Sauce for the goose
Nearly a year since 30,000 people gathered to keep a bunch of high school kids from getting sent to prison for a fight that the victim was laughing about a day later, another bunch of high school kids attacked.
The first bunch of kids, now known as the Jena 6, were threatened by the DA for sitting under a tree, were threatened by an adult with a shotgun, and attacked by other students, when they themselves turned to violence, they were the first to be charged with a crime, thrown in jail and tried as adults for assault with deadly weapons, which when pressed, the DA stated were their sneakers. The DAs charges were reversed, the children were tried as children, and released having been cleared of charges or having served more time than their crimes required. As it turned out, the real crime of the Jena 6 was being born black in Louisiana.
Now another bunch of kids attacked someone, but there's a few differences. For one thing, these kids weren't threatened by their victim. The victim had done nothing against them. And these children killed him, literally beating him to death. I'm sure you can imagine how they were treated by the police and DA in this case. Even the ACLU might think twice before trying to keep teenagers who beat a man to death from being tried as adults. Lucky for them, they didn't have to make that decision because the DA hasn't charged them at all. And you don't have to worry about the police having abused them because the police, after the dead victim was carried off and one witness named each attacker, gave descriptions of them and pointed the way they had run off, told the witnesses that following the attackers wasn't their priority. Instead they proceeded to throw the search the witnesses instead.
As you've probably assumed by this point, the attackers in this case were white and their victim was a minority. It's a week later and despite having two eyewitnesses willing to testify, not a single charge has been brought against any of the attackers. More than a year ago, six boys from Jena were thrown in jail and had their lives ruined because they got in a fight. Today, six boys from Pennsylvania are walking free and clear after having killed Luis Ramirez, having stomped on him hard enough to drive his medallion of Jesus into his chest. And despite the known racial tensions and the witness testimony (including an ex-cop) of racial slurs from the attackers, the police will not deem this a hate crime and nearly two weeks later they are still 'investigating'.
Given the inevitable conservative attempts to smear the victim and let their audience feel a little less for Luis Ramirez' three children because he was an immigrant, it was refreshing to see this op-ed in the Republican Herald:
Fatal beating cries out for justice to be served
AP also did a decent job on the story:
Immigrant's beating death exposes tensions in Pa.
And if you'd like to hear a witness tell the story in her own words, you can watch Democracy Now! here:
Friend of Mexican Immigrant Beaten to Death in Pennsylvania Gives Eyewitness Account of Attack
The first bunch of kids, now known as the Jena 6, were threatened by the DA for sitting under a tree, were threatened by an adult with a shotgun, and attacked by other students, when they themselves turned to violence, they were the first to be charged with a crime, thrown in jail and tried as adults for assault with deadly weapons, which when pressed, the DA stated were their sneakers. The DAs charges were reversed, the children were tried as children, and released having been cleared of charges or having served more time than their crimes required. As it turned out, the real crime of the Jena 6 was being born black in Louisiana.
Now another bunch of kids attacked someone, but there's a few differences. For one thing, these kids weren't threatened by their victim. The victim had done nothing against them. And these children killed him, literally beating him to death. I'm sure you can imagine how they were treated by the police and DA in this case. Even the ACLU might think twice before trying to keep teenagers who beat a man to death from being tried as adults. Lucky for them, they didn't have to make that decision because the DA hasn't charged them at all. And you don't have to worry about the police having abused them because the police, after the dead victim was carried off and one witness named each attacker, gave descriptions of them and pointed the way they had run off, told the witnesses that following the attackers wasn't their priority. Instead they proceeded to throw the search the witnesses instead.
As you've probably assumed by this point, the attackers in this case were white and their victim was a minority. It's a week later and despite having two eyewitnesses willing to testify, not a single charge has been brought against any of the attackers. More than a year ago, six boys from Jena were thrown in jail and had their lives ruined because they got in a fight. Today, six boys from Pennsylvania are walking free and clear after having killed Luis Ramirez, having stomped on him hard enough to drive his medallion of Jesus into his chest. And despite the known racial tensions and the witness testimony (including an ex-cop) of racial slurs from the attackers, the police will not deem this a hate crime and nearly two weeks later they are still 'investigating'.
Given the inevitable conservative attempts to smear the victim and let their audience feel a little less for Luis Ramirez' three children because he was an immigrant, it was refreshing to see this op-ed in the Republican Herald:
Fatal beating cries out for justice to be served
AP also did a decent job on the story:
Immigrant's beating death exposes tensions in Pa.
And if you'd like to hear a witness tell the story in her own words, you can watch Democracy Now! here:
Friend of Mexican Immigrant Beaten to Death in Pennsylvania Gives Eyewitness Account of Attack