NATION IN BRIEF : NORTH CAROLINA : Marines Deny They Initiated Gay Fight

Three Marines charged with assault at a gay bar in Wilmington, N.C., testified they only fought back in self-defense. Two said they struck a man when he ran at them swinging a telephone receiver. “He had the phone cocked back like he was going to hit me,” Lance Cpl. Colin Hunt said. Hunt said the man was John Laughter, who testified earlier in the trial that he was assaulted first. Lance Cpl. Patrick Cardone also testified he hit Laughter after the man swung the phone at him. Hunt testified that he felt threatened when he entered the bar--the Mickey Ratz, which caters to homosexuals--because people inside taunted the Marines and made sexual overtures.