New Jersey soldier home for holidays beaten by men who allegedly didn’t like his Army jacket NY Daily News, Jan 5, 2017, Jessica Schladebeck
A New Jersey soldier set to deploy to the Middle East in just a few months was met with violence when he traveled home to visit his widowed mother for the holidays.
U.S. Army Serviceman Austin Freni was reportedly attacked and brutally beaten by a group of young men while he was walking with his mother, Lori Freni, after the Mummers Parade in Philadelphia on New Year’s Day, NJ.com reported.
The attack was prompted, Lori Freni said, by the fact that her son was wearing his Army jacket, according to Fox 23. She said a group of 10 to 15 men walked by them making “derogatory comments” about the jacket, and then one of them took a swing at her 19-year-old son.
Immediately after, the rest of the group piled on top of Austin, she said.
Me and his girlfriend tried pulling them off and they hit us,” Lori Freni told the news station. “We got hit in the face. She got thrown in the street.”
The beat down left Austin in the hospital with severe injuries to his face — he’ll have to get plates put in and his jaw and mouth will be wired shut for the next eight weeks, his mother said.
The soldier was slated to fight for his country in the Middle East in less than two months, though Lori said she doesn’t yet know how the injuries will affect her son’s deployment.
“We’re lost. Just complete disbelief,” she said.
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http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/soldier-beaten-men-allegedly-didn-army-jacket-article-1.2936257
