Random violence - (Attack last night on elderly couple in Berkeley)

THE AMERICAN THINKER,COM ^ | MARCH 19, 2005 | THOMAS LIFSON

[Palladin]

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.

[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.

[unkus]

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

[AdrianR]

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.

[Restorer]

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.

[AdrianR]

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.

[AdrianR]

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

[freeholland]

"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.

[pabianice]

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.

[JoeSixPack1]

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

OK.

[GW and Twins Pawpaw]

Amen, Brother!

[Tannerone]

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

[Veto!]

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.

[Red Boots]

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.

[DCBurgess58]

Bet you it is NOT treated as a hate crime.

[Veto!]

Thanks. Just as I suspected.

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

[OldPossum]

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.

[CFC__VRWC]

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 ...

[JoeSixPack1]

"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!