Posted on 12/08/2007 5:46:05 PM PST by freespirited
BALTIMORE - A white woman beaten by a group of black students on a bus has prompted a hate-crime investigation, attempts by transit officials to reassure riders of the safety of the system, and radio talk-show chatter over comparisons with the Jena Six case.
The uproar prompted two leading black politicians to issue statements decrying the attack.
Sarah Kreager, 26, suffered broken facial bones and other injuries after she was punched, kicked and dragged off the bus Tuesday afternoon. Kreager's companion, Troy Ellis, was also attacked, but not beaten as severely. Kreager has an unlisted phone number and attempts to reach her Friday were unsuccessful.
MTA police said evidence has not been found to support claims by the students' parents that the children were provoked.
"We are at this point investigating it as a hate crime," MTA spokeswoman Jawauna Greene said.
The attack immediately drew comparisons on talk radio and Internet blogs to the Jena, La. case in which a white student was attacked by a group of black students, leading to demontrations by black activists who alleged local authorities were prosecuting blacks more harshly than whites. Many callers and web site posters questioned what they considered a lack of outrage over the latest attacks.
But Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon and Rep. Elijah Cummings, both black, issued statements condemning the attack.
"The physical assault of any human being, regardless of motivation, is conduct that is unacceptable. As police continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding this terrible crime, we must rise together as a community to take a stand against violence toward any of our neighbors," Cummings said in statement issued Friday.
Dixon said after the attack that she was extremely concerned about the beating, which she described as "deplorable."
"I will not tolerate intimidation or violence anywhere in our city," the mayor said. "I have offered the MTA whatever assistance they need to investigate this incident and to do our part to ensure the public transportation system is safe for everyone."
MTA Northern District Capt. David Marzola said the middle school students, three females and six males 14 to 15 years old, are also accused of menacing an elderly white passenger and assaulting the bus operator, a black male who defended his passenger.
"He probably saved this gentleman's life," Marzola said.
The driver was not identified because he is considered a witness to a crime, the MTA said.
Video from a surveillance camera on the bus is also being analyzed as part of the investigation, the MTA said.
The students, who ride the bus to Robert Poole Middle School, have been released into the custody of their parents, Greene said.
Col. John Gavrilis, deputy chief of the MTA Police, said MTA Police have stationed an officer on the line since Tuesday and the city school police force has assigned extra officers to the Hampden school.
Greene said the nine students have had their bus privileges revoked.
"Riding the bus is a privilege," she said. "Public safety is our primary concern."
MTA officials noted the system is safe with a total of 381 crimes this year on the transit system, which carries 250,000 riders a day, with property crimes accounting for the vast majority.
However, the attack was the latest in a string of high-profile crimes to have taken place on or near MTA facilities.
Nicole Edwards, 17, was fatally stabbed near a Baltimore light rail station in November, 2006, during an armed robbery of Edwards and her brother. Lataye S. King, 17, was sentenced to 25 years in prison Thursday in the case, and a 15-year-old co-defendant is to be sentenced in February for robbery conspiracy and aggravated assault.
In October, a twice-convicted rapist was accused of attacking a woman at a light rail station in Linthicum. And an MTA officer shot and killed a robbery suspect late last year at a Reisterstown Metro station after police said he pulled a gun.
You are correct here. The whole concept of “hate crimes” is a part of the liberal paradigm of crime and law enforcement, hence silly. To paraphrase Camille Paglia, it’s ridiculous to state as a matter of law that one segment of society is more worthy of protection than another. A really absurd notion and distortion of the concept of equal justice under the law. But then, it does make a liberal feel good about him/herself. And that’s all that matters to them.
“If you think about it, parents are really no longer raising their children”
.....you got it!....what we have here are FERAL children who form packs....they then attack en mass to inflict a beat down...after they outgrow the beat down phase they move on to guns.
Amen,well said!!!
Just sounds to me like you haven't been mugged yet. The three times I've been the victim of a home invasion, a mugging and an armed robbery, there was definitely the historically oppressed/aggrieved race involved. This has not stopped me from forming close friendships with similarly-hued persons of proven good character. But I'm a lot more careful about the "proven" part than I used to be when I was an idealistic liberal.
Well then, 'repatriation' wouldn't be the right term, but 'exile' still applies.
Did wonders for Roger Williams and Rhode Island, and later it helped give Liberia its start. Still works if tried, perhaps coupled with some other penalty first if the case warrants. Good, practical, traditional law...The Basic Principle being: At some point, if you won't abide by the 'House Rules', you're out of the House.
Assault and battery. Check. Not attempted murder. In fact no one should ever be charged with attempted murder -- because that charge rests on what the perp was thinking, and that's wrong. You can't consider motivation or intent.
On the other hand, Joe Horn of Pasadena, Texas, should be up for the death penalty. He shot two people on purpose and they died. Did he feel threatened? Can't ask that. What's in the perp's mind isn't relevant. What, are you a mind-reader?
The bill should be repealed because of its bias and sheer stupidity.
