West Point beatings
So, about 20 men, presumably black because the newspaper did not identify the race of the attackers, beat two white men — that’s a ten-to-one ratio — so badly that one had to have brain surgery and be put into a medically induced coma. When they wake him up, they’ll find out how much damage was done. For what reason?
These two men were told it wasn’t safe for white people to be where they were, so they left and apparently were followed to another location where the assaults took place. Supposedly this was in retaliation for the shooting of an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri, a couple of weeks ago. What connection did these two have with that?
This incident is absolutely no different than the way blacks were treated 60 years and more ago by whites. If that was wrong then (and it was), then this is just as wrong now.
I do not think the actions of this mob of 20 reflect the attitudes and feelings of most of the black community here in and around the Golden Triangle, but it apparently does reflect the views of too many.
Not all of the facts surrounding that unfortunate incident in Missouri have come to light yet, but when they do, I believe that everyone will opine that the officer who shot and killed the teenager acted in self-defense, and that the killing was justified.
Face it, none of us were there, but imagine this: Somebody twice your size attacks you and beats you so badly that bones in your face are broken. Then he “bum rushes” you from thirty-five feet away. You have a high-capacity nine millimeter handgun and you have been trained to fire until the threat is stopped. You wind up shooting your attacker a half-dozen times, finally killing him just three feet away from you. Because the skin color of attacker and victim are different, all hell breaks loose, partly, mainly, because the dead man’s buddy lies to the police and the news about what happened.
I’m not saying that the officer in question is an angel, or that the dead man wasn’t a “good kid.” I am saying that we need to look at all the facts before we go off half-cocked. A man has had a very dangerous surgery, and faces a life-time of “side effects,” like being permanently handicapped, because a group of men decided to “do something” about what? They have no clue. Now they face possible trials as perpetrators of a hate crime. Who’s going to pay the enormous medical bill and future rehab bills this victim faces? To quote Forrest Gump, “Stupid is as stupid does.”
Cameron Triplett
Brooksville
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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