There is a growing controversy in Cincinnati where police had to fight their way into a scene to rescue a white male who was nearly beaten to death at a Fourth of July concert. The video below shows the mob laughing and taunting the nearly dead man lying on the ground. Critics have asked why the beating of the white male by a largely black mob was not immediately identified as a possible hate crime. They charge that, if the situation were reversed, the reaction would have been different in the media and the police. Yet, there is no evidence that I can find that the beating itself was racially motivated. In the end, the behavior of the mob does not have to be racially motivated to shock the conscience as to the lack of humanity and cruelty. Officers were attacked and injured by the crowd as they tried to rescue the unconscious man. While the police at the scene reported the beating as “anti-white,” the police chief later stated that the attack was not racially motivated.
The video itself is quite disturbing as you hear people laughing and enjoying the scene of carnage. It is also worth noting that there are some who can be heard expressing concern and the need for an ambulance.
It is not clear if there was a racial component to the crime and I would not immediately expect a hate crime investigation in such a case. Various blogs however are arguing that the Administration and local officials often immediately pledge to pursue such cases involving a black victim and white officers or assailants as a possible hate crime. I have tended to caution that such early framing of cases can have a distortive or dysfunctional impact absent clear evidence of a racial motivation. For example, while some in this crowd may have been celebrating the fact that the victim was white, it does not mean that the original attack was racially motivated.
The All Star Game is scheduled for Cincy. Is it safe? You know virtually all fans for a baseball game are white.
I know you’ll all be glad the victim,Christopher McKnight, though” nearly beaten to death”, , was released from the hospital late Sunday.
“Police said the bystander in Saturday’s incident, later identified as 27-year-old Christopher McKnight, suffered serious injuries, some internal, and was released from the hospital late Sunday. A police report on the incident stated police were investigating the case as a hate crime. Neville later announced at a press conference that the incident was not racially motivated.”
White bread gets a bad rap. I prefer rye, Italian, and other breads, but for some things, like a peanut butter sandwich, white bread is just so nostalgic.
Meanwhile:
Cops are hunting a group of men behind an anti-white attack on Staten Island, officials said Saturday.
Seven black men called a 28-year-old man “white bread” and other insults as they threatened him on Vanderbilt Ave. and Targee St. in Fox Hills about 3 p.m. on June 19, cops said.
The group then chased after the white victim, punching and kicking him.
They struck him with a milk crate, a fluorescent light bulb, a bottle and other garbage they picked up, officials said.
The victim managed to escape his attackers, suffering only minor wounds. The NYPD’s hate crimes task force is investigating.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/police-searching-group-anti-white-attack-si-article-1.2281571
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
I meant Ohio, not Kentucky. They all talk like they’re from Kentucky.
In the southern ends of Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky the folks talk like southerners. Those 3 states are really each 2 different states as much as northern and southern California are.
TinEar, Cincy doesn’t get a lotta press because well..it’s Cincy. But, they have had a huge black crime problem there for decades. Remember, Cincy is the southern end of Ohio. Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio are all looked upon as northern states. And, the northern parts are. Illinois and Indiana don’t have any major cities in their south. But, Ohio does w/ Cincy. Lots of racial problems.
The Cincinnati Enquirer reports today that the police report, written by cops on the scene, described the incident as “anti-white.” However, a Captain Neville of the Cincinnati P.D. says that description was an error and that the report has been changed. The Captain said he determined that there was no evidence of a hate crime. Translation: the brass over-ruled he steet cops due to political considerations.
Dear Professor Turley,
Perhaps you should check out this youtube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/BamaFanatic12345
There is a lot of racial hatred out there by blacks against whites. Perhaps you should think about it in terms of “disparate impact.” How come there are sooo many blacks beating up whites, and so few whites beating up blacks? Why do you think the press swarms every occurrence of white on black crime before the investigation has even begun, and yet hardly reports any black on white crime?
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
If he hadn’t been pushing his white male privilege in everyone’s face he’d have been left alone.
And by “pushing his white male privilege” I mean he was white and alive within arm’s length of a black/gay/ female person.
Clearly, this beating was because of the legacy of slavery and poverty and racism and his inner hatery hate that the blacks around him could feel even though he was wearing glasses to hide his white devil eyes.
More midnight basketball and reparations and summer school lunches would be a good start, but ultimately the death of all white males everywhere is needed.
Only then will the beatings stop.
Mostly because they’d all be quite dead.
You commentary has really become a joke Professor.
Paul – a sentencing qualifier based on the suffering of the victim would be reasonable.
Of course we all know it’s W’s fault!!
G de la Paz
Congratulations for being the first to blame this on Obama. You are one vacuous broken record.
How sad. That poor man. I hope he recovers.
It is also true that if this was a white mob and a black victim, we would be hearing people howling on the View and from the WH rose garden that they just “know” what happened.
I do not want to rush to judgement that this is a hate crime, but I do want a thorough and fair investigation equal to what would have happened if the victim was black. I also want to remove the editing noted above where the jeering has been taken out.
The public needs to hear the taunts and jeering that are purported to be expressed on the video. That might have a chilling effect on the hatred that activists are spreading, and that parents are teaching their children. I do not know yet if the man was targeted because he was white, or if he was jeered at for that reason, but this needs to be part of the public discussion.
Olly:
“Do we really need some additional classification to recognize that this man’s civil right to not get beaten into coma has been violated?” I believe the original hate crime laws were enacted to combat the terrorism of racist organizations like the KKK. They targeted blacks to send a message of fear to the rest of the community. There has been a lot of discussion about whether to continue such protections, or if it places more value on skin color than it should. For someone to be physically assaulted, the perpetrator has to hate the victim. Does it matter nowadays if the hatred is personal, or because of race, gender, creed, or sports team? Is it fair that alleged hate crimes against whites are not investigated or prosecuted with the same vigor? The Brian Stowe beating was technically a hate crime that occurred for no other reason than the sports jersey that Stowe wore to a game. But I do not believe it was prosecuted as a hate crime. People are talking about hate crime prosecution needs to be equal or not at all. So any crime committed to terrorize a group should be prosecuted, even if it’s sports fan related. I don’t know where that will lead.
My own strongest feelings on leveling up criminal charges is for gun charges. I believe that the punishment in many states is harsher if the instrument of murder is a gun in order to try to discourage gun crimes. But I imagine a family member of a victim would take it hard if their loved one was brutally murdered with a blunt object, but the killer got a lesser sentence because he did not use a gun. Murder is murder. I would rather the overall murder rate decrease rather than see a decrease in a particular instrument with no improvement in the murder rate.
Karen – I would like to see a lessening of punishment if it is a clean kill with one shot! The messier the kill, the higher the punishment.
Hate crime should not even be in our vocabulary regarding crimes. Government should punish only harmful action, not harmful thoughts. Harmful thoughts fall into the realm of religion and education. Yes, hate leads to murder, but government should punish only murder and not hate. That’s why we have separation of church and State powers.
Bill – the big question then is who censored the video?
I know, right? Another important question is what was the motivation behind censoring the video.
Anyone notice how the video is muted until the cries for “get him some water” and “help him up”? I saw the original video last night and all the jeering and taunting of a man near dead has been removed from this clip. Seems wrong to me to try and manipulate the truth of what happened so that it only seems that people want to help. Most of the people were taunting and jeering and made zero motion to help.
Just think what would have happened if the Cavs would have won the NBA crown, they would have torn the town down