[quote] Your right...if someone resists they should buy them lunch and cookies until they feel like being arrested <hr></blockquote>
oh yeah, the guy reaching for his wallet was really resisting arrest...now he is dead....as for respecting police, i teach my children to do just that...respecting the police does not mean we have to agree with everything they do and forgive all their mistakes....g
having a bad day at work can mean very different outcomes for different people....a bad day at work for an air traffic controller can mean two planes collide at 30,000 feet...a bad day at work at McDonalds means that the deep fryer spit grease up your arm...a bad day at work for a cop can mean that you and your buddies shot somebodies son 41 times because he "went for" his wallet....
[quote]However, that being said, I DON'T think this is the worst sin or crime ever committed on another human being.<hr></blockquote>
No one's saying it's the worst sin or crime ever committed on or against another human being.
It doesn't have to be to be indicative of a very large problem.
[quote]And there seems to be a segment of the population who is intent on behaving as if it is.<hr></blockquote>
Here's the funny thing:
The segment of the population that seems so irritatingly intent on behaving as if police brutality is a big deal is the segment that gets their asses beat down by police... go figure, eh?
Why the hell would white people care? White people don't get beat down by cops like blacks do. It's a legless argument.
[quote]Then shut the hell up.<hr></blockquote>
Maybe if this kind of crap didn't happen all the time I'd agree with you, but this is a real problem.
[quote]When this happens AGAIN, IMMEDIATELY fire the cop. Send the signal that this will not be tolerated and you'll lose your job.<hr></blockquote>
Won't happen.
Cops get paid suspension then they're right back on the job. Do you really think that all the pious white Christian masses out there want those cops fired? They all think it's all self-defense.
Again, Rodney King's attackers were acquitted, if that doesn't speak volumes about the attitude of the average white person concerning these things I don't know what does.
[quote]And again: if everything was reversed, WE WOULD NOT EVEN BE TALKING ABOUT IT.<hr></blockquote>
You can't say that with any kind of authority.
Know why? Because it doesn't happen.
Think about why it doesn't happen for a minute and you'll find the underlying problem.
[quote]It has "legs" because it's a white cop beating a black youth. Flip the colors around and this is the biggest yawn, non-story in the history of news.<hr></blockquote>
Why would a group of black cops beat the hell out of a white kid?
Where could they get away with it?
[quote]And if you don't see that or agree with that, you're delusional.<hr></blockquote>
[quote]If two or three black cops are ever caught on video punching a white teenage skateboarder and the story/interest/drama lasts more than a day and a half, or results in any sort of prolonged, heated debate, "Special Reports", soul-searching, civil unrest, etc. I'll eat my own arm.<hr></blockquote>
Can you find any incidents of black cops beating the hell out of white kids? And if so, with anywhere near the frequency the reverse happens?
Some things are just "are". I can't imagine all the "what if" scenarios.
Actually, I can. And I think I'd be more right than wrong.
You know what, we don't see eye to eye on much, but in the ten or so years that I've been paying attention to things, being interested/curious in how people and situations work (or don't work, in some cases), etc. I have to say that I've never been THAT wrong, or THAT off base.
People really don't surprise me. I've got a pretty solid track record of assessing and even predicting some things, based on what I've seen, heard, read, discussed, observed, etc.
I don't think I'm just reaching out into mid-air and willing a bunch of silly nonsense to occur.
I find that people, for the most part, won't let you down.
That's why I say some of the things I do and see and believe things the way I do.
In 33 years, I've lived in three very distinct geographical areas (Washington, D.C., the South - Tennessee and Georgia - and, for the past 8 years, Southern California - San Diego, Orange County and L.A.
I've got/had friends AND enemies of every possible racial, sexual, gender, religious, cultural, etc. makeup you could imagine.
Why, some of my best friends are Chinese lesbian sword swal...never mind.
It'll be curious to see how this all plays out.
If people don't get a grip, relax a bit, learn to give and take, etc., then I do predict a VERY nasty episode or two.
This situation is kinda tough because EVERYTHING is riding on that video, and the "famous" part of it consists of a white cop acting like an asshole.
I'd love to see the ENTIRE incident, uncut and as it played out. Without that, it's his word vs. the victim's word.
And that's just going to be forever contradictory, I'm sure.
By the way, can you grab someone's nuts while you're handcuffed? I don't know, I'm asking. Some of you here might have some real firsthand knowledge of that procedure.
<strong>macfenian, you are so clearly not from Los Angeles.
