Three weeks after the beating of a gay couple in downtown Austin that's being investigated as a hate crime, authorities have arrested four men they believe were behind the attack.



The first suspect in the Jan. 19 attack, 22-year-old Frank Macias, was booked on two counts of aggravated assault with bodily injury, a second-degree felony punishable by two to 20 years in prison. He was in jail Tuesday with bail set at a combined $300,000, online records show. Macias also was being held for an out-of-county felony and three misdemeanors.

Authorities also arrested Quinn O'Connor on Tuesday, and took Miguel Macias and Kolby Monell into custody later in the day. All three are facing the same charges as Macias.

The assault not only galvanized support for the city's LGBTQ community — inspiring a nighttime rally at the Texas Capitol and the creation of a citizen foot patrol — but also drew new attention to the prosecution of hate crimes in Austin.

If prosecutors can prove that the beating was a hate crime, the suspects' charges would be upgraded to first-degree felonies, which carry a sentence of five to 99 years.

But proving that a hate crime occurred can be exceptionally challenging in court because state law directs prosecutors to show the victim was targeted because he or she belongs to a specific group, and for no other reason. Protected group categories include race, color, disability, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, gender, sexual orientation or by status as a peace officer or judge.

Hate crimes in Texas are not a specific criminal offense; instead, they are an aggravating factor that can lead to an increased sentence.

Andrea Austin, a prosecutor with the Travis County district attorney's office, said her office had no pending felony cases with elements of a hate crime that can be proven.

"We're stuck by what the law is here — the law is written so strict," said Austin, who is a member of the DA's office's Hate Crime Task Force. "It's not impossible, but it's very, very difficult."

However, Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore said Tuesday she believes officials have a strong case against the four suspects in the Jan. 19 beating to enhance their charges as a hate crime.

An arrest affidavit filed Tuesday said police believe the four men attacked Spencer Deehring and Tristan Perry as they left the downtown gay club Rain.

The couple left the bar and were hugging and holding hands when they heard a man yell a homophobic slur as he passed in the opposite direction, the affidavit says. The man continued to hurl several more slurs at them while motioning for others to join him, according to the document.

The group followed Deehring, 23, and Perry, 22, to Third Street and Congress Avenue when Perry turned to verbally defend himself. The document says one of the men then punched Perry, who fell to the ground. Deehring also was attacked when he tried to defend Perry, the affidavit says. While both men were on the ground, the group punched and kicked them until a witness called police, the document says.

The couple laid on the ground unconscious until Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services medics took them to Dell Seton Medical Center. Deehring suffered a minor concussion and several cuts, while Perry had a major concussion, internal bleeding, chipped teeth and a broken nose.

The affidavit says the attackers took off after seeing a witness call police.

Investigators obtained video footage from several surveillance cameras throughout the downtown area, which allowed them to view the assault and identify those responsible, police said. A tipster also called police to identify the attackers and informed authorities that one of the men had blood on his sneakers.

A public records search showed Macias’ last known address is in Georgetown. He had a previous criminal filing in Williamson County from 2014 for a misdemeanor family violence assault causing bodily injury.

Last year, Austin police classified 19 incidents as hate crimes — up one from 18 in 2017, when the city led the state in that kind of cases. It's unclear where Austin placed in that category last year as the FBI is not expected to release statewide data from 2018 until the fall.

The 19 incidents resulted in eight arrests. Four black people were victims of aggravated assault, intimidation and assault in two of the cases. Other victims were Arabic, gay, lesbian and white.