Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Random violence - (Attack last night on elderly couple in Berkeley)
THE AMERICAN THINKER,COM ^ | MARCH 19, 2005 | THOMAS LIFSON

Posted on 03/19/2005 11:02:05 AM PST by freeholland

As the body of Jessica Lunsford was being excavated from its Florida hiding place, at the hands of a man who saw her, took her, and killed her, another horrifying crime was taking place in my own neighborhood in the Berkeley Hills.

A 75 year old woman and her husband were walking along Euclid Avenue, where it runs between the Rose Garden and Codornices Park. It is one of the most spectacularly beautiful urban scenes in the world, with panoramic views of San Francisco, the Bay, and its bridges on one side, and a hillside of architectural landmark houses and public spaces, including Bernard Maybek's classicist masterpiece Rose Walk and the modernist Greenwood Common.

The elderly couple were walking home from a continuing education class at the University of California. The North Gate to its campus stands at the foot of Euclid Avenue, less than a mile away. They moved aside to make room on the sidewalk to allow a pair of girls to walk by them. Suddenly, one of the girls

"grabbed Kate around the neck and slashed her throat with an 8-inch butcher knife all the way to a bone in what police say was an apparently random attack. Kate struggled briefly with her attacker, who released her. Then she reached up to her neck. "It was spurting blood," she said from a hospital bed Friday. "It was just astonishing."

Fortunately, the knife narrowly missed the important veins and arteries in the victim's neck, and she survived the brutal and senseless attack. The area usually has many people enjoying its parks and views, and witnesses were able to see the attackers drive off in a very expensive car, a BMW M-3 convertible. Unless the car was stolen, these were not underprivileged children. Police relied on tips and arrested a 16 year old Oakland girl. Presumably, the license plate led them to her, though details are not yet available.

Because of the Supreme Court's recent ruling, this human monster will never face the death penalty. In fact, I worry that the tender mercies of the juvenile justice system will have her back on the streets of my neighborhood before very long, full of whatever demons led her to nearly decapitate my nighbor.

What could have motivated such an attack on strangers literally passing by? Could it be race, the foremost cause of random hate in today's America? The Chronicle does not identify the attacker by race, which often indicates membership in a minority. Or could it be a wealthy and pampered child acting out, after a childhood where no boundaries were ever set? Because the suspect is a juvenile, we may never know. However, when attacks are so savage, and purely random, and when the suspect presents such an obvious danger to the citizenry, shouldn't we have a right to know the names and details of the suspects?

I hope the suspect will be tried as an adult. The crime merits it.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; Philosophy; Politics/Elections; US: California
KEYWORDS: attack; berkeley; codornices; crime; euclidave; justice; juvenile; park; random; rosegarden
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-39 last
To: freeholland

This is so horrible and unbelievable that it exceeds all urban legends.

The perpetrator should be locked up for life, whether adjudicated to be insane or not. This 16 year-old is a mad dog killer.

It's only by the grace of God that the victim survived.


21 posted on 03/19/2005 11:43:28 AM PST by Palladin (Proud to be a FReeper!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Mr. Jeeves

The girl was from Oakland, with a BMW. I know there are some whites living in Oakland but let's be open and frank here, Oakland is primarily an African American community. A white person living in oakland is not likely to be able to afford a BMW (okay, MAYBE in oakland hills), as it is a poor to lower-middle income area. The type of car driven and the city that the girl lives in make this sound a lot like a crack ghetto, rite of passage, hate crime.


22 posted on 03/19/2005 11:45:15 AM PST by DCBurgess58 (We have a French knife in our back)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Jasper

That's what I meant. And, that's our kind of "Gun Control".


23 posted on 03/19/2005 11:45:49 AM PST by unkus
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: DCBurgess58
The girl was from Oakland, with a BMW. I know there are some whites living in Oakland but let's be open and frank here, Oakland is primarily an African American community. A white person living in oakland is not likely to be able to afford a BMW (okay, MAYBE in oakland hills), as it is a poor to lower-middle income area. The type of car driven and the city that the girl lives in make this sound a lot like a crack ghetto, rite of passage, hate crime.

Possibly. I tried searching the news stories but none of them gave the race of the attackers. Even the stories that were written when the attackers were still wanted by police. They described the attackers height and hair color but not the race.

US Census office on Oakland: The racial makeup of the city is 35.66% African American, 31.29% White, 0.66% Native American, 15.23% Asian, 0.50% Pacific Islander, 11.66% from other races, and 4.98% from two or more races. 21.89% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
24 posted on 03/19/2005 11:52:25 AM PST by AdrianR
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: dufekin
no liberal judge will call this teenage criminal "the moral equivalent of a carrot"

Of course not, that would be an insult to vegetables everywhere.

25 posted on 03/19/2005 11:59:23 AM PST by Restorer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: freeholland; DCBurgess58

From Alameda Times-Star:
http://www.insidebayarea.com/timesstar/localnews/ci_2613107

Police were not discussing a motive, but at least one city official and neighbors speculated the slashing was a gang initiation.

"We are hearing the only thing it could have been was an initiation," said City Councilmember Betty Olds, who represents the hills district.


