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Chicago Homeless Woman Indicted in Gay Collection ArsonA 21-year-old homeless woman was indicted July 13 on charges that she set fire to the gay-lesbian-bisexual-transgender and African-American sections of the Chicago Public Library’s John Merlo branch, located in the heavily gay Lakeview neighborhood.Community activists had labeled the arson a hate crime, but Erica Graham told prosecutors she did not know the titles of the books she set on fire but went to that section on the second floor because it was in a remote part of the library. CBS affiliate WBBM-TV reported on the day of the indictment that Graham allegedly set fire to the books because she thought a library employee had been rude to her for not allowing her to sleep in the library and because she and her boyfriend were not permitted to be on the same computer at the same time. Graham was indicted on one count each of attempted aggravated arson and criminal mutilation or vandalism of library materials, according to a State’s Attorney’s Office spokesperson. Posted July 14, 2006. |
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