Below is an article on this subject.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/roberts/roberts16.html
I responded to you in my #143 post, referencing your statement that, in a city with a majority black population, it's elected officials should reflect that population. Then may I infer from that viewpoint that the President and Vice President of the United States should reflect the race of the majority of Americans, the white race?
Kreager has an unlisted phone number and attempts to reach her Friday were unsuccessful.
Really? It's good reporting to mention that the victim has an unlisted number? They couldn't just say that attempts to reach her were unsuccessful? Are they trying to make her seem standoffish and unapproachable, as though that somehow mitigates the attack? Maybe she was unreachable for comment because she was beaten severely (said with sarcasm)...
Which groups are those? Oh, and "hate crime" is not a charge.
Can you prove that is true? If you cannot, I suggest you re-write it as your opinion of immoral, dishonest parents. Then I could agree with you.
We've had almost exclusively White Anglo Saxon men as presidents.
(Anglo-Saxon?) So? The majority of my family is Catholic and John F. Kennedy was the sole Catholic president.
I believe I have enough sense to want a strong, no-nonsense leader for our country...a moral, honest, experienced person with a determination to fight the forces, abroad and at home, which want to destroy us. Hopefully that person will surface to become our next president.
Color me surprised. A hate crime? ... can’t be ...
I knew that would happen at some point.
So Hillary is right. It Takes a Village. (sarc)
Considering the scores of children who spend their pre-school years in day-care (including infants!), it's a world away from previous generations.
So why are so many children being reared by others instead of their own mother and father... the couple who WANTED TO HAVE A CHILD SO MUCH!
If it were not so pathetic, it would be laughable.
There are exceptions to every rule and there are legitimate reasons why a parent has no other choice.
When my boys were growing up I was blessed to be able to stay home with them. We didn’t have a lot financially, but we were determined that we raise our kids first, then I would go to work.
I could always tell which kids were daycare kids when they came to visit. They were more aggressive and louder than my boys (which was a feat as I thought my boys were plenty loud!). I don’t blame those kids, you HAVE to be that way to compete with large numbers of other kids for limited resources (in this case adult attention).
It just not ideal to raise human children in herds of same age peers.
susie
Technically you MAY be right but you're splitting hairs to make a point. In most of the cases I've heard/read, the victims, or alleged victims are blacks, Hispanics and gays.
Regardless, I view it as an unnecessary adjunct to a criminal charge.
IIntense: Can you prove that is true?
Of course I can't prove that's true, it's my opinion.
If you cannot, I suggest you re-write it as your opinion of immoral, dishonest parents. Then I could agree with you.
I don't necessarily think that a parent who takes the side of his child even when the child is wrong is inherently immoral or dishonest. Flawed perhaps, but aren't all human beings are flawed? I think that a parent's love for a child often clouds their judgment in such matters. Any time a person is emotionally invested in someone or something, it's hard for them to be logical/rational/objective. I believe it's the rare parent who could hand his child over to the authorities to be imprisoned and maintain an attitude of "the kid made his bed, now he has to lie in it." If you're talking about an act of vandalism or petty theft, I agree most parents will do what's right and take the side of the authorities/victim. But when the kid's looking at hard time, most parents will do whatever it takes to keep that child from losing his freedom. Is it morally wrong? Yes. But no less true.
Bird Jenkins: We've had almost exclusively White Anglo Saxon men as presidents.
IIntense: (Anglo-Saxon?) So? The majority of my family is Catholic and John F. Kennedy was the sole Catholic president.
My point is that it's not improper that we have had mostly WASP Presidents, as that has historically been an accurate representation of the rest of the country. That is not to say that a minority candidate should never be considered, only that there is no reason to call shenanigans if a majority-black population happens to elect mostly black leaders. A majority-white population elects mostly white leaders, it's the same phenomenon.
IIntense: I believe I have enough sense to want a strong, no-nonsense leader for our country...a moral, honest, experienced person with a determination to fight the forces, abroad and at home, which want to destroy us. Hopefully that person will surface to become our next president.
I agree with you. I want the same thing.
Sounds to me like you should move. A home invasion, a mugging and an armed robbery... Where do you live, south central Los Angeles? I also think it's pretty telling that a black person has to "prove" his character to you before you consider him anything more than a potential mugger.
If a parent strongly values morality...honesty being included...we have to admire those who refuse to sacrfice their beliefs, even to get their child off the hook. Call it tough love.
Yet, those without those innate values have no problem whatsoever in telling lies to protect their child. Even some people who hold moral values can weaken when it involves their own offspring.
The "tough love" parents deserve admiration, IMO: they are actually trying to save their child from destroying his/her life.
Let us accept that we won't see eye-to-eye in every instance.
In a nice area of Philadelphia; but every mugging was in the center of town in broad daylight. I did move finally.
You're exaggerating about the rest. I'm just not as friendly to one and all on the street as I used to be, having grown up in the south where everyone makes eye contact and nods or says hello. Now, the windows stay rolled up with the air conditioner on if I'm in the car (ever since the drug addict put an automatic in the window as I paused at a street light), and I keep my eyes to myself on the street. Three strikes is enough for me.
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