LGBT advocates cry foul in CO hit-and-run case

Nathaniel Mancha Receives 32-Year Sentence; Community Rallies for Appeal

On December 12, Nathaniel Mancha received 32 years in prison for a March 1 hit-and-run. His life-partner Carlton “Cruz” Mohn says Mancha was defending himself against a hate-crime. Many in Colorado’s LGBTQ community are calling the verdict and sentence unjust. Get the backstory here.

 “We were blindsided by what happened,” says Mohn. “It caught me off guard. It caught Nate off guard too. We weren’t expecting that type of sentencing.”

 Out Front covered Mancha’s story in October. According to Mohn, Mancha was driving him to work. A stranger, Anthony Jafari, followed their truck to the store where Mohn works. When Mancha parked, he realized his truck had been blocked by Jafari’s van. Jafari accused the couple of hitting his vehicle, called them “faggots,” and sped off, Mohn says.

 Mohn went inside to work; Mancha pulled out and drove around the corner where Jafari had parked, once again blocking Mancha. Jafari got out of his van with a long metal object, continued to shout slurs at Mancha, and approached his truck.

“I want people to know the truth … that this was a hate crime,” Mohn says.

As Jafari approached, Mancha attempted to flee. In the process, his truck hit Jafari. Mancha drove off. Jafari was hospitalized.

 Afraid to call the police, Mancha traveled to visit his family and was arrested upon returning to Colorado. In September, a jury declared him guilty of 1st Degree Felony Assault. In December, the court issued him the maximum sentence.

 “I wish I had positive words for Nate’s condition, but he’s so distraught. He’s in a total and complete state of disbelief,” Mohn says.

 Lynne Sprague, the Director of Advocacy at the Colorado Anti-Violence Program, joined Mohn in spearheading the Justice 4 Nate campaign, which worked to educate the community about Mancha’s case and his right to self-defense.

In recent years, many LGBTQ people of color who defend themselves against attack face prison time, Sprague says. “Folks are fighting back and drawing lines for themselves saying, ‘I will protect my body.’ That’s incredibly threatening to the dominant system.”

She contends that the courts refuse to take heterosexism seriously. “The DA kept saying over and over again, ‘So what if Anthony Jafari called him a fag?’ She used that word over and over again in a minimizing way. That happens to queer folks all the time. We’re told our experience of heterosexism isn’t that bad.”

In Sprague’s work at the Colorado Anti-Violence Program, “We saw a strong level of support that came forward around the decisions that Nate made to protect himself and defend himself. That was something that came to resonate really deeply with folks in community.”

Moved by Mancha’s story, people showed up to support him at trial. “Watching the queer family come together and support him was incredibly powerful,” Sprague says.

Now that the trial is over, Justice 4 Nate will continue to advocate for his release. “That’s our commitment to Nate and Cruz. It was a clear ask from the family that the campaign continue. What Nate and Cruz have identified as the strongest need from the community and the campaign itself is to get things together for an appeal. Nate has made a decision to pursue that. We’re going to try to get legal support for that to happen.”

 An appeal could take as long as two years. In the meantime, the Justice 4 Nate campaign plans to provide emotional support, raise funds, and organize community letter-writing nights. “We want him to receive letters from his queer family, so he continues to see and feel the support and love that is coming his way from the campaign.”

 Mohn speaks to Mancha on the phone nearly every day and visits him as often as possible. “I always tell him every day that I’m still going to be here for him and still support him. I’m not going to disappear. I really, really love Nate. I really care about him. I don’t care where they send him; I’m going to visit him no matter what.”

 As for the future, Mohn remains optimistic that his partner will be acquitted in the next few years. “It will all work out in the end.”

 For more information about the Justice 4 Nate campaign, go to: http://www.justice4nate.com/.