HOWLING MOB The four teenaged punks who chased an NYU student into the path of an oncoming car

New York Post ^ | 4-15-05

[floridaobserver]

The four teenaged punks who chased an NYU student into the path of an oncoming car looked and laughed as he lay on the street dying, a prosecutor revealed yesterday. "They didn't call for an ambulance. They didn't call for help. Rather, they stood on the street corner and laughed," prosecutor Joel Seidemann said of the 13- and 15-year-olds who chased Broderick John Hehman into traffic.

Hehman, 20, died four days later from his massive head injuries.

And the wolf-pack thugs, who allegedly laid in wait for their victim, could have even more to smile about now. Prosecutors lost their bid to try the teens as adults yesterday when their cases were transferred to Manhattan Family Court - where they face about half as much time behind bars if convicted of the top charge against them, felony murder.

Had they been tried as adults, the 15-year-olds would have faced nine years to life behind bars. Now, they face a maximum of five years in "restrictive placement," said Laurence Busching, head of the city Law Department's family court division.

If they're convicted of the lesser charges against them, including manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide, they could get off with as little as 18 months in juvenile detention.

[pollyannaish]

I probably should. My husband read it so I got the excellent "husband digest condensed version" but that was a long time ago.

How much correlation? I only remember bits and pieces, but wasn't it about a black kid getting run over by a wealthy white couple? I have serious brain fog on this.

[durasell]

Yes, but it's still a "big city," which means there are bad people in the population. That means you have to live your life in NYC within certain constraints. That means that life isn't always fair or relaxed.

On the other hand, the city will give almost anyone a shot at success. You get to compete. And sometimes you win.

[OldFriend]

NY is run by people who have more pity for it's murderers than for it's victims.

[theclintonssux]

It was labled a robbery attempt instead of a hate crime - why? - probably because the cops on the scene are black and are looking out for the punks!

[durasell]

No

[Welsh Rabbit]

I'm not arguing with you, I'm just just saying it's more likely you'll be murdered in Atlanta or Detroit than you will in NYC.

[durasell]

I don't know what the murder rates are in those cities. NYC is now something like a boom town. So, there's lots of money flying around.

[SauronOfMordor]

I can remember just a couple of months ago when a kid named "Fat" Nick took a baseball fat to a black in his neighborhood and all the newspapers were calling it a racist act.

Over in Philadelphia, back in 1997, there was an incident. A black family moved into a white Philly neighborhood called Gray's Ferry, and one of the sons of the woman who moved in got involved in a fight with some of the locals. The locals chased him back to his house and busted the door and a window or two

Well, thing's spiraled out of control from there. Nation of Islam had a march thru Gray's Ferry, in an obvious show of intimidation ("Don't make us come back her. You won't like it" was the effective message communicated)

And the poor innocent teen chased by the mob of racist whites for doing nothing at all? Raheem Williams Committed suicide in his jail cell in 2004, awaiting trial for the shooting of an 8 year old girl

Why am I bringing this up? Because in the current media environment, white-on-black crime is treated as a horrible atrocity, while black-on-white crime doesn't seem worth mention

[Past Your Eyes]

I can believe that. After watching WGN TV on satellite for years, I believe I'll give that place a pass, too. And I just got home from a conference there. Of course it was out near the airport so not really in the city.

[FunkyZero]

"race is immaterial in EVERY story such as this."

Sorry Sir, with all due respect, you are dead wrong.
Try modifying your statement to say "... race SHOULD be immaterial in EVERY story such as this..." None of us here would disagree with that statement.


".. we are simply adding fuel to a race war..."

Again, with all due respect, "WE" are not adding to the race war, "we" are just getting damned tired of the media and the laws for that matter giving unfair credit and unfair judgment where none is justifiable.

Hope you don't take offense, just wanted to get the point across. If we didn't have to listen to crap like what comes out of Sen. McKinney's mouth every time we turn on the TV, we wouldn't be so sick of it.
Everything is racially motivated in the mind of a racist...
and the biggest racists of all are the ones who use it as a tool, and I suspect this so called rape victim in the Duke case could be one of those. My sentiments to the poor girl if she was, in fact, raped. I do not know the details or truth anymore than anyone else here. My point in this is, I see this used as a tool so often, it's the first thing that comes to my mind in cases like this and I am not the one who generated this scenario... it's too bad I have to be skeptical from this angle. I almost feel guilty for thinking it, but when you see it happen so many times, how can you not suspect it?

[Welsh Rabbit]

I thought a couple of quick Google inquires would prove my point, but that doesn't seem to be the case. But I still stand by my claim; NYC is no worse than other big city.

[PGalt]

Condolences to Broderick John Hehman's family and friends.

[floridaobserver]

Most Dangerous 25:
1 Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, MI M.D.
2 New Orleans, LA
3 Memphis, TN-MS-AR
4 Sumter, SC
5 Miami-Dade County, FL M.D.
6 Stockton, CA
7 Las Vegas-Paradise, NV
8 Florence, SC
9 Hot Springs, AR
10 Myrtle Beach, SC
11 Pine Bluff, AR
12 Flint, MI
13 Saginaw, MI
14 Little Rock, AR
15 Tucson, AZ
16 Modesto, CA
17 Albuquerque, NM
18 Jackson, TN
19 Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, NC-SC
20 Baltimore-Towson, MD
21 Wichita Falls, TX
22 Houston, TX
23 Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ
24 Tallahassee, FL
25 Los Angeles County, CA M.D.

[Cobra64]

How some of you people can live in a city...ANY city...is beyond my comprehension. I don't even want to live in a village.

Me neither. Lake James, NC is more to our liking.

[BamaGirl]

Yes, but we have six or eight different versions of Ray's Pizza and three different Papaya Kings.
---

And which is the "real" Ray's pizza? I was never able to figure it out when I visited a few years ago.

[floridaobserver]

Actually, New York City isn't even in the top 25 of high crime cities.

MOST DANGEROUS 25:
1 Camden, NJ
2 Detroit, MI
3 St. Louis, MO
4 Flint, MI
5 Richmond, VA
6 Baltimore, MD
7 Atlanta, GA
8 New Orleans, LA
9 Gary, IN
10 Birmingham, AL
11 Richmond, CA
12 Cleveland, OH
13 Washington, DC
14 West Palm Beach, FL
15 Compton, CA
16 Memphis, TN
17 Dayton, OH
18 San Bernardino, CA
19 Springfield, MA
20 Cincinnati, OH
21 Oakland, CA
22 Dallas, TX
23 Newark, NJ
24 Hartford, CT
25 Little Rock, AR

[pollyannaish]

You are right. Your editing made my statement more accurate and less likely to be misconstrued. Thanks.

Here's the thing: If it is the first thing that comes to our minds in a situation like this we must fight it with everything we have. If we don't we allow ourselves to be controlled by it and those who are using it to get ahead and once we are controlled by it we become contributing factors.

Having that thought is natural, but what we do with it is what makes the difference between solving the problem and playing a juvenile game of "you did it to me first."

I understand how frustrating it is. I feel it myself on lots of levels. But we must filter our hearts through our heads before we act. But I do stand by my WE are adding fuel to the fire statement. Pointing it out in the short run makes us all feel better, but runs the risk of losing the high ground in the end.

BTW fwiw, Funky (I like your nick) I'm a ma'am. I appreciate your post and your points are well taken. Thanks.

[pollyannaish]

I also really like the statement on your profile page.

[Past Your Eyes]

Yabbut he called Ms. McKinney a Senator. We can't have that now, can we?
";^)

[pollyannaish]

Noticed that. But decided that in this case I should deal with overarching points and not details. ; ).