Presidential politics cited for two post-election, closing-time beatdowns; but police buy only one of the accounts

A man escorted out of West End Johnnie's on Portland Street shortly before closing on Nov. 11 says he suffered a broken nose and a fractured eye socket in an attack down the street by Trump haters who'd overheard him expressing his happiness at the election results two nights earlier. On Nov. 12, another man claimed he was jumped by more than a dozen Trump supporters and bouncers at Limelight on Tremont Street, whom he claims broke his nose.

Boston Police assigned a civil-rights detective to investigate the West End Johnnie's case, but say there is no evidence the Limelight victim was jumped by anybody, let alone 15 Trump supporters.

The civil-rights detective told the Boston Licensing Board this morning that a suburban man expressing his happiness over the November election results in West End Johnnie's was followed outside by a guy who exclaimed: "Your mother's a whore and you're a racist!"

The victim told detectives he tried to ignore the insults and walked down Valenti Way with a friend, but that the man followed them and punched him in the back of the head, then got ahead of him and punched him in the eye, knocking him out. He said when he came to, he was surrounded by six men, one of whom kicked or punched him in the ribs, while some of the others were busy attacking his friend.

The detective said he was assigned to the case because the man may have been attacked for "exercising his First Amendment rights in voicing his support of the person who had won the election." However, he said the investigation is no longer active because the victim - who sought treatment at the Lahey Clinic in Burlington - no longer wants to pursue charges. The victim also declined to identify his friend to police.

An attorney for West End Johnnie's said the attack was unfortunate - "It's really sad that young people are getting into fights over these sorts of things," unlike in days of old, when they'd slug each other over baseball or girls. But he asked the board to find the bar blameless, because the attack happened well down the street from the bar, not inside. Neither he nor bar owner John Caron said why bouncers had escorted the man out of the bar.

In the second case, police say they do not know how a man they found with his face covered in blood at Tremont and Lagrange streets around 1:20 a.m. on Nov. 12 came to be that way.

However, BPD Sgt. William Gallagher said there was no evidence to support his claim that "15 Trump supporters" and bouncers roughed him up. "That was probably fiction," Gallagher, who found the man after responding to 911 calls about a guy covered in blood, said. He noted that in addition to being bloody, the man showed signs of severe intoxication.

Gallagher speculated he might have given himself a bloody nose as he struggled with bouncers trying to get him out of Limelight - on the front-door handle Gallagher said was broken off.

Bar employees said the guy showed up around 12:45 a.m., just as they were getting ready to close, and that they refused to serve him because he appeared already drunk. They said he left, then came back and began trying to force his way in.

The bar was cited for not calling 911 about the incident. A bar manager said he did - with the guy's own phone. He said that on seeing the man's face covered in blood, told him they'd better call 911. He testified he didn't have his own phone on him and that the man pulled out his own phone - but was so drunk he was unable to punch in the digits, so the manager took his phone and used it to call 911.

The board decides what action, if any, to take about the two incidents.