The man in his 20s was found nailed to a fence, with a nail through each hand, shortly after midnight.
Two vans, one belonging to the injured man, were found on fire in the car park near Dundarave Park.
Police said paramilitary involvement was one key line of inquiry.
Graffiti on nearby public toilets has been linked to the assault and arson.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said the man was left with potentially life-changing but not life-threatening injuries.
Police said it was a “sinister attack.”
The article doesn’t explicitly state it but it’s obvious from that fence and the nails through the hands that this was a literal crucifixion. Which sounds like something that should be said out loud instead of dodged.
The last time something that that happened in the United States, we passed federal hate crime legislation for the first time. His name was Matthew Shepard.
How horrific.
When America takes action after one incident you know it’s brutal.
Well, technically, the law is named after two victims of two incidents that took place that year (1998), one of an anti-LGBTQ hate-crime, and one of a racist hate-crime. The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, sadly, took eleven years to pass, finally signed by President Obama in 2009 as one of his first pieces of legislation.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said the man was left with potentially life-changing but not life-threatening injuries.
I wouldn’t recommend punching holes through your hands, would be worried about nerve damage and suchlike given the density of nerves there, but I would point out that there are some especially devout Catholics in the Phillippines who intentionally crucify themselves on Good Friday, so it’s definitely survivable.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crucifixion_in_the_Philippines
Ruben Enaje has been crucified 35 times as of 2024.[1]
There’s certainly more to it mentally when done as a choice vs as inflicted torture. Also about the care regarding where the spikes are placed.
Physically, sure. But psychologically? There’s the issue that people in your community would do this to you.
If it’s a race-based attack, then the kind of contingent which carries it out is obvious. But I think it’s telling that people like that are only capable of punching down, know they can’t lift a finger against their actual jailers and enslavers—the ruling class.