L.A. Times Distorts Facts of “Jena 6” Case
The L.A. Times has once again done what it does best on stories with a racial angle. Namely, it sensationalizes the racism issue, and studiously buries facts that would tend to undercut the narrative that blacks are unfairly oppressed.
Earlier today I wrote about the “Jena 6” incident, which one news account described in this way:
According to court documents, someone hit [victim Justin] Barker from behind, knocking him out, then others began to kick and stomp his “lifeless” body. He spent about three hours in a local emergency room for treatment of injuries to his head and face.
The L.A. Times article on the incident completely fails to note that Mychal Bell, the one defendant who has already been tried and convicted, has an extensive criminal history of violence. Not only does the article fail to tell readers that Bell has a criminal record involving four violent previous incidents, the article makes absolutely no mention of the fact that Bell has any criminal history at all.
This is a story about whether a criminal prosecution of young black males for a violent crime was too harsh. Any responsible story addressing that topic would fully describe the perpetrators’ criminal histories — especially histories of similar behavior. This information is absolutely vital to assessing whether his treatment at the hands of law enforcement was unnecessarily harsh — and by not mentioning his priors, the paper implies to most rational readers that he has no criminal history at all.
The Readers’ Representative can be reached at Readers.Rep@latimes.com.
UPDATE: At least this story mentions in passing that the victim was knocked unconscious. This article, about Democrat presidential contenders’ responses to the issue, doesn’t mention that fact at all — or the fact that six assailants stomped on the victim while he lay unconscious on the floor. The article describes the crime merely as “the beating of a white student.”
This story is even worse. It not only omits those details, but writer Ari Bloomekatz affirmatively asserts that the victim “was not seriously injured and attended a school function the same night.”
Getting knocked unconscious, my good friend Mr. Bloomekatz, qualifies as a serious injury in my book.
UPDATE x2: And how could I forget this editorial?
People of both races have committed violent acts in the year since, but the harshest legal penalties seem to have been reserved for blacks. White youths struck a black student with bottles at a party; only one was charged, with simple battery. The next day, a white man brandished a shotgun at a group of black youths, who wrestled the gun away from him. The gunman wasn’t charged, but the boys were charged with theft for taking his gun. Finally, six black youths beat a white student outside the school gym. Some were initially charged with attempted murder, although the victim was well enough to attend a school ceremony that evening.
No mention of the facts I set forth in this morning’s post: witnesses say the shotgun-branding man was being robbed by the black youths; the black youths who beat the white student also knocked him unconscious and stomped on him while he lay on the ground. This paper is bound and determined not to share facts like this. Again: they don’t fit the narrative.
This case is SOLELY about an overzealous prosecution!
Ray Rodz (ed12ef) — 9/22/2007 @ 5:06 pmAs I posted on the previous Jena 6 thread, kicking with tennis shoes can kill by rupturing a spleen, lacerating a liver, or kicking a head into something solid. The fact that people intervened is likely what resulted in the injuries being minor.
Several years ago in Philly a high school youth was knocked down and kicked. There was no one to intervene. He died of head injuries suffered before the police got there.
If someone thinks it is no big deal to lay on the ground and get kicked by 6 people, please demonstrate for us.
MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 9/22/2007 @ 5:14 pmI’m saddened that anyone could believe being beaten to unconsciousness is no big deal simply because the victim ultimately recovered or because the hospital let him go home the same night. They would surely feel different if it happened to them or their child.
DRJ (ec59b5) — 9/22/2007 @ 5:27 pmI am sure to not receive a response but the following is a letter I’ve written to the author of the article we are discussing…
Mr. Bloomekatz,
Why don’t you try rewriting your Sept. 20, 2007 article in the LA Times, concerning the case of the six individuals being held in Jena, LA and try and publish the facts surrounding this case this time around?
What you’ve got here is a case of overzealous prosecution. I feel the DA in this case should be investigated and if necessary tried under the Bias Crime statutes and jailed. With that said, I feel you do the public a great disservice by omitting ALL relevant facts pertaining to this case.
Fact: An assault did take place and some form of punishment must be meted out.
A brief synopsis:
Six individuals attack a single individual and proceed to batter him long after he is knocked unconscious. He is hospitalized for facial injuries, internal injuries, lacerations, bruising and treated for a concussion and released later that same day. Have I missed anything here?
