Man dies after beating by mob

CNN.Com ^ | Tuesday, October 1, 2002 Posted: 8:25 PM EDT (0025 GMT) | Associated Press

[The FRugitive]

I remember it was painted as a white guy who got all nervous over seeing black kids or something and that he just started shooting. That's all I recall from it.

[JimRed]

WHERE ARE THE "REVERENDS"? A black man gets beaten to death and not a word?

They should be in the 'hoods trying to overcome the culture of violence among the "youths". Oh, no, that's too much like WORK!

[JimRed]

The first that comes to mind is one Leonard Goetz, who used a fire arm in a NY subway to fend off a mob of punks.

I think you mean Bernard (Bernie) Goetz. His mistakes were to say "you don't look so bad" to one of the wounded perps and shoot him a second time, and to later turn himself in. Though the prosecutors wanted to find him, the cops wouldn't have put a major effort into tracking him down.

[brianl703]

Don't you know that reparations will make it all better?

[skeeter]

Who did they think would suffer after the civil rights mobs chased the police out of town, white folks?

[weegee]

Notice how the news reports keep refering to them all as "children"?

The press does this as a means of shielding suspects. Some of the reports of the 3 medical students in Florida referred to them as adolescents even though their ages were mid to late 20s.

[weegee]

One of the local reports said that police would not be stepping up patrols in this neighborhood. Reportedly they have already been patrolling this neighborhood with cars.

I'm sure that this man did not go quietly (even though his attackers reportedly did not say a word).

I'd think that this man's dying screams carried for blocks until he fell unconscious. Some effort by the cop on beat; probably sitting in his squad car listening to the radio, reading the paper, drinking some coffee.

[weegee]

Bernhard Goetz was refered to repeatedly as a vigilante but he was not. A vigilante would have shot somebody else's attackers. Mr. Goetz was threatened because he was seen to be a meek white man.

All of Goetz's assailants, except for the man that he paralyzed, were later arrested for additional crimes. The paralyzed man eventually received a jury award against Mr. Goetz.

[weegee]

If you'd read one of the local reports (linked in that other article), you'd learn that even the 10 year old was blood splattered.

They were none too pleased with the minors' actions or the actions of the parents:

10 held in beating death Only one is adult; more suspects sought; murder charges expected

Here's some excerpts:

Among those prosecutors expect to charge with murder in adult court is a 10-year-old boy, who could be the youngest person ever prosecuted as an adult in Wisconsin.

All of the juveniles could be charged as adults, and Jones said he was also considering seeking charges, such as neglect or contributing to the delinquency of a minor, against their parents.

There is a "parental responsibility that has not been taken care of," Jones said at a news conference Tuesday. Said Court Commissioner Dennis Cimpl of the 13-year-old boy: "He's the one that threw the egg that started the incident, and now (a) man is brain-dead. That makes him a danger to the community."

In another exchange, defense attorney Anne Kenney, representing the 10-year-old boy, said the age of the boy made him more susceptible than the others to following a "group mentality."

Cimpl countered, "He was close enough to a savage beating to have his shoes and his shirt covered with blood."

[Technoman]

Goetz was a slight man with glasses, who had been robbed several times prior in the subway. To protect himself, he bought a gun. A mob of black teenagers surrounded him one day and strong-arm him for money. Vowing never to be a victim again, he calmly replied "I have five-dollars for each of you, but instead unloaded his weapon at them.

He walked away without reporting the crime, which I would recommend to any victim of rape, mugging or robbery, with today's brand of law enforcement. Of course, the overzealous NY City police quickly denounced this as a "cowardly act of vigilantism" that would not be tolerated. The black community complained that this evil man was shooting their "children".

Goetz turned himself in, but the DA went after him with the full force of the law by orders from community pressure. Goetz was exonerated by a jury, but the DA was humiliated and did a little double jep by charging Goetz with carrying a concealed weapon. Goetz pleaded no-contest and, I believe, did a little jail time.

Years later, one of Goetz' "victims" tried to sue him for medical expanses and civil rights violations in some kangaroo court, but I don't know how that turned out. It was revealed that Goetz was suffering from some sort of cancer.

[weegee]

When a cop came on the scene the only question he asked was, "Did you hit that juvenile?"

Next time tell the officer that the youte presented you with a fake ID before you threw your first punch < /sarcasm >

[Bobby777]

well, you'll have to review the law ... I understand the man's anger ... however, try knocking out a tooth out of a 14-year-old in your town if he throws an egg at you ... $5 says you'll do 90 days in the slammer ... I don't disagree that the kid might ought to be slapped silly ... (think it was a 10-year-old who threw it) ...

bottom line, you can't punch out a 10 or 14-year-old for throwing an egg ... ask any cop ... whether it's right or wrong is irrelevant ...

now, with the kids trying to murder him, the victim was justified to take whatever action was necessary ... IMHO ... and I would vote so on a jury ... however, sometimes jurors, in fact many times, are not allowed to acquit but must choose between punishment rulings ...