GhostofSparta Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 Vicious Assault Shakes Texas Town By JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr. Published: March 8, 2011 CLEVELAND, Tex. — The police investigation began shortly after Thanksgiving, when an elementary school student alerted a teacher to a lurid cellphone video that included one of her classmates. The video led the police to an abandoned trailer, more evidence and, eventually, to a roundup over the last month of 18 young men and teenage boys on charges of participating in the gang rape of an 11-year-old girl in the abandoned trailer home, the authorities said. Five suspects are students at Cleveland High School, including two members of the basketball team. Another is the 21-year-old son of a school board member. A few of the others have criminal records, from selling drugs to robbery and, in one case, manslaughter. The suspects range in age from middle schoolers to a 27-year-old. Read more here: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/09/us/09assault.html?_r=2 Not to put a damper on everybody's weekend with a story like this, but as I would reading this, I came across the next couple paragraphs and I nearly threw my computer out the window. I simply can't believe that anybody would have the audacity to think or say the bolded portions below. The case has rocked this East Texas community to its core and left many residents in the working-class neighborhood where the attack took place with unanswered questions. Among them is, if the allegations are proved, how could their young men have been drawn into such an act? “It’s just destroyed our community,” said Sheila Harrison, 48, a hospital worker who says she knows several of the defendants. “These boys have to live with this the rest of their lives.” Emphasis added by me. I'm so sorry, Mrs Harrison, that these poor boys will have the live with the fact that they brutally raped an 11 year old girl for the rest of thier lives. I'm sure everybody will feel so sorry for the burden that these poor, innocent young men bear for being forced into such a despiecable act by an 11 year old girl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G.A.C.O.L.B. Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 Don't forget this part: Residents in the neighborhood where the abandoned trailer stands -known as the Quarters -said the victim had been visiting various friends there for months. They said she dressed older than her age, wearing makeup and fashions more appropriate to a woman in her 20s. She would hang out with teenage boys at a playground, some said."Where was her mother? What was her mother thinking?" said Ms. Harrison, one of a handful of neighbors who would speak on the record. "How can you have an 11-year-old child missing down in the Quarters?" People are PISSED at the NYT for covering the story like this. http://m.jezebel.com/5780291/texas-gang-rape-coverage-continues-to-appall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 I see your point ghost but I also am familiar with the line of thinking that when children are involved in crimes like this many people only see victims. I'm sympathetic to that view, to an extent, because we see children all over the world coerced into participating in crime that most of us would acknowledge they would have avoided in different circumstances. The suspects range from middle school kids to a 27 year old according to the article. I hope the person that said that was talking about the children and not the 27 year old though I can't be sure. Kids everywhere, in the US and elsewhere, have proven to be susceptible to engaging in horrifying behavior and it's sad. Now having said that, the fact that it's "sad" does not out weigh the actual crime or the damage to the victim especially in a situation this horrifying. They not only appear to have engaged in a gang rape which on it's own is deserving of the harshest punishments US courts can hand down, but they also seem to have recorded and bragged about what they did. My heart goes out to that poor girl because at 11 she shouldn't even be thinking about sex in general and should be enjoying blissful ignorance of the adult world. Instead she's dealing with the emotional and physical consequence of an incredibly shocking crime. There is another annoying part of that particular article that should be mentioned. Why on earth did the person that sat down to write this article find it appropriate to mention that folks in town said the girl "dressed older than her age, wearing makeup and fashions more appropriate to a woman in her 20s." That kind of rumor mill trash need not be given wider reach by the press. I don't care if the girl dressed like bat girl and drank whiskey for breakfast, she was the apparent victim of a massive gang rape at the age of 11 for crying out loud. I see in G.A.C.O.L.B. link that people are claiming the 11 year old was a willing participant... good lord. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostofSparta Posted March 12, 2011 Author Share Posted March 12, 2011 ... I'll be honest Des, it's not so much that people were defending them, because it's what I expect. It still makes me mad, but nobody really expects some kid they've known since he was 5 to be involved in this kind of thing, especially a star HS athlete, so I can understand it. It's just that this is the New York Times, and they've supposed to be the gold standard of journalism (along with the AP). Those kind of quotes, along with the one you pointed out about how she dressed/acted at 11 don't belong in a story like this. There is no justification for what happened, and in fact including quotes by those like Ms. Harrison can make her look like a monster by trying to justify what happened. I can certainly understand the desire by the reporter to be fair by trying to get both sides' POV on this, but the story is simply too emotionally charged because of how heinous the act was for any sort of defense on the males' behalf to seem like anything other than a small town trying cover for its golden boys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koolblue13 Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 Not to make light of this, because it is truly awful, but things like this happen everyday. Think of all the sex slave children we have in our country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 I'll be honest Des, it's not so much that people were defending them, because it's what I expect. It still makes me mad, but nobody really expects some kid they've known since he was 5 to be involved in this kind of thing, especially a star HS athlete, so I can understand it. It's just that this is the New York Times, and they've supposed to be the gold standard of journalism (along with the AP). Those kind of quotes, along with the one you pointed out about how she dressed/acted at 11 don't belong in a story like this. There is no justification for what happened, and in fact including quotes by those like Ms. Harrison can make her look like a monster by trying to justify what happened.I can certainly understand the desire by the reporter to be fair by trying to get both sides' POV on this, but the story is simply too emotionally charged because of how heinous the act was for any sort of defense on the males' behalf to seem like anything other than a small town trying cover for its golden boys. Entirely agree. Especially, like I said earlier, that they chose to include how she dressed! I guess on some level it does communicate that the town is unsympathetic (not sure if I've ever been this generous) but that could have been done without demonizing the victim. Who ever wrote that piece should be ashamed of themselves and if I was his editor I'd be going through his past work. Even worse according to