In your opinion, what should their punishments be? Was it a hate crime? Should citizens across the country be accepting of this type of behavior? Should any of the six attackers be tried for anything more than a simple assault? Should we not mention Mr. Bell’s prior history of violence in the prosecution of this case? His previous 4 assaults/convictions? His being on probation for a violent crime at the time of this incident?
I feel the prosecutor may have overreached in charging all of these individuals under the same statutes but there is no denying that Mr. Bell should be jailed for his continued lack of repentance.
I ask you Mr. Bloomkatze, what would be a fitting punishment for this crime?
Ray Rodz
Ray Rodz (ed12ef) — 9/22/2007 @ 5:36 pmI understand why the LAT wrote what it wrote.
There is a complex PC hierarchy by PC custom and law. It is perfectly acceptable for six black youths to beat into unconsciousness, and kick until pulled off the unconscious boy. As long as the victim is white. If he’d been kicked in the head and died? A mere trivial detail.
There is the violation of Civil Rights: for Blacks to beat up Whites. Let’s be honest that Civil Right is enshrined in PC dogma and law.
Six whites beat into unconsciousness a black boy, and kick his unconscious body? Clearly a hate crime and attempted murder. The other way around? Boyish hijinks. Because the victim by merely being white deserved it.
This case is about the rule of PC-Law, Caste Hierarchies, PC Dogma, “the narrative was correct, but the facts were wrong,” and the lionization of black thugs who are “authentic” to wealthy white liberals who hate/fear ordinary white people and romanticize poor blacks (though they never, EVER want to be around them).
Six-on-one kicking an unconscious boy seems like attempted murder to me. Particularly given the violent crime records of Bell and the others.
It was a message of power and intimidation: the black youths controlled the school and would meet out beatings and worse, just like the Crips and Bloods (or Tony Soprano in fiction, John Gotti in real life).
But hey, I’m sure the LAT will run a correction. Right next to their “Free OJ” editorial.
Jim Rockford (e09923) — 9/22/2007 @ 5:50 pm“It was a message of power and intimidation: the black youths controlled the school and would meet out beatings and worse, just like the Crips and Bloods (or Tony Soprano in fiction, John Gotti in real life).
But hey, I’m sure the LAT will run a correction. Right next to their “Free OJ” editorial.
Comment by Jim Rockford”
Come on Jim. The population of the high school is 499 with 18% black students. You are saying that 89 students terrorized the entire school?
voiceofreason63 (b661d0) — 9/22/2007 @ 8:51 pmWhat proof do you have that is true?
It certainly sounds like Jena, Louisiana could use some help proceeding forward into the 1960’s. Those nooses absolutely and unequivocally merited expulsion.
I think there is absolutely a story here about whether the treatment of the six thugs was proper, and whether the events leading up to the beating could have and should have been prevented.
That said, Patterico’s exactly right: You tell the story as it is, not as you’d like it to be. Bell’s a bad guy. Whatever prompted the beatdown, it was unjustifiable. There were more than a few bad actors in this, but people have a lot of problems telling the story fairly.
On a side note, can we not lump Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton together? I know they show up in the same places, but Jackson’s a media hound who has done some good things and at least presents as having some sincere beliefs, whereas Sharpton has shown zero remorse for framing a guy for a crime that he knew never occurred. These two guys are dissimilar – one’s flawed, the other’s scum.
–JRM
JRM (355c21) — 9/22/2007 @ 10:59 pmWhat JRM said.
Nasty sidebar angle from AP:
steve (1bfd77) — 9/23/2007 @ 4:54 amThat’s akin to the article I read in the local paper complaining that it’s mostly Latino kids who are tried as adults in murder cases–neglecting to mention that all arrests for murder cases during the time in question were Latino suspects.
Patricia (4117a9) — 9/23/2007 @ 8:10 amIt doesn’t seem to me that there was intent to kill. That was the charge leveled at the black kids wasn’t it?
Like in the incident involving the shotgun, if there was will to hurt or kill by either party, then surely someone would be dead or maimed.
For all we know this white kid had a whooping coming. It shouldn’t have taken six to do and there needs to be repercussions for those six guys, but attempted murder charge is excessive.
One guy got roughed up, not enough to change his personal history in anything more then a superficial way. Is it justice to put somone in Angola prison for 15 year?
