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| Marjon Rostami |
And no, it doesn't matter if you're white, non-whites are also targets. Those responsible in the black population in America just want to lash out, and they're using the death of Trayvon Martin as an excuse to do so.
Does that make any sense at all?
No, it doesn't, but it also doesn't make any sense that the News Media is making an effort to hide information about these attacks from the public.
And yes, Police and Federal authorities do not want to designate these racially based attacks as "hate crimes" - which also doesn't make any sense. It's as if they don't want to call it a "hate crime" because it's happening to non-blacks - as if there is a presumption here that only blacks can be the victims of "hate crimes."
Two weeks have passed since reporters Dave Forster and Marjon Rostami were attacked on a Saturday night as they drove home from a show at the Attucks Theatre.
They had stopped at a red light, in a crowd of at least 100 young people walking on the sidewalk. Rostami locked her car door. Someone threw a rock at her window. Forster got out to confront the rock-thrower, and that’s when the beating began.
There’s outrage in Norfolk, Virginia, after that white couple was attacked by dozens of black teenagers. But the Police don't see it as a "hate crime," although they didn't even bother getting witnessed names to the assault. And of course, the local newspaper did not report on the incident for two weeks - despite the victims being Reporters for that newspaper.
The couple was attacked on April 14 by dozens of black teens, and The Virginian-Pilot newspaper did not report the incident for two weeks, despite the fact the victims, Dave Forster and Marjon Rostami, are both news reporters for the paper.
As sick as that sounds, the Police refused to see any racial hatred as part of the motivation for the beating that Dave Foster received at the hands of those more than a couple of dozen black-teenagers.
Police arrested one suspect early yesterday morning, but authorities will not release his name due to his age.
According to the Virginian-Pilot, he has been charged with throwing a missile at a vehicle, a felony, as well as two counts of simple assault by mob, destruction of property and participation in a riot, all misdemeanors.
The Virginian-Pilot did not cover the crime as news, but instead allowed it to surface as an opinion piece by columnist Michelle Washington. That was the first mention of the attack.
Michelle Washington wrote, "Wave after wave of young men surged forward to take turns punching and kicking their victim," describing the onslaught that began when Dave Forster and Marjon Rostami stopped at a traffic light while driving home from a show on a Saturday night. A crowd of at least 100 black young people was on the sidewalk at the time.
"Rostami locked her car door. Someone threw a rock at her window. Forster got out to confront the rock-thrower, and that’s when the beating began. …
"The victim's friend, a young woman, tried to pull him back into his car. Attackers came after her, pulling her hair, punching her head and causing a bloody scratch to the surface of her eye. She called 911. A recording told her all lines were busy. She called again. Busy. On her third try, she got through and, hysterical, could scream only their location. Church and Brambleton. Church and Brambleton. Church and Brambleton. It happened four blocks from where they work, here at the Virginian-Pilot."
Living In Fear!
Washington said neither suffered grave injuries, but both were out of work for a week. Forster’s torso ached from blows to his ribs, and he retained a thumb-sized bump on his head. While Forster wishes he’d stayed in the car, Rostami reportedly fears to be alone in her home.
A Horrible Response From A Lousy Boss!
Pilot editor Denis Finley addressed the paper’s decision not to cover the attack in a front-page column today. He wrote, "Some have assumed the worst and accused The Pilot of everything from liberal hand-wringing to outright lying about the incident. We did not cover up anything. What would we gain by protecting some thugs who beat up two of our reporters? The accusation is ludicrous."
He went on to write, "We bend over backward to treat ourselves the same way we would treat any other member of the community. In fact, we go overboard at times to make sure there is no perception that we have treated ourselves favorably. Based on the facts, this story did not cross the bar to be published because as a general rule, The Pilot doesn’t publish stories about simple assaults."
A Simple Assault?
How can anyone in good conscience call an attack by dozens of black teenagers, some on the scene say up to 30, a case about a "simple assault"? Where is his sense of what is right or wrong?
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| Dave Forster |
In her column about the assault, Washington said the day after the beatings, Dave Forster searched Twitter for mention of the attack, and one post in particular chilled him.
“I feel for the white man who got beat up at the light,” wrote one person.
“I don’t,” wrote another, indicating laughter. “(do it for trayvon martin)”
Marjon Rostami estimated there were around 100 people in the crowd, and about 30 of them near their car.
She said that after the police arrived one Police Officer told her to shut up and get in the car.
