Investigators say case is built on law, not race
By NANCY A. FISCHER NEWS NIAGARA BUREAU
7/27/2006 LOCKPORT - Four teenagers charged in the gang rape of a disabled classmate in May have been released from jail, and family members of the suspects said during a hearing Wednesday that the charges are racially motivated.
"Would we be here if the girl was black, too?" said the legal guardian of suspect Dartain M. Ubiles, who declined to give her name. She noted the victim is white, while the four suspects, all 16, are black.
The teens are accused of befriending the girl, 15, and luring her to the home of one of the boys, then using a cell phone to record the attack.
The Rev. Mark Sanders, a Lockport community policing aide and local pastor, said the four boys are themselves victims.
"I think all the facts are not out," he said. "These boys have already been demonized and tried. It's wrong to make a judgment before all sides have been heard."
"They are all broken up," he added. "They come from good homes. They are athletes who box and play football. These are not thugs from the street. None of them have ever been in jail." Sanders said
"I think all the facts are not out," he said. "These boys have already been demonized and tried. It's wrong to make a judgment before all sides have been heard."
Well, OK; after Duke, I'm willing to wait.