What do you think would be a fair sentence given the crime?
papertiger (e9a2a0) — 9/23/2007 @ 9:51 amWhat do you think would be a fair sentence given the crime?
Ward of the court until age of majority and disposition (from supervision to placement in youth facility) according to the recommendation of the probation department and social services with the sole purposes of education and rehabilitation — not punishment. That’s how the juvenile courts are supposed to act and how they justify their deprivation of minors of such constitutional rights as trial by jury and bail pending trial.
nk (7c7414) — 9/23/2007 @ 11:03 amAnd these are the same liberal run universities that bar the military and welcome terrorists leaders with open arms frankly i hope they lose a real big wad of goverment cash
krazy kagu (444070) — 9/23/2007 @ 11:14 amSharpton is a cynical crook, but Jackson is an extortionist; if you give his organization money he leaves you alone. Otherwise he hounds you. Sounds like the Mafia to me. Both are totally unprincipled men.
miriam (02c166) — 9/23/2007 @ 7:03 pmWard of the court until age of majority and disposition (from supervision to placement in youth facility) according to the recommendation of the probation department and social services with the sole purposes of education and rehabilitation — not punishment.
That sounds about right.
papertiger (7b38bb) — 9/23/2007 @ 7:28 pmPatterico,
You might want to look at this bit that has excerpts and links to what the people of Jena have to say about the various incidents and the “athlete privilege”. The nooses bit looks like it has been totally misinterpreted. The Six seem to have terrorized Jena for quite a while.
It is all about The Narrative.
Jena – Searching for Facts.
*
M. Simon (cf8ab0) — 9/23/2007 @ 8:43 pmPrediction:
If Bell gets another pass he is going to kill some one.
M. Simon (cf8ab0) — 9/23/2007 @ 9:05 pmThe media remains unmoved in the wake of the Duke non-rape case debacle in which they played no small role in (in the negative sense).
They are comfortable continuing to advance their pet causes and narratives and are incapable of shame. They simply make a calculation of the public’s memory and resumes what they were doing which lead to the last embarrassment and exposure of what they do. What we have today is worse than Soviet era state media. It’s a very dangerous state of affairs.
Steve39 (f1eeac) — 9/23/2007 @ 10:30 pmFrom what I’ve seen and heard, this event could easily be narrated as a “gang violence” story.
Not the preferred narrative, of couerse.
Tex Mex (344e85) — 9/24/2007 @ 4:20 amOther omitted “facts” that I found this weekend in my personal search for the truth include:
1) Teachers cut down the nooses after discovering black and white kids playing with said nooses. They were putting their heads in them! So much for intimidation.
2) The Barker family’s hospital bill was about $12,000.
3) The school function was a once-in-a-lifetime senior ring ceremony and not a routine game or other easily dismissed event.
4) Four of the Jena 6 have criminal records including sexual assualt on a 12-year girl and battery.
There’s seems to be many pertinent facts being ommitted in the largely superficial news coverage. Until the facts can be firmly established, folks should take a few steps back and a couple of deep breaths.
Timothy (933c61) — 9/24/2007 @ 6:47 amTimothy,
Could you provide a link or other substantiation for your assertion that 4 of the 6 have criminal records?
Patterico (167f55) — 9/24/2007 @ 7:01 amJackson and sharpton are not revrends their as real as a 3 dollar bill
krazy kagu (fc3721) — 9/24/2007 @ 7:25 amPatterico,
As long as you are looking: the rumor mill says one or two of the Six have priors for arson.
Rumor also has it that they are being investigated for the school arson.
M. Simon (cf8ab0) — 9/24/2007 @ 10:00 amPatterico,
I have been doing some searching and have been unable to find corroboration on line for the priors.
Not surprising since there are juveniles involved.
M. Simon (cf8ab0) — 9/24/2007 @ 10:25 amUnlike the Duke hoax there are 2 sides to this story, and both sides are to blame. What happened in Jena is shameful from beginning to end.
I’ll venture the opinion not yet expressed that the Jena 6 are getting the punishment they deserve but that the white kids got slaps on the wrist and deserve worse.
It’s the “broken window theory”: if the acts that led to the descent into violence, from all reports a descent begun by the white kids, had been punished properly the unfortunate culmination — the beating — might never have happened. That doesn’t excuse the continued beating of a kid lying unconscious on the floor.
