Posted on 11/16/2006 11:14:00 AM PST by Yaelle
LONG BEACH - Hundreds of residents attended a community forum Wednesday to discuss the brutal mob beating of three young women in Bixby Knolls on Halloween.
The auditorium at Hughes Middle School, 3846 California Ave., was nearly filled to capacity for the two-hour session.
Almost all of those who spoke said they were horrified by the beating and wanted to know what could be done to avoid such crimes in the future.
The incident involved a group of 20 to 40 black youths who attacked three white victims, according to the victims and witnesses.
The victims - two of whom are 19 and the third 21 years old - were going to see a popular haunted house set up in the 3800 block of Linden Avenue when the melee broke out, they said.
They suffered concussions, cuts and bruises and had their jewelry and clothes stolen after they were pummeled by males and females who surrounded them and hurled racial slurs as they punched, kicked and jumped on them.
The most seriously injured victim suffered a dozen fractures to one side of her face.
So far, police have arrested a dozen juveniles between the ages of 12 to 17 in connection with the beating. Ten were captured the night of the incident Advertisement and identified by witnesses and the victims. Two were arrested the following week.
The investigation is ongoing, North Division Cmdr. Scott Robertson said Tuesday night, adding that he could not discuss specifics because of the pending criminal case.
All of the arrested youths - nine girls and three boys - are being held at Los Padrinos Juvenile Detention Center pending trial on charges of assault with a deadly weapon causing great bodily injury.
Police arrested the youths on suspicion of multiple felonies, including hate crime allegations.
So far, those allegations have not been included in the district attorney's filing. That may change if evidence to support the charge is found, the district attorney's office has said.
The brutality of the attack shocked many in the city and ignited emotions.
Outrage over the lack of hate crime charges was swift, as were questions about whether the right people were arrested and whether the victims did something to trigger the attack.
All of the victims have denied that allegation, saying they tried to walk away when they were first insulted and pelted with lemons and small pumpkins, then surrounded by the crowd and chased down the street.
Tempers flared Tuesday night when one speaker referred to a rumor that one of "the white girls" slapped one of the suspects "who had nothing to do with the fight."
His comment was followed by a terse comment from another speaker who sarcastically wondered why the late-Martin Luther King Jr. was not at the community forum.
Cmdr. Robertson quickly interjected that there is no justification for violence, and City Councilwoman Rae Gabelich - who noted at the start of the forum that hateful or volatile comments would not be tolerated - then stepped in to calm the audience.
She too, however, was questioned by several residents demanding to know why the forum was not announced until the day prior, and why even then the announcements were limited to only certain residences.
"I was trying to keep it out of the press," she said.
The councilwoman went on to say the forum was designed to help the neighborhood most affected by the incident and that having the media involved would only exacerbate the issue.
Her comments drew heavy criticism from some residents who accused her of trying to suppress public information.
One teenage girl, who identified herself only as a Jordan High School student, said she would have liked her community to have been included because they too suffered fallout from the events on Halloween.
"I don't think this meeting should have just been for this community," the girl said.
"What do I do if people want to come to my neighborhood to retaliate," she asked, saying that some of the youths who were arrested are Jordan students.
Police and district attorney officials have not identified the suspects because they are minors.
Still others, including Gabelich, blamed the media - and specifically the Press-Telegram - for covering the incident. While some felt the press has already tried and convicted the defendants, others accused the newspaper of not pursuing the story more aggressively.
Gabelich started the forum with stern words about the news coverage, accusing the Press-Telegram and other media outlets of fueling "a growing fear and anger in the community."
Despite the charged atmosphere and strong emotions stirred by the incident, most of those who spoke did so calmly and respectfully.
Many said they appreciated the opportunity to discuss the events, and most said they hoped the community could use the incident as a rallying point to come together.
Several people expressed regret that a popular holiday tradition - one enjoyed by a record crowd of some 1,500 to 2,000 people that night, according to residents' estimates - would never be the same.
Residents are divided on what to do next year, with some advocating more police presence in the area and neighborhood watch patrols and others vowing never to pass out candy to trick-or-treaters again.
Robertson explained that other holidays - such as the Fourth of July and New Years - result in an increase of police officers in key areas of the city, but Halloween usually results in few problems.
