His Friends Say "This was not him" ; Shocked by Report

Suspect's Friends Jolted by Gay Bar Attack
By RAY HENRY, Associated Press Writer

A teenager accused of going on a rampage at a gay bar with a hatchet and a gun sometimes glorified Nazism and had a swastika tattoo but never previously expressed any prejudice toward gays, friends say.

Jacob Robida, 18, was wanted in Thursday's attack at Puzzles Lounge that left three men wounded, one critically. He remained at large Friday.

Police have labeled the attack a hate crime and said Robida would be charged with attempted murder, assault and civil rights violations.

Heather Volton, 22, of Fall River, said she has been friends with Robida for more than a year. She said he had a swastika on his hand, but "the kid never so much as raised his voice at me."

Another friend, Jennifer Crosby, 24, also of Fall River, identified herself as "part black and a lesbian" and said Robida never expressed any hostility toward gays.

Police officers went to Robida's home Thursday and spoke to his mother. According court papers, she said Robida came home around 1 a.m., bleeding from the head, then left. In his bedroom, officers found Nazi regalia and anti-Semitic writings on the wall.

A man who answered the door at Robida's mother's house Friday morning ordered reporters off the property.

At least one of the wounded men remained hospitalized Friday. A second was released, and hospital officials would not disclose the whereabouts of the third victim.

The man who was released, Robert Perry, had a black right eye, a five-inch cut on his right cheek and a bullet hole in his back. He said his assailant hit him in the face with a hatchet first, then shot him.

"What was going through my mind is that I was going to die soon. This is the end. I knew I was going to die," Perry said in television interviews Friday night.

Police said they were examining material Robida posted on his Internet home page. The site is full of references to a rap group called Insane Clown Posse, which is known for its explicit lyrics and sinister clown makeup. The band's label, Psychopathic Records, has a logo depicting the silhouette of a man wielding a hatchet.

Rep. Barney Frank, an openly gay congressman whose district includes New Bedford, said the community has a history of tolerance. Frank pointed out that the city re-elected Gerry Studds in the 1980s after he became the first member of Congress to publicly announce he was gay.

"This is not some general problem with the people of New Bedford," Frank said. "This is one disturbed 18-year-old."

Associated Press writers Andrew Ryan and Brandie M. Jefferson contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2006 The Associated Press.

[Editor's Note: According to a newspaper report in the Standard-Times newspaper in New Bedford, Jacob Robida graduated from a police training program in July, 2001 sponsored by the local police department there.
PAT]