Once a person is lying unconscious on the floor what is the “intent” of the person(s) continuing to beat the victim? That’s a serious crime, even if the victim used fighting words to provoke the initial attack.
My opinion is subject to change as new evidence emerges, which is probably why so many bloggers are gun-shy: jump in on the side of the white kids and if you turn out to be wrong you’re a racist. Jump in on the side of the black kids and if you turn out to be wrong you’ll have been part of a Duke Lacrosse lynch mob.
My solution: a pox on them both! (Subject to the emergence of new evidence, of course …)
Laika's Last Woof (733092) — 9/24/2007 @ 4:11 pm[…] bloggers who were holding back took the wiser course of action. As Sharon noted, via Patterico, there is a Paul Harvey “rest of the story” to be told. Mychal Bell, by now the most […]
Common Sense Political Thought » Archives » The Jena Six: The signal-to-noise ratio isn’t that good (819604) — 9/25/2007 @ 5:52 pmThis is an artical written by Erik Opsal. I think this gives a good perspective on this subject. I also believe alot of the comments given here are by people who don’t know the truth, but are only searching for it, like myself. I think our author of this blog forgot a few things also. Like the the black kid that was beaten with a bottle! Please read and think. Thank You.
“It’s 2007, and we have a big problem in this country. When Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of the bus in 1955, she had a goal. When Martin Luther King Jr. stood up before 250,000 people on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963 to tell them he had a dream, he had a goal. More than 40 years later, we’re still striving toward that goal with the case of the Jena Six in Louisiana.
It started when a group of black students felt they had to ask permission to sit under a tree where white students usually congregated. The next day three white students hung nooses from that tree—basically saying to the black students they were not welcome—and received just three days suspension.
Three months later the racial tension erupted. First, a fire torched part of the school, and many believe it was race related. Then a black student, Robert Bailey, was beaten with a glass bottle at a party. The white kid who started the fight was only charged with battery and received probation. The next day, a white kid from the party pulled a gun on Bailey at a convenient store. After Bailey wrestled the gun away, he was charged with theft of a firearm and disturbing the peace while the kid who pulled the gun got off scot-free.
When a white student, Justin Barker, made fun of Bailey a few days later for the incident at the party, he lost control. He and five other black students beat Barker unconscious (after being treated at the hospital, Barker was released that evening).
The Jena Six, as they’ve come to be known, were eventually arrested and charged with attempted murder.
This speaks to a larger issue than just racial tension—the fundamental flaws and inherent racism in our justice system. When a white kid beats up a black kid with a bottle, he gets charged with battery and receives only probation.
When a white kid pulls a gun on a black kid and the black kid fights him off, the black kid is the one charged with the crime. But then when a group of black kids, after several incidents of provocation, retaliate and beat up a white kid, they sit in jail for months and face up to 20 years in prison, effectively ruining their futures.
Many will call these kids “thugs,” and that could be true, but it does not excuse the white “thugs” who, on numerous occasions, attacked these students, and it definitely does not excuse the unequal distribution of justice and punishment dished out by the court system. Battery and probation for whites and attempted murder charges for blacks are the only messages we hear.
It doesn’t help when people like Mark Belling of WISN, as reported on the blog Plaisted Writes, claim that “by the mid-1970s, all the legal racism in America was pretty much done-away with.” Belling’s statement could not be further from the truth. Our unjust justice system routinely favors whites on everything from drug charges—punishment for crack is much harsher than that for cocaine—to the death penalty. A 2005 study in California found blacks who kill whites are three times more likely to wind up on death row than blacks who kill blacks.
The excuses must stop. The Jena Six case brings to light injustices that have boiled under the surface of our country since its existence.
Injustices that went unheard when Thomas Jefferson wrote, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”
Injustices Abraham Lincoln finally addressed when he wrote, “Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, can not long retain it.”
And injustices that were still unresolved when Dr. King spoke of his dream that “one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.”
Now, 40 years later, King’s dream of transforming America “into an oasis of freedom and justice” is still a long way off.
Cases like the Jena Six remind me every day that this dream too often turns into a nightmare.”
Erik Opsal is a senior majoring in political science and journalism.
Avery (c6f0c2) — 10/7/2007 @ 5:55 amAvery,
I would suggest looking at the police eyewitness reports, instead of appealing to an opinion column.
You can find them at: http://www.evangelicaloutpost.com/archives/003979.html.