In the meantime, we have had Rampart, and now we have Inglewood. Is there any reason that black Angelenos should not be thinking "same old, same old"? I've lived here 20 years, that's what crossed my mind.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Ah...racism only exists in Los Angeles...
Like I said, if someone commits a racist act they should be punished for it. However, I'm sick of people going on and on about things that happened 400 years ago as if we're responsible for them and I'm sick of one racist act always being treated as if it's a crime of the entire white race against the entire black race.
It's a big deal because it doesn't only happen every once in a while. The kid allegedly started a tussle with a Sheriff deputy, and then the Inglewood officer came in and did the offensive stuff. In some cases the suspects desevre to get their butts handed to them, though probably not in this case.
They will respond by saying "you're a member of the most dominant majority..a Male and a White one at that" Therefore you may not know what a minority group goes through.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Majority? Not in LA. ... definitely not in Inglewood.
Dominant in terms of finance and social status, but not by numbers...
As for my digust with the White Man's Burden being cried about like simpering babies...
"But I'm sick of things being twisted around in to something it's not just because the person that does it is white."
*sniff* *sniff* *puke*</strong><hr></blockquote>
Ok...so let's say...Jesse J pops up on telly tomorrow morning and starts preaching about how this is a perfect example of the white people of America's lack of respect yada yada yada and racist behaviour.
You'll jump up and say mea culpa?
Even if it was a racist act, which for now hasn't been proved, it was a racist act by one or several cops. Not by all white people on the planet. Too often that is what is insinuated.
You are right to say that we should not close our eyes for reality. I'm not denying racism exists. I'm not denying that white people have commited, probably, more race related crimes than any other race.
I'm pointing out that I never have, nor do I intend to so I don't appreciate being included with people that do just because I'm white. That is, after all, a racist thing to do.
I understand that black people, hispanic people and so on that say these things are not exactly the majority. Then again, racist white people are not the majority either so why should we accept being treated that way?
I think it's total nonsense to say that just because white people have done horrible racist things, and still do, the ones that didn't can't complain when they're being done to us.
The segment of the population that seems so irritatingly intent on behaving as if police brutality is a big deal is the segment that gets their asses beat down by police... go figure, eh?
Why the hell would white people care? White people don't get beat down by cops like blacks do. It's a legless argument. <hr></blockquote>
Here's the funny thing: No one ever said that black people don't have a right to complain about police brutality.
I was saying that I don't accept being held responsible for this police brutality just because I'm white just like that cop.
No matter how you twist and turn you can't deny that it is not the fault of every white person on the planet.
If I'd really want to be petty about this whole thing I could say that if all white people are responsible for slavery, the same white people all fought for it to be abolished. But we know that's not true don't we?
FYI, as stated before I am Dutch but I have an Irish mother. In the six counties and in England I have also been roughed up by the RUC and English customs because I have an accent from the Republic.
Should I blame all the people of the six counties and England for that?
I thought that's what was standing in the way of peace in the first place?
[quote]I was saying that I don't accept being held responsible for this police brutality just because I'm white just like that cop.
No matter how you twist and turn you can't deny that it is not the fault of every white person on the planet. <hr></blockquote>
Who the hell said it was your fault? Do you have quotes or are you fighting some phantoms?
"But they WOULD say that! And look, I'm not racist, I've got black friends..." <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />
It's not a matter of you, the guy at home, being racist, that's not the issue. I don't even know how that comes up, well actually I do know why; because WASPs are whiners.
But you won't see that, of course.
No one's asking YOU to take responsibility for this, no one. No one has said that Jesse Jackson has a lot of good things to say on the subject, no one. Stop tilting at windmills.
And Paul, I'm sure you've really never been all that wrong on anything. You've got black and homosexual friends, after all, so how could you be?
It doesn't happen. Blacks aren't in power, they aren't in the position to beat the shit out of whites and get acquitted almost every goddam time. Average black man gets caught beating a white person's ass he gets prison, without a doubt. He kills a white person he's on death row. He drives around in an expensive car his ass gets pulled over so the cop can make sure the thing isn't stolen.
You can stick your head in the sand and chant "but I have black friends" all day, but that doesn't change the fact that there is systemic racism in police departments and in the criminal justice system in general.
And the very fact that you guys think I'm some kind of wild-eyed liberal college boy illustrates just how too far to the right you are.
If I was a cop and the kid in handcuffs threatened me or my family members, no I wouldn't punch him...but plenty of otherwise level-headed people would.