Both she and Foster said the officer did not record any names of witnesses who stopped to help. Rostami said the officer told them the attackers were "probably juveniles anyway. What are we going to do? Find their parents and tell them?"
There has been outrage over the failure of the The Virginian-Pilot to publish the story until early this week, prompting some to accuse the paper of trying to bury the story.
And as for the Norfolk Police Department, it all sounds as if they ought to get their house in order with more training of their officers. Unless its not more training they lack, and instead it's just a matter of their officers just not giving a damn about the safety of the public.
This all reminds me of a truck driver that was pulled out of his big rig at an intersection during the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles, California back in 1992. Almost 19 years ago to the day, angry blacks pulled a man out of his truck and beat his head in and left him to die as they danced around him.
His name was Reginald Denny, then 33 years old, was a construction truck driver.
On the first day of the rioting, Denny was attacked, pulled from his truck and brutally beaten, sustaining serious head injuries and other injuries. As a result of the injuries he suffered during the attacks, Denny had to undergo years of rehabilitative therapy, and his speech and ability to walk were permanently damaged
It was April 29, 1992, at 5:39 PM, Denny loaded his red, 18-wheel truck with 27 tons of sand and began driving to a plant in Inglewood where he said the sand was due. He left the Santa Monica Freeway and took a familiar shortcut across Florence Avenue to get to his destination. His truck had no radio, so he was unaware he was driving into a riot.
At 6:46 p.m., after entering the intersection at Normandie, rioters threw rocks at his windows and he heard people shouting for him to stop. Overhead, a news helicopter with reporter Bob Tur aboard captured the events that followed.
Denny stopped in the middle of the street. Antoine Miller opened the truck door, giving others the chance to pull Denny out.
Another man, Henry Keith Watson, then held Denny's head down with his foot. Denny was kicked in the abdomen by an unidentified man. Two other unidentified men who had led a liquor store break-in earlier that day hurled a five-pound piece of medical equipment at Denny's head and hit him three times with a claw hammer.
Damian Williams then threw a slab of concrete at Denny's head and knocked him unconscious. Williams then did a victory dance over Denny. He then flashed gang signs at News helicopters, which were televising the events live, and pointed and laughed at Denny.
Anthony Brown then spat on Denny and left with Williams. Several bystanders took pictures of Denny but did not attempt to help him. LAPD officers, despite the fact that they were in the vicinity as the attack took place, could not provide help to Denny.
After the beating, various men threw beer bottles at the unconscious Denny. Gary Williams approached Denny and rifled through his pockets. Lance Parker stopped near Denny and attempted to shoot the fuel tank of Denny's truck but missed.
Bobby Green (a truck driver), Titus Murphy and Terri Barnett (boyfriend and girlfriend), and Lei Yuille (a dietitian), who had been watching the events on TV, braved the rioters and went to Denny's aid.
The Los Angeles Police didn't help at all. It was ordinary citizens that saved Reginald Denny.
Denny eventually regained consciousness and dragged himself back into the cab, driving away from the scene slowly and erratically. Green, himself a truck driver, boarded Denny's truck and took over at the wheel, driving him to the hospital.
At the time that Green took over, Denny was on the brink of losing consciousness again, and suffered a seizure shortly thereafter.
Paramedics who attended to Denny said he came very close to death. His skull was fractured in 91 places and pushed into the brain.
Denny's left eye was so badly dislocated that it would have fallen into his sinus cavity had the surgeons not replaced the crushed bone with a piece of plastic. A permanent crater remains in his head despite efforts to correct it. Denny had to undergo years of rehabilitative therapy and his speech and ability to walk were permanently damaged.
I would have hated to see something like this happen to Dave Foster just because he's white. It's a real shame that his own employer feels that it was just a simple assault, when in reality it was much more that could have been a lot worse.
And if the Norfolk Police are so stupid to think that it wasn't racially based hatred, then they may as well stay at the station - because they are unaware of what's going on around them. More and more of these attacks by blacks are taking place, and for some unknown reason they are ignoring a trend taking place since the Trayvon Martin killing.
The Police should be aware that the black teens who are attacking people should understand that this might not go the way that they think. Fact is, more people are arming themselves because of this sort of thing.
It is certainly possible that the next Dave Foster who gets out of his car and is attacked by a group of black teenagers - just might be armed. And he, like many Americans, might just decide to defend himself. It may not be a good situation all the way around.
Story by Tom Correa
