Timothy Phares Was Gay Bashed By Co-worker's Husband, And Then By His Employer

Timothy Phares worked at an Applebee’s restaurant in Rice Lake, Wisconsin. On March 16^th, one of his co-workers, Shannon Hendricks, and her husband, Rien, had a party at their home, and Phares and his sister attended. However, they left early, feeling that their hosts had treated them rudely.

Around 6AM on March 17^th, Phares and his sister went to a coffee shop for breakfast and as they were getting out of the car, Rien and Shannon Hendricks pulled up behind them in an SUV.

“(Hendricks) was getting out of his vehicle, and he said, ‘Fucking faggot, I’m going to kill you!’”—Timothy Phares.

Rien Hendricks ran at timothy Phares and stuck him in the head with a 2x4; Phares sister, Krista, heard her brother’s head hit the pavement. Tim Phares, luckily, I’m guessing, lost consciousness and doesn’t remember anything else before waking up in a hospital. He suffered head and facial abrasions as well as multiple facial fractures that will ultimately require surgery to implant metal plates.

A criminal complaint was filed by the Barron County District Attorney’s office after a patron seated in the Perkins coffee shop at the time of the attack reported what was seen before and after the incident.

Rien Hendricks was taken into custody and charged with substantial battery intended to inflict bodily harm, and faces a $10,000 fine and a much as three and a half years in prison. Rien Hendricks, free on bail for the assault, has prior convictions for theft, false representation, distributing marijuana, bail jumping and violating unemployment law.

After being released from the hospital, Timothy Phares was told by his bosses at Applebee’s that he could not return to his job because of the publicity surrounding the incident.  Oh, yes, they did. He was bashed in the head by the husband of a co-worker, and then told he couldn’t return to work; that is, until, Greg Flynn, CEO of Apple American Group franchise, his boss’ boss, intervened on his behalf and Phares was allowed to come back.

He won’t be staying long, however, because once he returned to work he found out that Shannon Hendricks, the woman who drove her husband to the parking so he could bash Phares in the head with a piece of lumber, was already back at work. Shannon Hendricks has not been charged for her role in the attack.

And then it gets worse; this will not be prosecuted a s hate crime because, according to Barron County District Attorney Angela Beranek, Wisconsin law requires evidence that a crime was committed wholly or in part due to the perceived sexual orientation of the victim in order to attach a hate-crime enhancement to the charges. And Angela Beranek said no such evidence exists in this case.

‘Fucking faggot, I’m going to kill you!’—Rien Hendricks, before bashing Timothy Phares’ head in.

Although Timothy Phares ultimately went back to work, he doesn’t intend to stay there long, with Shannon Hendricks working by his side. In addition, Phares is angry that the restaurant allowed a post to remain on its Facebook page calling him a “faggot,” despite his complaints.

Applebee’s corporate marketing manager, Katy Sincko, says, of that anti-gay post, “We aren’t in the practice of hiding things on there (Facebook).” And yet, as soon as the local LGBT newspaper brought the post to Sincko’s attention, it was instantly taken down.

And, as in many of these cases, there is quite a bit of blaming the victim. Though Phares says the reason behind the assault is a mystery to him, there are those who believe there is more to it than Phares is revealing, saying his ‘behavior’ played a role in prompting his problems at Applebee’s as well as the attack.

Hmmm, his behavior makes it all right to be attacked with a 2x4 by a co-worker’s husband? Seriously? If our behavior makes it okay for us to be brutally beaten to the point of needing metal plates implanted in our heads, then I would imagine a lot of us would already have them. Behavior doesn’t make at okay to brutalize anyone. And Timothy Phares, after being brutalized by Shannon Hendricks’ husband, Rien, and Shannon herself, continues to be brutalized by Applebee’s restaurants. They let a co-conspirator, at the most, and an accessory, at the very least, to his attack, keep her job, though they initially fired him because of the bad press. They let anti-gay epithets remain on their Face book page.

It’s not a 2x4, but still, it reeks of hate. And Applebee’s, Shannon Hendricks, Katy Sincko, and Barron County District Attorney Angela Beranek ought to be ashamed of themselves.

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