----
Didn't a bunch of guys that beat Reginald Denny almost to death get acquitted of attempted murder? When you crack several glass bottles over someone's head while beating him to a pulp, isn't that attempted murder? And Denny wasn't even on Dust...
----
Weird, I just noticed Masserman, Crooks's attorney was involved with one of the above in an unrelated murder investigation a couple of years ago.
It's the "he grabbed my 'nads when his hands were handcuffed behind him but you couldn't see it because the video camera was at the wrong angle so I punched him" defense.
Who the hell said it was your fault? Do you have quotes or are you fighting some phantoms?
"But they WOULD say that! And look, I'm not racist, I've got black friends..." <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />
</strong><hr></blockquote>
I wasn't speaking about just this. Fact is that it has happened and it does happen that wrongs done by others have been projected on the entire white race. Just like I pointed out that it's the same as someone saying how typical it is when a black person robs a store. One guy does it and it is projected on the entire race. It's wrong then and it's wrong when it's done to the white race in stead.
I guess you missed that during your bout of selective replying.
As a matter of fact, I don't have any black friends. Now I'll just let you speculate as to why that is.
If I was a cop and the kid in handcuffs threatened me or my family members, no I wouldn't punch him...but plenty of otherwise level-headed people would.
<hr></blockquote>
Don't know if I'd consider them "level headed" Cops that act like Criminals worry me.
[quote] Didn't a bunch of guys that beat Reginald Denny almost to death get acquitted of attempted murder? When you crack several glass bottles over someone's head while beating him to a pulp, isn't that attempted murder? And Denny wasn't even on Dust... <hr></blockquote>
No. He should have ran their Black Asses over. One nicknamed "Football" was convicted and another one was as well.
We need to hold our Officers up to a higher standard. Ther
<strong>I'm sick of one racist act always being treated as if it's a crime of the entire white race against the entire black race.</strong><hr></blockquote>
I guess I haven't been watching enough news here, I was under the impression that it was about a cop belting an developmentally disabled, handcuffed teenager. Even if Al Sharpton decides to drop in and stir things up because Angelenos aren't dropping enough rhetoric for his taste.
And no, I don't feel any responsibility for what happened 400 years ago, even though my family was in New England at that time. But hey, if we were part of the underground railroad, do I get reparations?
<strong>Didn't a bunch of guys that beat Reginald Denny almost to death get acquitted of attempted murder? When you crack several glass bottles over someone's head while beating him to a pulp, isn't that attempted murder? And Denny wasn't even on Dust...</strong><hr></blockquote>
Which brings up this cute little question: if Denny, sensing the danger he was in and genuinely fearing for his life/safety, had gunned the engine on his truck in an effort to get out of the area and hit or ran over the SAME GUYS who ended up bouncing bricks off his head at point-blank range, would Denny have been charged with a hate crime?
Would an innocent man's attempts at fleeing a frightening and dangerous scenario and causing incidental injury/damage be seen by some as somehow WORSE than a gang of brutal, violent thugs assaulting people for no reason other than they were in the "wrong place at the wrong time"?
Poor Mr. Denny seemed faced with only two options that awful day: try and get himself out of there and possibly running over someone in the process, OR stopping, getting pulled out and having a royal ass-whipping of the highest order thrown on him.
He was ****ed either way, wasn't he?
And that one son of a bitch, DANCING and celebrating after beaning Denny with the big chunk of concrete or brick. To this day, the footage of that scene makes my blood crackle.
Asshole...no ifs, ands or buts about it.
If Denny had stopped his truck, got out with a shotgun and was "lookin' to shoot some niggers...", THEN maybe I'd cut the brick-thrower some slack (self defense and all).
But that wasn't the case, was it?
Idiot.
And you know goddamn well Denny would've been in TONS of trouble had he made a different decision and revved his engine and ran over (or in any way caused injury to) one of the thugs.
In the media (and in history), his name would rank up there among the likes of David Duke, Mark Fuhrman and others as an example of "white cruelty and racism".
"Those young men presented no danger to Mr. Denny. They weren't looking to hurt him. But he, out of hatred and anger, foolish chose to run down these young men. We won't tolerate that kind of behavior and Mr. Denny is going to pay for his cowardly, racist behavior!"