26 posted on 03/19/2005 12:01:14 PM PST by AdrianR
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DCBurgess58

You are right.
http://www.berkeleydaily.org/text/article.cfm?issue=03-18-05&storyID=20965


27 posted on 03/19/2005 12:02:49 PM PST by AdrianR
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: JoeSixPack1
"The BS meter is strained on this one, big time."

If you have doubts, you might want to write to Thomas Lifson via: postmaster@americanthinker.com. He is a fine columnist and author with a "Grade A" reputation, so I take him at his word. If this story came from an author I'd never heard of, and from a less credible source than American Thinker, I wouldn't have posted it, but I can't see how a writer of the stature of Lifson would invent a story for the purpose of sensationalism.

28 posted on 03/19/2005 12:20:09 PM PST by freeholland (in memory of Theo Van Gogh)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: freeholland

Sigh. You conservatives just don't understand. There are no bad people, only people society has failed. Everyone is beautiful, in their own way. I'm OK, you're ok. Live and let live. If we just soent more money on schools, stuff like this wouldn't happen. I'll be the girl is a member of a repressed minority. The old lady probably didn't value the diversity (and is also probably White and homophobic). When one child is punished, we are all diminished. Spanking never solved anything and is simply child abuse. The old lady probably voted for Bush.


29 posted on 03/19/2005 12:30:00 PM PST by pabianice
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: freeholland
... I can't see how a writer of the stature of Lifson would invent a story for the purpose of sensationalism.

OK.

30 posted on 03/19/2005 12:33:43 PM PST by JoeSixPack1 (@100 mph, you have no friends.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: Dr.Zoidberg

Amen, Brother!


31 posted on 03/19/2005 12:35:30 PM PST by GW and Twins Pawpaw (Sheepdog for Five [My grandkids are way more important than any lefty's feelings!])
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: infidel29
Surely you jest! Violence in Berkley?? Did not someone read the Berkley laws to this "poor" alleged person.

Is everyone aware that:

Uncle Sam has two arm pits and a butt hole. Take your choice on matching the locations to Uncle Sam: Berkley---Madison----Cambridge
32 posted on 03/19/2005 12:45:53 PM PST by Tannerone
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Mr. Jeeves

I lived near that neighborhood for awhile and saw not just upscale white kids driving expensive cars,, but also downscale young blacks who were clearly spending their own drug profits. As a matter of fact, I was threatened by one young black fellow in a very expensive car when he almost ran me off a crosswalk.

And on another occasion, I was about to leave a shop when a team of jewelry and expensive clothes-bedecked teenage black girls came in and started behaving very threateningly toward the owner, a small Asian woman. One of the black girls had a very very long "coke" fingernail. I stayed around until they left, as I knew for sure that they'd attack the Asian woman if she were alone.

Oakland is right next door, so don't come to the conclusion that wastrel white girls committed this heinous crime. Though of course, that might be the case.


33 posted on 03/19/2005 12:53:20 PM PST by Veto! (Opinions Freely Dispensed as Advice)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Veto!
From the Berkeley Daily Planet Website:The suspects are described as two women between the ages of 17 and 29. The knife was wielded by a thinly built black-haired African American woman 5’5” to 5’10” tall. She was wearing gray sweats, said Officer Okies. The second suspect was described as thinly built of indeterminate ethnicity with brown hair approximately five inches shorter than her companion.
34 posted on 03/19/2005 1:18:51 PM PST by Red Boots
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: AdrianR

Bet you it is NOT treated as a hate crime.


35 posted on 03/19/2005 1:32:11 PM PST by DCBurgess58 (We have a French knife in our back)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: Red Boots; DCBurgess58

Thanks. Just as I suspected.

And NO, it won't be considered a hate crime.


36 posted on 03/19/2005 1:35:53 PM PST by Veto! (Opinions Freely Dispensed as Advice)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: Dr.Zoidberg
I'm with you. Nobody is going to attack my wife either, without consequences. Luckily, I live in a state where self-defense and the defense of loved ones is OK.

And like you, I wouldn't even give a passing thought to living in California.

37 posted on 03/19/2005 4:21:07 PM PST by OldPossum
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: JoeSixPack1
Oh yeah, sure. Just walking along, minding my own business and BAM... somebody grabs me and cuts my throat from ear to ear then drives off and I survive because they missed the protruding veins in my neck.

Actually, it's quite possible. The perp (oops, "economically challenged victim of society" in Berkeleyspeak) probably yanked her victim's head back to get an easier shot at her throat. Tipping the head backward causes the major blood vessels in the neck (the carotids and the jugulars) to move back behind the muscles and tendons, giving them some protection. Now if the perp had pushed her head forward ...

38 posted on 03/19/2005 11:07:03 PM PST by CFC__VRWC
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: CFC__VRWC
"grabbed Kate around the neck and slashed her throat with an 8-inch butcher knife all the way to a bone...

Either we're talking about a 3rd year med student with a plan & fast hands, an extrememly lucky victim, or fiction. :-)

But "to the bone" is pretty deep!

39 posted on 03/20/2005 4:34:07 AM PST by JoeSixPack1 (@100 mph, you have no friends.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 38 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-39 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson