Sigh... man beat to death

[Kuan]

As much as I am for equal rights, anti racism and so forth, this really doesn't help.

From: http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/06/20/crash.assault.ap/

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Police on Wednesday were pleading for witnesses to help them track down members of an angry mob that beat a man to death after the car he was riding in apparently struck and injured a child.

Investigators were struggling to piece together what happened when David Rivas Morales died Tuesday defending the driver from members of a crowd. There could have been anywhere from two to 20 attackers, Austin Police Commander Harold Piatt said.

The car in which Morales, 40, was a passenger had entered an apartment complex's parking lot when it struck a 2-year-old boy, Piatt said. The boy was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The driver got out of the car to check on the child and was confronted by several people, Piatt said. When they attacked the driver, Morales got out of the car to protect the driver and was attacked as well. Police said no guns or knives were used.

The driver got away and is cooperating with investigators. Police identified the child as Michael Hosea Jr.

There were conflicting accounts of how many people were in the area. Police originally estimated 2,000 to 3,000, and a woman who lives at the complex said hundreds who had been at a Juneteenth festival filled the parking lot and street.

But late Wednesday police spokeswoman Toni Chovanetz said only 20 people were in the area where the assault occurred.

Chovanetz also said there was no connection to the nearby city-sponsored festival for Juneteenth, which commemorates Texas slaves getting the word that they had been freed.

[Honus]

I don't see a strong racial component in this story. What am I missing?

[Kuan]

Originally Posted by dculkin

I don't see a strong racial component in this story. What am I missing?

Chovanetz also said there was no connection to the nearby city-sponsored festival for Juneteenth, which commemorates Texas slaves getting the word that they had been freed.

Which means

The folks who beat on him were all black.

[TheDon]

That blows... kinda reminds me of the CSI: Las Vegas episode that goes along the same lines

[Honus]

Originally Posted by Kuan

Which means

The folks who beat on him were all black.

Therefore people will conclude that black people are more likely to form a mob? Seems like quite a stretch to me. I would hope that the only people who think that are the ones who think that way anyway.

[Medmech]

Originally Posted by dculkin

Therefore people will conclude that black people are more likely to form a mob? Seems like quite a stretch to me. I would hope that the only people who think that are the ones who think that way anyway.

My conclusion is some black people DID form a mob and kill a guy, you can hope all you want but it is what it is.

[BENZ-LGB]

Originally Posted by Howitzer

My conclusion is some black people DID form a mob and kill a guy, you can hope all you want but it is what it is.

There has been, over the last few years, a great deal of Black vs. Hispanic fighting, most of it involving a heavy racial component.

In Los Angeles, black and Hispanic gangs openly fight.

The ER nurse, at Martin Luther King Jr. Hospital (MLK) who let a woman die while refusing to admit her is black. The victim was Hispanic.

Yes, the killing in Houston has a strong, racial component.

People can ignore it, but it is there.

[Surf-n-Turf]

Doesn't matter to me what color. If that passenger was packing, things would have been different.

[Trakehner]

I'm assuming the driver who hit the child was hispanic and the child was black. There's lots of tension between hispanics and blacks. So, if a hispanic man hits a black child the black people probably already had an axe to grind.
This sounds like something that would happen in a foreign country, in many 3rd world countries if a driver strikes a pedestrian a crowd will gather and beat the driver.

[R Leo]

In some ways, Austin is a tough place...

This sounds like something that would happen in a foreign country, in many 3rd world countries if a driver strikes a pedestrian a crowd will gather and beat the driver.

After dark, the area around East 11th Street is a third world country. You won't catch me driving my lillywhite ass around over there.

[Medmech]

Originally Posted by Surf-n-Turf

Doesn't matter to me what color. If that passenger was packing, things would have been different.

lol

[Medmech]

TheBostonChannel.com


Juneteenth Celebrations Turn Violent

Some Injured; One Killed

POSTED: 11:35 am EDT June 21, 2007
At least one person is in custody after major brawls erupted at a festival in Milwaukee meant to celebrate the anniversary of the the end of slavery Tuesday. Video: Teen Violence Mars Celebration Milwaukee's Juneteenth Celebration ended in violence. A mob attacked at least two cars, dragging one driver out and beating him, police said. At least two people were injured, including a police officer. Milwaukee police said an officer was hurt while trying to break up a fight during Tuesday's celebration.Several thousand people attended the festival, which turned violent when it came to a close, police said.Police said a 33-year-old man was hurt when hundreds of teenagers swarmed around traffic in the area of North First and West Chambers streets.They said people rocked the man's vehicle, smashed the windows, dragged him out of the car, and kicked and hit him.He was treated at an area hospital for cuts on his face and a broken tooth.He told police he has no idea why he was targeted."At closing time, we've had problems when gangs of kids get overexcited and bad things happen," Milwaukee police Capt. Michael Young said during a news briefing Wednesday morning.Also following the Juneteenth Celebration, a Milwaukee police sergeant was hurt while trying to break up a fight between a group of girls.Police said the fight broke out just before 8 p.m.When the sergeant tried to break it up, police said, a 17-year-old girl punched him in the riot helmet, shattering the shield and cutting his face. The sergeant needed three stitches and also had scratches on his neck.The 17-year-old was arrested, accused of battery to a police officer.She is still in custody and is awaiting charges.Milwaukee police used horse patrols to help disperse the crowd, WISC-TV reported."Being very mobile on the horses, if we can, we will try to address that issue, and we address it by approaching (crowds) and again encouraging them to leave," said Sgt. Fred Tice, of the Milwaukee Police Department mounted patrol. The organizer of the Juneteenth celebration said the violence was unrelated to the festival.The violence follows a similar disturbance at the end of last year's Juneteenth festival. Police in riot gear were also called in and broke up a fight involving a group of people who tore down a tent and used its poles to beat each other.Austin Police: Crowd Kills Man

Police are getting conflicting estimates on the number of people involved in the mob beating death of a car passenger in Austin. Austin police said an angry mob beat 40-year-old David Rivas Morales to death Tuesday night. That's after the car in which he was riding struck and injured a young boy in a public housing parking lot. Police said the driver got out of the car to check on the child and was confronted by several people. When they attacked the driver, Morales got out of the car to protect the driver and was attacked as well. The driver managed to flee in the car and is cooperating with police. The child was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Police originally estimated 2,000 to 3,000 people were in the area. A resident of the complex said hundreds who had been at a Juneteenth festival filled the parking lot and street. But late Wednesday, police spokeswoman Toni Chovanetz said just 20 people were near where the assault happened. She also said there was no connection to the nearby city-sponsored Juneteenth festival.

[Honus]

Originally Posted by Howitzer

My conclusion is some black people DID form a mob and kill a guy, you can hope all you want but it is what it is.

I drew the same conclusion. Maybe you assumed that you would disagree with my statement and therefore misread it.

The leap I am not willing to make is that this mob of (apparently) black people proves that black people are more likely to do such a thing.

I should amend my previous statement about the story having no strong racial component. Given the animosity that appears to exist in some cities between blacks and hispanics, this story likely does have a racial component. I guess my disagreement is with Kuan's suggestion that the story has much to do with equal rights.

[Matt L]

Originally Posted by Surf-n-Turf

Doesn't matter to me what color. If that passenger was packing, things would have been different.

Probably without a single shot fired.

[Mistress]

Originally Posted by R Leo

In some ways, Austin is a tough place...



After dark, the area around East 11th Street is a third world country. You won't catch me driving my lillywhite ass around over there.

and this coming from the mouth of a man with a bulldozer....