G.A.C.O.L.B.'s link this tone isn't limited to the Times. This version from the Houston Chronicle provides more details but spends way too much time on the victim. It does however cast a darker light on the attackers and the community. There are some serious criminal records including manslaughter! The family of the little girl has been threatened and their four children have all been forced to relocate as police fear "retribution" (bad choice of words again IMO). ---------- Post added March-12th-2011 at 09:16 PM ---------- Not to make light of this, because it is truly awful, but things like this happen everyday. Think of all the sex slave children we have in our country. Worse yet. Think about the assets we deploy for the drug war and compare it to that which we allocate to combat the human slave trade? I'm not a drug legalization advocate but the people I've talked to the work to protect children (which doesn't even include the adult victims of modern slavery) tell me they get tiny funding and often have to choose which cases out of many based on impact while others fall through the cracks. Consider the meaning of that last statement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twa Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Check out Quannel X's defense for the accused. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7468724.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Califan007 The Constipated Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Not to put a damper on everybody's weekend with a story like this, but as I would reading this, I came across the next couple paragraphs and I nearly threw my computer out the window. I simply can't believe that anybody would have the audacity to think or say the bolded portions below. Emphasis added by me. I'm so sorry, Mrs Harrison, that these poor boys will have the live with the fact that they brutally raped an 11 year old girl for the rest of thier lives. I'm sure everybody will feel so sorry for the burden that these poor, innocent young men bear for being forced into such a despiecable act by an 11 year old girl. I guess I read that quote differently...I didn't read it as "Oh, these poor boys". I read it as they were having a hard time reconciling what they know about the boys and the horrible nature of the act...they're having a hard time coming to grips with why "their" kids would commit something so terrible. And the "having to live with this the rest of their lives" to me wasn't a comment of sympathy, but rather one of "they'll be carrying this horrendous act on their conscious the rest of their lives". It's not gonna be something easily forgotten. I didn't read the article, but that was my interpretation from the snippet you provided. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NavyDave Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 It wouldn't be a shame those poor pieces of human debris with a painful permanent STD that everyone knows they have so they are shunned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuposse87 Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scaphism I think that'd be the worst punishment possible. I'm not one for forgiveness give a crime with this level of vulgarity. What the hell is wrong with people Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aREDSKIN Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 The girl was 11. That's all anyone needs to know about this story. The animals that perpetuated this should see life behind bars. That's it'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Check out Quannel X's defense for the accused.http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7468724.html What a guy. Shows up with a picture of a 11 year old rape victim in an effort to blame the victim. Check out his facebook page. It's like someone had a racially themed ignorance party. Wow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No Excuses Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Check out his facebook page. It's like someone through a racially themed ignorance party. Wow. My brain hurts after reading the conversations on that page. What the ****. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnhay Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Were these black guys who raped a white girl? It would seem to me that a black panther member would find raping a black girl to be a bad thing, so I'm assuming that's not the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No Excuses Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Were these black guys who raped a white girl? It would seem to me that a black panther member would find raping a black girl to be a bad thing, so I'm assuming that's not the case. I think the girl was hispanic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnhay Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 I think the girl was hispanic. Yeah, her mom's name is Maria so she probably is. So I guess it's like this- white guys rape black girl (VERY BAD-e.g. Duke lacrosse) black guys rape spanish girl (bad if the black guys have to go to jail, the girl looked older than 11! It must be okay to rape adult women). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Sinister Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 If I was a lawyer, I wouldn't take this case ( representing the defendants ) if someone put a gun to my head. Just the mere thought of someone even attempting to defend these guys makes me sick to my stomach, and I know that is a somewhat unfair way to look at this situation, but that's how I feel. ---------- Post added March-13th-2011 at 05:03 PM ---------- Yeah, her mom's name is Maria so she probably is. So I guess it's like this- white guys rape black girl (VERY BAD-e.g. Duke lacrosse) black guys rape spanish girl (bad if the black guys have to go to jail, the girl looked older than 11! It must be okay to rape adult women). I don't think the flawed programming from a small segment of people would in any way reflect the general consensus on an issue such as this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No Excuses Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Yeah in a situation like this the oppressed minority card always gets pulled out by a tiny fraction of obnoxious ignorant losers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostofSparta Posted March 13, 2011 Author Share Posted March 13, 2011 Were these black guys who raped a white girl? It would seem to me that a black panther member would find raping a black girl to be a bad thing, so I'm assuming that's not the case. I think the girl was hispanic. Correct, the defendents are black, the victim is hispanic. I don't know how racial this was or will get, but with the town being just north of Houston, I could see some bad blood if either side feels the outcome was unjust. But of course, a white-on-white crime like this with a bad outcome would leave a lot of bad blood in a small town anyway. Either way, "She looked/acted older than 11" is not a ****ing excuse, especially for a gang-rape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnhay Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 I don't think the flawed programming from a small segment of people would in any way reflect the general consensus on an issue such as this. I'm with you there. I'm really just referring to those with the flawed programming. I know Al Sharpton isn't really a leader. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZoEd Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Wow, this is disgusting. I swear there isn't a day that goes by where I don't want to pack my kids up and move to the middle of the wilderness somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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