Best,
Truthiness
truthiness (9ac5aa) — 10/7/2007 @ 7:48 amSorry, the correct link is:
http://www.evangelicaloutpost.com/archives/003979.html
(without the ‘.’)
truthiness (9ac5aa) — 10/7/2007 @ 7:48 amThe mainstream media has caught on to the fact that the “white “tree” was never officially or unofficially reserved for white students. The black student who asked permission to sit beneath the tree posed the question in jest and the entire assembly reupted in laughter. The assistant pincipal is often misquoted as giving him permission. What she actualloy saud was, “You know you can sit anywhere you want.
Following the Jena High School beating incident, the Justice Department
reopened its investigation into the noose-hanging incident and found no link
to the assault on Justin Barker or other confrontations between black and
white students at Jena High School. Donald Washington, U.S. attorney for the
Western District of Louisiana, told CNN that “A lot of things happened
between the noose hanging and the fight occurring, and we have arrived at
the conclusion that the fight itself had no connection.” He added that “We
could not prove that, because the statements of the students themselves do
not make any mention of nooses, of trees, of the ‘N’ word or any other word
of racial hate.”
There is no connection between the nooses and the attack on Barker.
According to witness statements, the black students were angry because they
overhead Barker talking about a fight at a private party that involved
Robert Bailey, a member of the Jena Six. Police arrested Justin Sloan, a
white 22-year-old male, in connection with the fight and charged him with
simple battery. He pled guilty and was place on parole. Police have refuted
allegations that Sloan hit Bailey with a bottle, and in his statement to
police Bailey merely alleges that Sloan hit him, he doesn’t mention being
hit with a bottle. The simple battery charge was appropriate because Sloan
did not use a weapon and no serious injuries were inflicted; Bailey required
no medical attention. Virtually everyone convicted of simple battery,
regardless of race, is placed on parole provided it’s a first offense.
Mychal Bell, for example, was on parole at the time of the beating incident
at Jena High School.
The charge of attempted murder was dropped before Mychal Bell went to trail
and should no longer be part of the controversy over whether the Jena Six
have been inappropriately charged. They are charged with aggravated battery
and conspiracy to commit aggravated battery. One of three circumstances or a
combination of three circumstances elevates simple battery to aggravated
battery: (1) a deadly weapon was used, (2) sever injuries were inflicted, or
(3) the victim was vulnerable (helpless or defenseless). In some states,
simple battery becomes aggravated battery if “the offense occurred in a
public transit vehicle or station, school zone, or other protected place,”
but I don’t know if this applies in Louisiana.
Four of the Jena six were over 17 at the time of the beating incidence.
Trying them in juvenile court is not an option; by law they must be tried as
adults.
The argument that shoes constitute deadly weapons has legal precedence.
Courts have ruled that shoes constitute deadly weapons in cases where
victims were kicked to death. (Carol Swan, a professor of political science
at Vanderbilt University, has posted the story of her brother’s death on
the university’s official website
(http://www.vanderbilt.edu/news/releases?id=37643. He was kicked to death by
teenagers wearing sneakers.) However, the prosecution will not have to
convince the jury that shoes qualify as deadly weapons to prove aggravated
assault.
The prosecution will argue that Barker was seriously injured. An ambulance
had to be called to the scene and doctors treated him for three hours. The
prosecution will call the doctors to the witness stand. Beside cuts and
bruise, he suffered a concussion. Concussions are serious life-threatening
injuries that often have lingering and sometimes permanent effects. Barker’s
parents will likely to testify that doctors recommend Barker stay in the
hospital overnight, but that they had no insurance and could not afford the
costs. Barker’s attorneys estimate his medical costs at $14,000. Jurors may
consider these costs are indications of serious injuries. Barker did attend
a senior right ceremony after his release from the hospital, but his
friends, if called to testify, will says that he left before the end of the
ceremony because he was in pain and felt dizzy.
However, the prosecution does not have to prove that Barker suffered serious
injuries to prove their case. In sworn police statements, nearly a dozen
witnesses stated that the Jenna Six continue to kick Barker in the head
after he lay unconscious (helpless and defenseless) on the ground. In a
sworn statement to the Sheriff’s office, one student wrote, “Me and J.O. was
walking out of the gym when all of a sudden a tall black boy come running
from the side and jumped Justin Barker and slammed his head on the concrete
beam that people sometimes sit on. Theo Shaw and a group of other blacks
were all standing there waiting on Justin and after he was knocked out cold
on the ground Calvin Jones and Robert Bailey started kicking his head for no
reason at all. Me and J.O. looked over and there was blood pouring out of
his ears and his hands were shaking because he was knocked out cold, then
Mrs. ______ made us go to class.”
