On Tuesday afternoon, with temperatures over 90 degrees, a crowd of about 100 gathered to march against the anti-gay hate crime that allegedly took place earlier this month on South Goodman Street.

Chanting "Sexist, racist, anti-gay / You can't take our rights away" and "Police abuse / no excuse," the protestors were marching against both the alleged attack - many had banners decrying hate crimes in general - and the way the police are said to have responded.

For many, indignation about reports of the original incident and the police response was compounded by the fact that information about the crime was still incomplete and questionable. "I don't know what happened on South Goodman," said protestor Ted Katsampes. "I want to know what happened."

Officer Jim Hall, who is the Rochester Police department's liaison to the GLBT community and who has been involved in the case, said information has been slow to come out because the department is still conducting an internal investigation into the conduct of the officers who responded.

As that investigation continued, four people who say they were victims of the attack filed suit in US District Court against the city, the county, and law-enforcement officers. The plaintiffs charge that police officers arrested them but not their attackers and used anti-gay slurs, depriving them of their constitutional right to equal protection.