kid attacked for sitting in the wrong seat on bus
By American Girl in Italy on September 20, 2009 at 11:01 AM in Current Affairs
A Belleville West High School (southwestern Illinois) student was beaten aboard a bus on the way to school Monday, and a police spokesman said the beating could be racially motivated.
The 17-year-old victim was white and the teen assailants were black. Police released a video of the beating, which shows the victim being punched repeatedly while other students on the bus gather to watch, some cheering. It doesn’t appear that the victim did anything to provoke an attack and tried only to defend himself. Police said it all unfolded in a five-minute span.
The victim was trying to find a seat and was told by two students he could not sit next to them, police said. As he walked to the seat, someone shouted, “Beat his ass.” When he did sit down, one teen tried to push him out of his seat then began grabbing the victim’s neck and punching him in the face. With each punch, some in the crowd chanted, “Boom, boom, boom.”
The victim eventually returned to his seat, but another student began taunting him a few minutes later. The victim was then struck in the face. It was unclear what, if anything, the bus driver did to stop the attack. At one point, before the second attack, a man shouts, “Sit down guys.”Students intervened to help the victim both times.
“In my estimation, it’s racially motivated,” said Capt. Don Sax of the Belleville Police Department. He said one reason he had formed this opinion was that many of the students, most of whom were black, yelled their support for the beating. “There was absolutely no justification for the beating either time,” Sax said.
Later the police department released this statement:
A Belleville police spokesman now says an incident where a white student was beaten by teen black assailants on a bus “may not be racially motivated.”
“It was premature on my part,” said Belleville Police Capt. Don Sax. “It was my personal and emotional comment after only seeing the video briefly.” Sax said police interviewed the 17-year-old Belleville West High student. However, he said he was unaware of what the student told police.
Some of the students on the bus yesterday during the incident cheered the beating, the video shows.
Sax said a formal statement would be made available later today. “After having reviewed the video, it doesn’t strike me nearly as racially motivated,” Sax said.
I don’t know if this kid was beat up because he was white, or because he was a target of bullies in general, or a nerd (as someone in the comments suggested) or what, but this is f*cking disgusting.
All of those kids cheering, laughing and just sitting there! There is one boy, in a tan polo shirt who pulls off the kid, assisted by the kid in the green sweater. This is after he refused to allow this boy to sit with him. Then the green sweater kid pulls off the second attacker.
And the bus driver! I would driven straight to a police station. He never stopped the bus, or went to help the kid. Although, he was probably afraid.
WTF is wrong with kids? Who are these people? I can’t even imagine having to send my kids off to school these days. You send them off to school, and they get verbally and physically assaulted. It is just disgusting, and terribly sad.
The only two kids who don’t seem to think this is extremely funny is the girl in the headband, and the white kid with curly hair near her. I don’t know if you have ever been up close and personal while people are fighting but it is scary. This can be quite scary for kids to witness. (Obviously not for all those who are whooping it up laughing…although, I suppose some might have been to afraid to not laugh?)
So, was it racially motivated? Most likely he became a target because he is one of very few white kids. But that really isn’t the issue – I don’t want to turn it into an ugly black vs. white thing (like the media does with EVERYTHING having to do with Obama – have you heard the latest one about the white hoods).
It is a problem for ALL kids who are attacked by bullies. The issue is this type of behavior in school towards any kid. This is the kind of sh*t that drives kids to initiate a Columbine. These two criminals beat the shit out of this kid because he is different. Hate crime, anyone? These two should be expelled, and arrested. (This is the type of situation I think is perfect for those military type boot camps for troubled teens.)
Two Belleville West students accused of beating a classmate on a school bus Monday have been suspended and are awaiting the possible filing of formal charges in juvenile court.
Police called the attack by two black students against a white student racially motivated.
The suspects, ages 14 and 15, have been suspended as the result of the beating and choking of a 17-year-old student, confirmed Superintendent Greg Moats.
The 17-year-old victim was one of just a few white students on the crowded bus about 8 a.m. Monday. A surveillance video from a camera mounted inside the bus shows the victim being choked and punched by two other students after he took one of the first available seats on the bus.
“He sat down. It all erupted,” Moats said. In the video, the bus driver can be heard telling the students to “sit down” and using a radio to report a fight. He never stopped the bus or got up from his seat to address the fighting. When a student told the bus driver the victim was bleeding, the bus driver can be heard saying that a nurse would be waiting at the school.>
I do have to ask though, if this were a group of white kids, and it was a black kid beaten, how would the media handle this story? Do you think the MSM will cover it? Do you think Al Sharpton will race to Illinois and scream *hate crime*?
UPDATE: Since writing this the Police have determined that race was not a factor, and it was a case of bullying. OK, so a white kid is attacked by two black kids, with a dozen other black kids laughing and egging them on, and it is just bullying.
Why then, if two white kids attack a black kid is it not considered bullying? It doesn’t seem like that is ever even considered. Before the band-aids are even applied, Al Sharpton is in his bat mobile, racing to the scene to cry racism. It is automatically always about race. Any dissent by white people is immediately because of race. Just ask Jimmy Carter. Is that plausible?
UPDATE TWO:
Two Belleville West High School students were charged under the juvenile code today with felony counts of aggravated battery stemming from the violent beating of a 17-year-old student on a school bus earlier this week.
The two teenagers—who are 14 and 15 years-old—were charged as juveniles because they are under the age of 17. Illinois law shields the disclosure of their names because they are minors.
FROM LARRY JOHNSON–I commend our lady in Italy for an important piece. It is essential that those who want to comment on this keep in mind that it is not the color of the skin of the attackers but their actions that are at issue. I am sure we could also find an instance or two of white on black and white on white and black on black. The real issue is why these kids feel that the only way to deal with a situation is to beat the crap out of someone who is weaker. That is bullying, pure and simple.
While people like Jimmy Carter want to play the race card and insist that the only reason people are opposing Barack Obama is because he is “black.” When you have a Caucasian mother and a Kenyan father why does that make you “black?” The only thing it makes you is the son of a Caucasian mother and Kenyan father. I truly despise anyone who judges another person by the color of their skin. Skin pigment and melanin concentration is something we do not have control over. How we act towards one another, however, is within our control.
Let’s keep that in mind. We will criticize Obama and praise Obama (when it is warranted) because of what he does. Not how he looks. Please keep that in mind as you comment.
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