The Jena prosecutor says he did not prosecute the three teens who hung the
nooses because Louisiana has no applicable hate crime laws. For the same
reason, he has not filed hate crimes charges against the Jena Six, although
there is plenty of evidence the attack on Barker was racially motivated and
that members of the Jena six used racial slurs. In a sworn statement, one
student wrote that just prior to the attack, “I heard one of the boys say,
“There’s that white mother f—er that was running his mouth.” In their
written statements, other students said that members of the Jena Six had
threatened and bullied other white students just prior to the attack and
that members of the Jena Six told them they had a list of white students
they plan to attack. These are allegations, of course, but since they were
made in sworn police statements and are part of the public record, they
merit serious attention.
The justice Department has investigated the three white students who hung
the nooses to determine if federal hate crime charges were justified.
Following the beating at Jena High, the Justice Department reopened its
investigation to determine, among other thing, if Justin Barker taunted the
Jena Six with racial slurs. Now that the Justice Department has investigated
the victim of the Jena High School beating, it should investigate the
perpetrators to determine if federal hate crimes should be brought against
the Jena Six.
The police documents and witness statements related to the Jena Six events
Blair (56a0a8) — 10/8/2007 @ 5:58 amare posted at http://www.evangelicaloutpost.com/http. Anyone reading the
witness statements will understand why Bell’s defense lawyer called no
witnesses. If Bell’s defense lawyer had called character witness, he
probably would have been disbarred for incompetence. Calling character
witnesses would have allowed the prosecutor to reveal Bell’s criminal record
and call victims of his previous assaults to the stand.
I agree with Jim Rockford about the fact that if this situation were turned around and it was six white boys beating the crap out of one black boy even after he became unconcious it would be an “obvious hate crime”. But since it was six black boys against one white boy, the NAACP thinks they have to stick their noses in the action and say that the charges were “too harsh” and that the Jena 6 shouldn’t be charged with attempted murder, and if you ask me that is pretty screwed up. This isn’t about racism,it’s about an assault over something stupid.If it would have been white guys the NAACP would have wanted the death penalty carried out on the white guys because in their eyes it would have been a racial hate crime.Another thing is this so called injustice was not the fact that the Jena 6 were being harshly sentenced but the fact that they are basically getting away with crime because of the rallies in their favors, that’s what makes me so mad.People need to leave well enough alone and let justice be served.That’s all I’m gonna say for now.
Heather (b403a5) — 10/13/2007 @ 7:57 pmIt’s kinda funny to heard what I can only assume to be white people saying how unfair this whole case is and how if it was turned around it would be a different outcome, You all fail and continue to fail to see the inequalities in the criminal justice system, and why a group like the naacp – misguided though they sometimes are – is needed still in 2007, probably because it benefits you too, you are not subjugated to the same penalties and harsh treatment under the ‘law’ as minorities (non-white males) are. This fact has been proven over and over and over again.
I believe that anyone who breaks the law should be punished by the law and its debatable at the very least that this could have been tried as a hate crime, and i agree with the article that the media has sensationalized this and I knew nothing about belle’s priors till he broke his parole, I was in his corner till I found that out, then bless his soul but he deserves whatever he gets at this point. Not because I loathe black youth (who are being brandished as the new scrounge of American youth culture), but because at what point does personal responsibility come in. Anyway, back to my point, in the article above : “White youths struck a black student with bottles at a party; only one was charged, with simple battery. ” and you didn’t even address that, Kudos for posting it, but you totally ignored it and went on about the blacks beating the white kid. is it any less trivial? so because that kid didn’t fall unconscious it was somehow ok?
Yet noone talks about this as a hate crime, noone talks about the penalty being to lenient? The reason why most, -granted not all- blacks rallied around this case is not to get the kids off from any punishment they deserved – and they do deserve punishment – but to state that penalties for seemingly equal crimes are being doled out differently and in this case it seems to come down on racial lines.
Anyway thanks for the ear to my ramble and interesting point of view here.
David B. (9d755f) — 12/4/2007 @ 10:49 am