"In light of what happened this year, we may decide (next year) to bring in more officers," he said.
Anitra Dempsey, the city's Human Dignity Officer, talked about the city's pledge to help the victims in any way it can, and her offices' efforts to work with the community to ensure the incident does not divide residents or fuel hostilities.
The night before, the chairman of the city's Human Relations Commission - which works to promote better understanding of the diverse ethnic and cultural groups in the city - told the City Council that his group plans to monitor the ongoing investigation in the case.
Officials with the National Conference for Community and Justice of Southern California have said they also intend to monitor the case and take any necessary measures to prevent retaliation or unrest in the community.
The meeting ended with Gabelich asking the audience if another forum was needed.
Roughly half of the residents agreed and the councilwoman said that another meeting will be scheduled in early December.
Several City Council members, Police Chief Anthony Batts and members of the Long Beach Unified School District Board attended the event but did not speak.
Tracy Manzer can be reached at tracy.manzer@presstelegram.com or (562) 499-1261.
I believe that a crime as heinous as what this mob of kids did should garner lots of local attention and even some national attention. If the races of the perps and victims had been reversed, everyone would find this crime worthy of national attention. I'd see Jesse Jackson walking my block if it had been an innocent black girl smashed repeatedly in the head with a skateboard by some white punks.
Please see the previous articles/threads on this, including one with a description by the victim girls of the attack and one where it appears Long Beach officials are shrinking the definition of a hate crime not even to include the attack on Reginald Denny (Rodney King riots).
Anyone know the current statistics for black on white crime?
Well, that speaks volumes about how this particular jackass and her other lackeys operate...
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Hmmmm...wasn't there a cleric in Australia who said that women who go uncovered are just pieces of meat and are asking to be raped? Not exactly the same situation, but pretty darn close.
It is a statistic that does not see the light of day much. Someone on the previous thread had it; I will see if I can find his/her post.
OK... a bit off topic... but why in Sam Hill are we spending my tax dollars on a Human Dignity Officer??????
Frankly, I don't think there is an epithet or attitude that deserves a violent attack, though the police officer in charge last night did admit that this attack was unprovoked, as far as they believe.
What About Hate Crimes By Blacks?, by Walter Williams
"According to the latest US Department of Justice survey of crime victims, more than 6.6 million violent crimes (murder, rape, assault and robbery) are committed in the US each year, of which about 20 per cent, or 1.3 million, are inter-racial crimes.
Most victims of race crime—about 90 per cent—are white, according to the survey "Highlights from 20 Years of Surveying Crime Victims", published in 1993.
Almost 1 million white Americans were murdered, robbed, assaulted or raped by black Americans in 1992, compared with about 132,000 blacks who were murdered, robbed, assaulted or raped by whites, according to the same survey.
Blacks thus committed 7.5 times more violent inter-racial crimes than whites even though the black population is only one-seventh the size of the white population. When these figures are adjusted on a per capita basis, they reveal an extraordinary disparity: blacks are committing more than 50 times the number of violent racial crimes of whites.
According to the latest annual report on murder by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, most inter-racial murders involve black assailants and white victims, with blacks murdering whites at 18 times the rate that whites murder blacks.
*sniff* *sniff*
Another case of reverse discrimination. It was the 'white girls' fault for going into a sketchy area where they did not belong seems to be the prevailing attitude in many parts of the urban areas of this country.
Surpressing information about this assault helps the perpetrators. And it helps to hide the reality of what happened.
Public Opinions, Few Facts From City Officials, At Meeting On Halloween Night Beatings
(Nov. 16, 2006) -- About 125 people attended a Nov. 15 meeting at Hughes Middle School that City Hall indicated in an advisory would provide an "opportunity to be updated on the events of Halloween night that took place on Linden Ave."
But city officials provided nearly no new information -- and effectively provided no details of any kind -- regarding what actually took place on Halloween night in the 3800 block of Linden Ave. when three women were beaten and suffered severe injuries.
The meeting at Hughes Middle School continued to leave the public reliant on media accounts, some of which were cited and undenied by officials. The Press-Telegram and at least one L.A. TV outlet, managed to obtain interviews with some of the victims and their families; LBReport.com has cited mainly LBPD-released information to date.
