from the Raleigh News & Observer (UPDATE)

Derek “Copykat” Evans, who was recently hospitalized following an assault outside of a Raleigh gay bar, is expected to make a full recovery after receiving enhanced medical care courtesy of the Queer Nova Alliance. Police are pressing misdemeanor charges after discovering alcohol in his system and a falsified driver’s license which he admittedly used to gain access to the “Legends” club.

According to Evans, he was waiting for a taxi when four masked individuals emerged from a parked car, dragged him into an alley, and proceeded to beat him into unconsciousness with baseball bats. “If they were novas,” he said, “I would have copied their powers to defend myself, but they were just regular guys so I couldn’t do too much.”

Evans, who is an openly bisexual African American nova, indicated that his attackers used homophobic and novaphobic slurs against him. “They called me every bad name you could think of,” he said. Although police believe it is likely he was targeted on the basis of his identity, North Carolina does not include sexual orientation or nova status under its hate crime statutes.

The Reverend Luke Walton, a leader in the Raleigh-Durham area Church of Michael Archangel, was quick to speak out on Evans’ case. “We don’t attack fags or novas,” he said, when asked if the attackers might have been motivated by the church‘s teachings. “We don’t talk to them, we don‘t even look at them. They are unclean, they are abominations, and we’re not going to put ourselves in a position where we could be contaminated by that. Period. That said, those who live their lives in defiance of God’s laws shouldn’t be surprised when this kind of thing happens to them.”

The Queer Nova Alliance had also volunteered its services in tracking down Evans’ attackers, but police declined the offer. No suspects have been identified.