A 22-year-old Norfolk man has been sentenced to a year and a half of probation Friday for drunkenly assaulting a University of Nebraska-Lincoln student on campus in March in what initially was charged as a hate crime.
First, Cale Wacker said he wanted to apologize to the victim.
“I know it’s made a big impact on his life. So, I would like to apologize for that,” he said.
His attorney, Jon Braaten, said Wacker turned himself in on the case when photos began circulating in an effort to identify who was responsible for the random assault of a young man on UNL’s campus after bar close on March 31 believing he was gay.
Braaten called the incident “out of character” for Wacker and said he was under the influence of alcohol at the time and has been sober since.
Deputy Lancaster County Attorney Amy Goodro read from the victim impact statement, saying: “I can’t understand why I was a victim of this violence that was in no way provoked.”
She said the victim was left with minor injuries.
“But, more importantly, Mr. Wacker stole pieces of (the victim) that he may never get back. He lives in fear and anxiety, has confusion and self-esteem issues,” Goodro said.
The victim said he learned a life lesson from it; that the way he lives his life should not affect anyone.
“Especially those who don’t know me. If anyone has a problem with you, that’s on them,” he wrote.
Goodro said Wacker didn’t mention the victim once or appear to have any empathy for what had happened to him. She wondered whether he had learned his lesson.
Wacker initially was charged with a hate crime enhancement, elevating the third-degree assault charge (unusually a misdemeanor) to a felony.
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It later was reduced back to a misdemeanor in exchange for Wacker’s no contest plea.
On Friday, Lancaster County Court Judge Timothy Phillips gave him probation, saying Wacker didn’t really have a criminal history.
He said this all started with excessive alcohol intake, which often causes people to do things they normally would not do. But oftentimes “show our true colors.”
“This was something that was terrible, something that should have never happened,” Phillips said.
But it did seem out of character for Wacker, he said.
“Mr. Wacker, I just hope you learned a lesson from this,” the judge told him.
He said we live in a society that’s so polarized right now.
We’re all different, whether it’s race, religion, color or sexual orientation, Phillips said. And we need to learn to not engage in this type of behavior or have this type of animosity towards someone else just because they’re different.
“Sometimes the shoe might be on the other foot. You never know,” he said.
In the affidavit for Wacker’s arrest, UNL Police said the 21-year-old victim reported he was walking on 16th Street with two friends on March 31 shortly after 2 a.m. when the stranger approached them on the sidewalk in front of Jorgensen Hall on UNL’s city campus.
Because the sidewalk was narrow, they offered to let him pass them, but he declined, then said something like “do you know, he’s gay?” about the victim to one of the victim’s friends.
Officer Jeffrey Brassington said Wacker then put the 21-year-old in a full Nelson wrestling hold, lifted him up and slammed him onto the ground, scraping the victim’s knee, and called him a homophobic slur.
The victim’s account was corroborated by the two witnesses and security camera footage.
The victim reported it the next day.
He told police the man had no motivation to attack him other than hearing the way he talked, which was described as “flamboyant.” Brassington said the victim believed he had been attacked because of his sexual orientation.
