An Army veteran will serve ten years of probation for brutally assaulting two gay men on Pride weekend in 2012. The two men were in line at a pizza truck near Austin's gay entertainment district when Lambert Borgardt thought one of the men was checking him out. He became furious as a result and began punching both men in the face.
From Towleroad:
Oppleman lost nine teeth in the attack, which was captured on surveillance video, and Soret suffered a broken nose. Oppleman and Soret told police they felt they were targeted due to their sexual orientation, but the case wasn't prosecuted as an anti-gay hate crime.
In court on Wednesday, Borgardt apologized for the attack, according to a report from KXAN-TV:
“I apologize from the bottom of my heart, and I’ll do whatever it takes, whatever I can, whatever can work to pay you guys back for that,” said Borgardt.
From
KXAN:
Oppleman says he thinks the remorse wasn’t sincere.
“I feel like it was an apology for the situation he’s in rather than a direct apology for what he did and why he did it,” said Oppleman.
Defense Attorney Bill Hines says he thinks 10 years is a lot, but isn’t unhappy with the decision for his client, who served in the armed forces.
“We’re pleased that the judge did the difficult work of balancing the really serious injuries with the incredible lifetime of honor and service [Borgardt] had in the military,” said Bill Hines.
You can watch a news report of this event at the KXAN site.