- [an imaginary quote by some idiot high-ranking L.A. politician - white, black or otherwise - HAD the situation gone the other way]
Comments
oh yeah, the guy reaching for his wallet was really resisting arrest...now he is dead....as for respecting police, i teach my children to do just that...respecting the police does not mean we have to agree with everything they do and forgive all their mistakes....g
having a bad day at work can mean very different outcomes for different people....a bad day at work for an air traffic controller can mean two planes collide at 30,000 feet...a bad day at work at McDonalds means that the deep fryer spit grease up your arm...a bad day at work for a cop can mean that you and your buddies shot somebodies son 41 times because he "went for" his wallet....
No one's saying it's the worst sin or crime ever committed on or against another human being.
It doesn't have to be to be indicative of a very large problem.
[quote]And there seems to be a segment of the population who is intent on behaving as if it is.<hr></blockquote>
Here's the funny thing:
The segment of the population that seems so irritatingly intent on behaving as if police brutality is a big deal is the segment that gets their asses beat down by police... go figure, eh?
Why the hell would white people care? White people don't get beat down by cops like blacks do. It's a legless argument.
[quote]Then shut the hell up.<hr></blockquote>
Maybe if this kind of crap didn't happen all the time I'd agree with you, but this is a real problem.
[quote]When this happens AGAIN, IMMEDIATELY fire the cop. Send the signal that this will not be tolerated and you'll lose your job.<hr></blockquote>
Won't happen.
Cops get paid suspension then they're right back on the job. Do you really think that all the pious white Christian masses out there want those cops fired? They all think it's all self-defense.
Again, Rodney King's attackers were acquitted, if that doesn't speak volumes about the attitude of the average white person concerning these things I don't know what does.
[quote]And again: if everything was reversed, WE WOULD NOT EVEN BE TALKING ABOUT IT.<hr></blockquote>
You can't say that with any kind of authority.
Know why? Because it doesn't happen.
Think about why it doesn't happen for a minute and you'll find the underlying problem.
[quote]It has "legs" because it's a white cop beating a black youth. Flip the colors around and this is the biggest yawn, non-story in the history of news.<hr></blockquote>
Why would a group of black cops beat the hell out of a white kid?
Where could they get away with it?
[quote]And if you don't see that or agree with that, you're delusional.<hr></blockquote>
Nice... <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />
[quote]If two or three black cops are ever caught on video punching a white teenage skateboarder and the story/interest/drama lasts more than a day and a half, or results in any sort of prolonged, heated debate, "Special Reports", soul-searching, civil unrest, etc. I'll eat my own arm.<hr></blockquote>
Can you find any incidents of black cops beating the hell out of white kids? And if so, with anywhere near the frequency the reverse happens?
That's all. I don't know which of those scenarios it is. Perhaps a bit of both, you know?
Some things are just "are". I can't imagine all the "what if" scenarios.
Actually, I can. And I think I'd be more right than wrong.
You know what, we don't see eye to eye on much, but in the ten or so years that I've been paying attention to things, being interested/curious in how people and situations work (or don't work, in some cases), etc. I have to say that I've never been THAT wrong, or THAT off base.
People really don't surprise me. I've got a pretty solid track record of assessing and even predicting some things, based on what I've seen, heard, read, discussed, observed, etc.
I don't think I'm just reaching out into mid-air and willing a bunch of silly nonsense to occur.
I find that people, for the most part, won't let you down.
That's why I say some of the things I do and see and believe things the way I do.
In 33 years, I've lived in three very distinct geographical areas (Washington, D.C., the South - Tennessee and Georgia - and, for the past 8 years, Southern California - San Diego, Orange County and L.A.
I've got/had friends AND enemies of every possible racial, sexual, gender, religious, cultural, etc. makeup you could imagine.
Why, some of my best friends are Chinese lesbian sword swal...never mind.
It'll be curious to see how this all plays out.
If people don't get a grip, relax a bit, learn to give and take, etc., then I do predict a VERY nasty episode or two.
This situation is kinda tough because EVERYTHING is riding on that video, and the "famous" part of it consists of a white cop acting like an asshole.
I'd love to see the ENTIRE incident, uncut and as it played out. Without that, it's his word vs. the victim's word.
And that's just going to be forever contradictory, I'm sure.
By the way, can you grab someone's nuts while you're handcuffed? I don't know, I'm asking. Some of you here might have some real firsthand knowledge of that procedure.
<img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" /> <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />
I mean hell, I've got the Spice Channel and all, but...
i'm reading all this bull shit about "you should never hit someone" and "but white people are victims of reverse racism" and loads of other crap.
here's a though
WHO GIVES A STEAMING PILE OF POO?
the kid got thrown on the car. he got popped in the face. so what.
i've seen worse in schoolyard fights.
he got punched. one time. in the face. that's it.
now, there was that guy who got raped up the ass with a broomstick. that's overboard and should be prosecuted.
some guy gets punched one time? so what.
for pete's sake grow some balls and take it like a man. it's a little love pat, nothing to get worked up about.
