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.
The tragedy is that they don’t walk... Because of the race-baiting poverty pimps and certain well publicized incident like that in Jena, La, they THINK they can do this kind of stuff and uncle Al will get them off. Chances are they’re looking at hard time, and they’ll just see it as more evidence of an inherently racist system.
Why is it that as more time goes by since slavery and Jim Crow the racial problems seem to be getting WORSE and not BETTER???
The victims of this assault on the bus need to sue the crap out of these parents for breeding these little scum bags.
This same garbage happened just about Halloween in Long Beach, California. Several blacks beat a white girl who was out trick or treating. One of the little animals used a skateboard on her face. Broke 18 bones in the girl’s face. Then there was the white couple in Tennessee. After she was raped they were murdered. Where’s the outrage.
There was something on Fox News this morning about 4 girls attacking a man on a subway (must have been in NYC) after he accidentally stepped on someone's foot--the girls all appeared to be black, but it wasn't clear what race their target was (maybe black or Hispanic, possibly Middle Eastern...anyone probably not non-Hispanic white).
oops - billion? Did I type that?
Guess I need another glass of wine.
Good thing I’m not on ebay.
Death certainly suits them.
Merely a guess, but the companion sounds like he's black. Possible motive being a bi-racial couple? Being in a bi-racial relationship myself, I'd say I'm glad to not live in Baltimore.
That could mean pregnancy.
Only 25 years and perp walks free, meanwhile a young lady lies dead, what's wrong with this picture? Even at 42 that's a relatively young age to still enjoy life after taking someone elses.
(Kimber Ultra II) Smaller "yet" with the same devastating effect
Used with the RBCD rounds and we have a winner.
I never leave home without both.
Sorry I had to point that out. I love Charlotte. You started to worry me. :-)
Wonder if the “ Justice Brothers” Sharpton and Jackson will come out and condemn this?
Anybody seen that movie HOT ROD? There’s a joke where Hot Rod asks the girl, “Who would win in a fight between a grilled cheese and a taco?” The girl answers, “The grilled cheese, but only in a fair fight. If we’re talking prison rules, the taco would win every time.” Hot Rod’s reply to her answer is, “Wow, that’s pretty racist... but correct.”
That’s the way this thread makes me feel.
Aside from the parents, is there anyone defending the black kids’ behavior? What makes everyone so immediately certain that the black community is supporting the attackers and the white community is in for another Duke lacrosse-style racial injustice?
Most parents, black or white, would take their child’s side of any serious conflict, even when the child is clearly in the wrong. I don’t think that’s a reflection of what the entire black community is feeling.
In the article, they even mention that the bus driver was black and he was assaulted as well.
And as far as I can tell, if a city is majority black population, its elected officials should reflect that population. This “critical mass” talk seems fearful and backward. The presumption that majority black means no justice for white people ever is silly and sort of primitive.
By the way my little town's jail budget is a gazillion a year!
Our prisoners are treated very well
“Our prisoners are treated very well...”
That’s funny.
Exactly why there shouldn't be "special" prosecutions of "hate crimes." All attacks like these are HATEFUL and should be PROSECUTED EQUALLY HARSHLY.
Make that parent! There are no fathers in many of these homes, and that is the main problem. Black men don't seem to care to stay with their family, and black women don't seem to expect them to stay. When you see a story in the news about a black family in crisis, they all have different last names. Why is this?
Fix the family and you will go a long way in fixing the problems we face today.
FR * bookmark *
Hate whitey.
Beat Whitey.
Blame Whitey.
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