and New England AP News Executives. Ed currently resides in Connecticut, where he enjoys photography and bowling in his spare time. Contact Ed at ed.silverstein@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/muckrack.com\/ed-silverstein","https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgedsilv"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/ed-silverstein\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165936"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=165936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165936\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/165938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=165936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=165936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=165936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}