<strong>macfenian, you are so clearly not from Los Angeles.
In the meantime, we have had Rampart, and now we have Inglewood. Is there any reason that black Angelenos should not be thinking "same old, same old"? I've lived here 20 years, that's what crossed my mind.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Ah...racism only exists in Los Angeles...
Like I said, if someone commits a racist act they should be punished for it. However, I'm sick of people going on and on about things that happened 400 years ago as if we're responsible for them and I'm sick of one racist act always being treated as if it's a crime of the entire white race against the entire black race.
<strong>
They will respond by saying "you're a member of the most dominant majority..a Male and a White one at that" Therefore you may not know what a minority group goes through.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Majority? Not in LA.
Dominant in terms of finance and social status, but not by numbers...
<strong>I
As for my digust with the White Man's Burden being cried about like simpering babies...
"But I'm sick of things being twisted around in to something it's not just because the person that does it is white."
*sniff* *sniff* *puke*</strong><hr></blockquote>
Ok...so let's say...Jesse J pops up on telly tomorrow morning and starts preaching about how this is a perfect example of the white people of America's lack of respect yada yada yada and racist behaviour.
You'll jump up and say mea culpa?
Even if it was a racist act, which for now hasn't been proved, it was a racist act by one or several cops. Not by all white people on the planet. Too often that is what is insinuated.
You are right to say that we should not close our eyes for reality. I'm not denying racism exists. I'm not denying that white people have commited, probably, more race related crimes than any other race.
I'm pointing out that I never have, nor do I intend to so I don't appreciate being included with people that do just because I'm white. That is, after all, a racist thing to do.
I understand that black people, hispanic people and so on that say these things are not exactly the majority. Then again, racist white people are not the majority either so why should we accept being treated that way?
I think it's total nonsense to say that just because white people have done horrible racist things, and still do, the ones that didn't can't complain when they're being done to us.
The segment of the population that seems so irritatingly intent on behaving as if police brutality is a big deal is the segment that gets their asses beat down by police... go figure, eh?
Why the hell would white people care? White people don't get beat down by cops like blacks do. It's a legless argument. <hr></blockquote>
Here's the funny thing: No one ever said that black people don't have a right to complain about police brutality.
I was saying that I don't accept being held responsible for this police brutality just because I'm white just like that cop.
No matter how you twist and turn you can't deny that it is not the fault of every white person on the planet.
If I'd really want to be petty about this whole thing I could say that if all white people are responsible for slavery, the same white people all fought for it to be abolished. But we know that's not true don't we?
Should I blame all the people of the six counties and England for that?
I thought that's what was standing in the way of peace in the first place?
No matter how you twist and turn you can't deny that it is not the fault of every white person on the planet. <hr></blockquote>
Who the hell said it was your fault? Do you have quotes or are you fighting some phantoms?
"But they WOULD say that! And look, I'm not racist, I've got black friends..." <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />
It's not a matter of you, the guy at home, being racist, that's not the issue. I don't even know how that comes up, well actually I do know why; because WASPs are whiners.
But you won't see that, of course.
No one's asking YOU to take responsibility for this, no one. No one has said that Jesse Jackson has a lot of good things to say on the subject, no one. Stop tilting at windmills.
And Paul, I'm sure you've really never been all that wrong on anything. You've got black and homosexual friends, after all, so how could you be?
It doesn't happen. Blacks aren't in power, they aren't in the position to beat the shit out of whites and get acquitted almost every goddam time. Average black man gets caught beating a white person's ass he gets prison, without a doubt. He kills a white person he's on death row. He drives around in an expensive car his ass gets pulled over so the cop can make sure the thing isn't stolen.
You can stick your head in the sand and chant "but I have black friends" all day, but that doesn't change the fact that there is systemic racism in police departments and in the criminal justice system in general.
And the very fact that you guys think I'm some kind of wild-eyed liberal college boy illustrates just how too far to the right you are.
Let us pray...
If I was a cop and the kid in handcuffs threatened me or my family members, no I wouldn't punch him...but plenty of otherwise level-headed people would.
----
Didn't a bunch of guys that beat Reginald Denny almost to death get acquitted of attempted murder? When you crack several glass bottles over someone's head while beating him to a pulp, isn't that attempted murder? And Denny wasn't even on Dust...
