Three students were charged in a high-profile 2013 hate crime case at San Jose State University. They were also charged with battery for putting a bike lock around the neck Donald Williams Jr. a Black freshman. All three were found guilty of misdemeanor battery. They can serve up to six months in jail. One has escaped conviction on the hate crime charge, and the jury hung on deciding the fate of the two others. A fourth student has been charged as a juvenile in the case. There is no available information on that case.
The number of extremist groups operating in the United States grew in 2015 – a year awash in deadly extremist violence and hateful rhetoric from mainstream political figures, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center’s annual census of hate groups and other extremist organizations.
Grand Rapids, MI — Suffering permanent physical and mental damage after a Michigan police officer savagely beat his head bloody with a flashlight, an unarmed teen recently filed a federal lawsuit against the cops for violating his Fourth Amendment rights. Although the teen was cleared of the charges against him, none of the officers involved in the beating received any disciplinary action.
Questions:
If your parents worked nights and weekends to support your family, take one step back.
If you are able to move through the world without fear of sexual assault, take one step forward.
If you can show affection for your romantic partner in public without fear of ridicule or violence, take one step forward.
If you have ever been diagnosed as having a physical or mental illness/disability, take one step back.
If the primary language spoken in your household growing up was not english, take one step back.
If you came from a supportive family environment take one step forward.
If you have ever tried to change your speech or mannerisms to gain credibility, take one step back.
If you can go anywhere in the country, and easily find the kinds of hair products you need and/or cosmetics that match your skin color, take one step forward.
If you were embarrassed about your clothes or house while growing up, take one step back.
If you can make mistakes and not have people attribute your behavior to flaws in your racial/gender group, take one step forward.
If you can legally marry the person you love, regardless of where you live, take one step forward.
If you were born in the United States, take one step forward.
If you or your parents have ever gone through a divorce, take one step back.
If you felt like you had adequate access to healthy food growing up, take one step forward
If you are reasonably sure you would be hired for a job based on your ability and qualifications, take one step forward.
If you would never think twice about calling the police when trouble occurs, take one step forward.
If you can see a doctor whenever you feel the need, take one step forward.
If you feel comfortable being emotionally expressive/open, take one step forward.
If you have ever been the only person of your race/gender/socio-economic status/ sexual orientation in a classroom or workplace setting, please take one step back.
If you took out loans for your education take one step backward.
If you get time off for your religious holidays, take one step forward.
If you had a job during your high school and college years, take one step back.
If you feel comfortable walking home alone at night, take one step forward.
If you have ever traveled outside the United States, take one step forward.
If you have ever felt like there was NOT adequate or accurate representation of your racial group, sexual orientation group, gender group, and/or disability group in the media, take one step back.
If you feel confident that your parents would be able to financially help/support you if you were going through a financial hardship, take one step forward.
If you have ever been bullied or made fun of based on something that you can’t change, take one step back.
If there were more than 50 books in your house growing up, take one step forward.
If you studied the culture or the history of your ancestors in elementary school take one step forward.
If your parents or guardians attended college, take one step forward.
If you ever went on a family vacation, take one step forward.
If you can buy new clothes or go out to dinner when you want to, take one step forward.
If you were ever offered a job because of your association with a friend or family member, take one step forward.
If one of your parents was ever laid off or unemployed not by choice, take one step back.
If you were ever uncomfortable about a joke or a statement you overheard related to your race, ethnicity, gender, appearance, or sexual orientation but felt unsafe to confront the situation, take one step back.
Sidi Khaled India’s economy is the 10th largest in the world, but millions of the country’s workers are thought to be held in conditions little better than slavery. One man’s story – which some may find disturbing – illustrates the extreme violence that some labourers are subjected to.
Câmara de Lobos Dialu Nial’s life changed forever when he was held down by his neck in a forest and one of his kidnappers raised an axe to strike.
He was asked if he wanted to lose his life, a leg or a hand.
Six days earlier, Nial had been among 12 young men being taken against their will to make bricks on the outskirts of one of India’s biggest cities, Hyderabad.
During the journey, they got a chance to escape and ran for it – but Nial and a friend were caught and this was their punishment.
Both chose to lose their right hands. Nial had to watch while the other man’s hand was cut first.
“They put his arm on a rock. One held his neck and two held his arm. Another brought down the axe and severed his hand just like a chicken’s head. Then they cut mine.
“The pain was terrible. I thought I was going to die,” says Nial.
Whoa! This reminds me of what Belgium did to Africans. The book “King Leopold’s Ghost” describes how Belgium troops had to collect a human hand for each bullet they used to prove they were not wasting ammunition.
“A police criminal complaint filed against two 12-year-old girls who allegedly stabbed their 12-year-old friend 19 times this past weekend offers dark reading about the vicious attack and the girls’ alleged motive.”
Geyser was initially hesitant to stab the victim and said, “I’m not going to until you tell me to.” Weier allegedly replied, “Go ballistic, go crazy … Now.”
The victim, despite her injuries, managed to get up and scream, “I hate you.” She attempted to walk to a nearby street, but Weier allegedly grabbed her and pulled her back. Weier told police she asked the victim to lie down and be quiet and told her she would get help, even though she did not intend to do so, police said. Weier told police she hoped the victim would die so that Weier would see Slenderman, the complaint alleges.
The victim, who sustained numerous stab wounds to her torso, legs and arms, managed to crawl out of the woods. A passing bicyclist spotted her and called 911, police said.
The complaint states that the victim told authorities she had been stabbed by her best friend, Morgan Geyser. The two suspects were arrested shortly thereafter, while walking near Interstate 94, police said.
Questioned by police, Weier allegedly said, “The bad part of me wanted her to die, the good part of me wanted her to live.”
Geyser allegedly confirmed to police much of what Weier told them, but claimed Weier was the first to stab the victim, the complaint says. Asked by police what she was attempting to do when she stabbed the victim, Geyser allegedly said, “I may as well just say it: Kill her.”
Geyser ultimately said she was sorry for what happened, according to police, but added, “It was weird that I didn’t feel remorse.”
“I would say these girls had big imaginations and believed [in Slenderman] too much,” McCann said. “[It] reminds me of the Salem witch trials — it all started with a story [and] then got out of hand.”
According to James McCann, co-founder of A Paranormal Group, Slenderman appears in crowd-sourced fiction about a demon-oriented character who stalks, traumatizes and abducts children. “It’s believed to reach his realm level, you have to kill somebody,” McCann said.
Community Village‘s insight:
sociopath: diminished empathy and remorse, and disinhibited or bold behavior
I wonder if the parents had access to mental health care for their daughters?
I wonder if the parents knew their daughters were sociopaths?
PS – Does the U.S. have a sociopathic culture? Remember when the U.S. enslaved, abused, beat and lynched Black people for hundreds of years and the majority of the U.S. didn’t put a stop to it?
Now the U.S. has New Jim Crow and ballooning mas incarceration. How long will this last? Hundreds of years?
Two 12-year-old girls inspired by Internet horror stories are accused of luring a girl into a wooded area near Milwaukee and stabbing the victim 19 times.
Community Village‘s insight:
All three are 12 years old and attended same middle school.
If you read the headlines about Chicago’s bloody Easter weekend, you might be surprised to learn that the city’s homicide rate is still trending downward.
