A Cook County Circuit Judge last week acquitted the man accused in the gay-bashing of activist/author Ifti Nasim.
Salman Aftab pled not guilty to the assault charge stemming from a March 12 incident at a North Side Pakistani restaurant. According to Nasim, he was waiting for food at Shan restaurant when several men at Aftab's table asked him to sit down.
Nasim said Aftab took issue with columns he writes for an Urdu-language newspaper, telling him he has no right to say the things he'd written because he's gay.
Calling Nasim a "faggot bottom" in Urdu, Aftab allegedly threatened to stab Nasim in the ass and ran toward the kitchen and butcher shop. He was followed and restrained by two friends as Nasim ran to call the police.
Nasim testified that he initially asked that Aftab not be charged, a request officers refused. He also acknowledged he paid Aftab's bond after his friends asked him to, but said he did it to try and make peace with him. He dropped that attempt after Aftab threatened him again outside the police station, allegedly telling him, "I'm going to finish the job that I started."
At Aftab's bench trial Dec. 6, Healy ruled the prosecution's evidence didn't meet the standards of Illinois' assault statute. Nasim was the only witness to testify. Before the trial began, Healy limited how much he could say about why he was so afraid of Aftab.
According to Nasim, he has heard Aftab brag about being a member of Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda terrorist network.
"That's why I was scared of him and his group," Nasim told WCT. "Now after 9/11 everybody's scared."
Chicago Police Department Civil Rights Investigator Lori Cooper was among two witnesses who were subpoenaed but not called during the trial. Cooper acknowledged that she was subpoenaed by both the defense and the prosecution. She told WCT she agrees with the judge's ruling.
Nasim said he felt information given by Cooper hurt him in court. "Lori Cooper gave a damaging report, which is fine with me," Nasim told WCT after the trial. "It took a lot for me to stand up for myself."
Cooper said she has decided not to respond to "derogatory and inappropriate" comments that Nasim made on the record during the trial.
Nasim said he figured nothing would be done to Aftab after the state's attorney's office failed to file hate-crime charges and instead settled on assault. According to authorities, the fact that bias was not the primary motive in the incident prevented them from pursuing hate-crime charges. Nasim and Chicago Anti-Bashing Network unsuccessfully challenged that decision.
After the verdict was announced, the judge warned Aftab to stay away from Nasim. Nasim plans to file a civil suit against Aftab.