----
Weird, I just noticed Masserman, Crooks's attorney was involved with one of the above in an unrelated murder investigation a couple of years ago.
[ 07-12-2002: Message edited by: Eugene ]</p>
<img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />
It's the "he grabbed my 'nads when his hands were handcuffed behind him but you couldn't see it because the video camera was at the wrong angle so I punched him" defense.
<strong>
Who the hell said it was your fault? Do you have quotes or are you fighting some phantoms?
"But they WOULD say that! And look, I'm not racist, I've got black friends..." <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />
</strong><hr></blockquote>
I wasn't speaking about just this. Fact is that it has happened and it does happen that wrongs done by others have been projected on the entire white race. Just like I pointed out that it's the same as someone saying how typical it is when a black person robs a store. One guy does it and it is projected on the entire race. It's wrong then and it's wrong when it's done to the white race in stead.
I guess you missed that during your bout of selective replying.
As a matter of fact, I don't have any black friends. Now I'll just let you speculate as to why that is.
If I was a cop and the kid in handcuffs threatened me or my family members, no I wouldn't punch him...but plenty of otherwise level-headed people would.
<hr></blockquote>
Don't know if I'd consider them "level headed" Cops that act like Criminals worry me.
[quote] Didn't a bunch of guys that beat Reginald Denny almost to death get acquitted of attempted murder? When you crack several glass bottles over someone's head while beating him to a pulp, isn't that attempted murder? And Denny wasn't even on Dust... <hr></blockquote>
No. He should have ran their Black Asses over. One nicknamed "Football" was convicted and another one was as well.
We need to hold our Officers up to a higher standard. Ther
<strong>I'm sick of one racist act always being treated as if it's a crime of the entire white race against the entire black race.</strong><hr></blockquote>
I guess I haven't been watching enough news here, I was under the impression that it was about a cop belting an developmentally disabled, handcuffed teenager. Even if Al Sharpton decides to drop in and stir things up because Angelenos aren't dropping enough rhetoric for his taste.
And no, I don't feel any responsibility for what happened 400 years ago, even though my family was in New England at that time. But hey, if we were part of the underground railroad, do I get reparations?
<strong>Didn't a bunch of guys that beat Reginald Denny almost to death get acquitted of attempted murder? When you crack several glass bottles over someone's head while beating him to a pulp, isn't that attempted murder? And Denny wasn't even on Dust...</strong><hr></blockquote>
Which brings up this cute little question: if Denny, sensing the danger he was in and genuinely fearing for his life/safety, had gunned the engine on his truck in an effort to get out of the area and hit or ran over the SAME GUYS who ended up bouncing bricks off his head at point-blank range, would Denny have been charged with a hate crime?
<img src="graemlins/bugeye.gif" border="0" alt="[Skeptical]" />
Would an innocent man's attempts at fleeing a frightening and dangerous scenario and causing incidental injury/damage be seen by some as somehow WORSE than a gang of brutal, violent thugs assaulting people for no reason other than they were in the "wrong place at the wrong time"?
Poor Mr. Denny seemed faced with only two options that awful day: try and get himself out of there and possibly running over someone in the process, OR stopping, getting pulled out and having a royal ass-whipping of the highest order thrown on him.
He was ****ed either way, wasn't he?
And that one son of a bitch, DANCING and celebrating after beaning Denny with the big chunk of concrete or brick. To this day, the footage of that scene makes my blood crackle.
Asshole...no ifs, ands or buts about it.
If Denny had stopped his truck, got out with a shotgun and was "lookin' to shoot some niggers...", THEN maybe I'd cut the brick-thrower some slack (self defense and all).
But that wasn't the case, was it?
Idiot.
And you know goddamn well Denny would've been in TONS of trouble had he made a different decision and revved his engine and ran over (or in any way caused injury to) one of the thugs.
In the media (and in history), his name would rank up there among the likes of David Duke, Mark Fuhrman and others as an example of "white cruelty and racism".
"Those young men presented no danger to Mr. Denny. They weren't looking to hurt him. But he, out of hatred and anger, foolish chose to run down these young men. We won't tolerate that kind of behavior and Mr. Denny is going to pay for his cowardly, racist behavior!"
- [an imaginary quote by some idiot high-ranking L.A. politician - white, black or otherwise - HAD the situation gone the other way]
[ 07-12-2002: Message edited by: pscates ]</p>