From JULIE@DRYCAS.CLUB.CC.CMU.EDU Sun Dec 19 20:19:00 1993 Date: Thu, 2 Dec 1993 08:37:11 EST Subject: Anti-Gay Assault in Brazil Averted by Observers RIO DE JANEIRO (UPI) -- A group of skinheads in Rio de Janeiro attacked demonstrating homosexuals Wedensday with sticks, chains and stones, but were chased off and nearly lynched by angry passersby. The group of homosexuals were demonstrating in downtown Rio, handing out condoms to mark World AIDS Day when the skinheads -- known in Brazil as "carecas" -- attacked them. Passersby got between the demonstrators and their attackers and began shouting for the police. Security guards from the nearby Cinelandia subway station moved against the skinheads, but in the end had to protect them from the crowd that tried to lynch them in the square. Police said they detained seven skinheads for aggression in a public place and resisting arrest, but no formal complaints were filed.