[The female victims haven't spoken with us; the juveniles charged have not been identified by police due to their age].
Twelve juvenile alleged assailants arrested by LBPD now face three serious felony charges each filed by the District Attorney; LBPD says additional suspects still outstanding. LBPD has said the beatings followed racial taunts directed at the women from a group of individuals. The beatings ceased when a Good Samaritan intervened. He is an African American (thus far unidentified) as are the alleged assailants; the three women who were beaten are white.
Commander Robinson cited an ongoing investigation in declining to provide further information...but did add two factoids, indicating that LBPD units responded within four minutes of the reported beatings and ten of the twelve alleged assailants were apprehended within 15 minutes. In response to an audience question, Commander Robinson indicated that in over twenty years with LBPD he couldn't recall the type of attack allegedly involving multiple assailants against a small number of individuals taking place in the city.
With an opening caveat from 8th district Councilwoman Rae Gabelich that verbal attacks or theatening remarks would result in the person being asked to leave, the remainder of the meeting amounted to an open-mike talk show...with the public offering opinions and reactions based on media accounts. Some members of the public praised and criticized, press accounts. Public comments from the diverse audience were nearly entirely non-polarizing with multiple speakers urging understanding and common ground. Virtually all expressed compassion for the victims of the beating.
There was loud applause when one public speaker said he wanted to learn the identity of the Good Samaritan whose intervention effectively ended the attack.
Another speaker, an African-American woman, said "I feel very proud to be a resident of Long Beach tonight...I had horrible thoughts that we'd have those folk up there that are looking to make matters worse, extremists [would] come and inetrfere in this meeting would stop us from doing what we really need to do." Her comments drew loud applause.
LB Mayor Bob Foster wasn't present, on a trip to DC on city business (a Mayoral aide attended). Vice Mayor/1st District Councilmember Bonnie Lowenthal, 9th district Councilman Val Lerch, LBUSD Board member Mary Stanton and LBCC Trustee Jeff Kellogg all attended.
LBPD Police Chief Anthony Batts was present, along with senior LBPD command staff. City Manager Jerry Miller was visible, as was city management's Human Dignity Officer, Anitra Dempsey. Ms. Dempsey didn't speak until the end of the 90+ minute meeting. She offered no new information but invited residents to contact her office if they had questions or concerns. "My office will be available if anyone is interested in specific assistance. We are helping the families as well, and as a city we are all part of the group affected by what has happened. So my assurance to you is that there are many people who are working very hard and diligently...[W]e're here to work with the community," she said.
No one from the District Attorney's office attended. "I'm really saddened that we don't have someone here from the [DA's office] to at least give us just a general overview, no specifics." He received applause.
8th district Councilwoman Rae Gabelich, who presided at the nearly 90+ minute meeting, indicated that she'd initially planned a small gathering for residents of the immediate area of the Halloween night disturbance...and was surprised by city management's advisory more widely promoting the meeting, which was then reported by the Press-Telegram and drew L.A. media outlets including KTLA/5 and KTTV/Fox 11.
Councilwoman Gabelich indicated that she hoped a small, neighborhood size meeting would permit information to be conveyed to the neighbors directly affected without triggering a media presence...but that drew criticism from an audience member who said he wanted more information, not less. Adding that he was often critical of the Press-Telegram, the speaker commended the paper for its coverage of what had taken place.
Councilwoman Gabelich later added, "My intention was to give a platform, a safe area for the community that was immediately impacted to have a place to speak and that was what my intention was. It doesn't mean there won't be more opportunities. I'm sure there will be."
And Councilwoman Gabelich asked for a show of hands from the audience indicating those who favored continuing the discussion in the format that had just taken place. About half of those attending (who filled roughly half of the auditorium) raised their hands..and Councilwoman pledged a future meeting.
"Tempers flared Tuesday night when one speaker referred to a rumor that one of "the white girls" slapped one of the suspects "who had nothing to do with the fight."
Was this before or after her face was shattered? Grab your crotch, throw lemons and pumpkins, tell them you hate white people, taunt them...even if she slapped him, this is his main concern?
I didn't know they existed, and I am a bit nonplussed to find they seem to be existing for the benefit of the mob of vicious young thugs. If both perp and victim had been white, would one need a Human Dignity Officer?
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