Attack on gay man appears premeditated

TOWER— The Timberjay has confirmed that at least two area teenagers face single counts of aiding and abetting second-degree assault with a deadly weapon stemming from a July 22 incident that appears to have targeted a gay man and was streamed live on the internet.
I’ve seen the video,” said Breitung Police Chief Dan Reing. “It’s pretty horrific.”
According to a petition for delinquency provided by the St. Louis County court pertaining to two of the four young men who participated in the assault, 17-year-old K.K.J., of Biwabik, had been corresponding with an adult male on Grindr, a dating app used predominantly by gay and bisexual individuals.
Other sources have told the Timberjay that K.K. J. had been posing as a 24-year-old seeking to meet. According to the criminal complaint, K.K.J. arranged to meet the victim at the Cedar St. apartments in Tower, although the meet-up eventually occurred near the Tower train depot.
When the victim arrived, a total of four youths, initials K.O.M., H.E.L., and J.J.R., in addition to K.K.J., began assaulting him with metal and wooden rods and poles. A live stream of the incident, obtained by the Timberjay, suggested that the individuals were waiting for him, and accused him of seeking a hook-up with a 14-year-old. They repeatedly said they were going to kill him and demanded that he get down on his knees. The victim repeatedly protested the claim, saying that the individual he thought he was meeting had indicated they were 24 years old. The police report indicates that K.K. J., who is age 17, had been the one who corresponded with the victim. The Timberjay was unable to confirm how K.K.J. might have represented himself during his correspondence with the victim.
As the assault, both physical and verbal, continued, the victim attempted to get back to his car, but the four youths blocked his path so the victim tried entering Benchwarmer’s Bar and Grill, but it had already closed for the night.
According to a witness interviewed by the Timberjay, the victim apparently then tried hiding in an unlit location between Benchwarmers and the train depot.
The extent of the assault could have been much worse, but it was broken up by Steve Freshour, an off-duty Tower EMT who saw the attack, alerted law enforcement, and then intervened, prompting the four youths to run off. After a search of the vicinity, Freshour said he saw the victim and approached him, eventually convincing him that he was there to assist and was not part of the assault.
“He was pretty shook up,” Freshour said. While the extent of the beating was difficult to assess from the video, Freshour estimated that the victim was struck at least 14 times by the metal and wooden rods used by the attackers. Freshour remained with the victim and assisted with his injuries until law enforcement arrived on the scene.
All four of the youths involved are considered juveniles, but under state law, probable cause statements are available to the public and the media when the suspects are at least 16 years of age. K.K.J. and K.O.M, who lives in Tower, are at least 16 years old, while the other two are 15 years-old.
The Timberjay has confirmed the identity of three of the suspects but per newspaper policy we are identifying them only by initials. The name of the victim has not been released.
During an interview with the Timberjay last week, Chief Reing indicated that two of the youths involved were still in custody, although it’s possible they have since been released. Juveniles in detention in northeastern Minnesota are typically housed at the Arrowhead Juvenile Center, in Duluth. Unlike the St. Louis County Jail, the AJC does not make its current inmate roster public.
Chief Reing said he was pleased that the incident could be resolved without more serious injuries. “I’m just thankful we could help the victim and catch the people who did it,” said Reing. “I do believe it was a random event, a one-time deal, hopefully,” he added.