Matthew Owens wielded butcher knives at kids? Has a lot of problems and anger management issues?

[Cali_Democrat]

Interesting....

<...>

Some neighbors said they have witnessed belligerence from Owens in the past, and police reports show that he has gotten into scrapes before with others — both black and white.

“He probably did as much to instigate this as anybody,” said Marsha Skipper, who lives next door.

<...>

Records from Mobile County Metro Jail show that Owens has been arrested numerous times. Levy detailed 3 violent confrontations he has been involved in since 2009.
<...>

Then on Dec. 16, Levy said, Owens was accused of fracturing the nose of a 53-yer-old white man after an argument.

<...>

The neighbor said Owens previously had been extremely angry at the children.

“He ran in here and got 2 butcher knives. I said, ‘What are you doing with these?’” he said. “He was in a rage.”

<...>

Still, the neighbor said he has had issues with Owens, as well. He said he has called the police 4 times for what he described as “anger management” issues but declined to elaborate.

<...>

The neighbor, who is white, said, “Matthew has a lot of problems. I’ve been waiting for this to happen because that’s what he does. He’s pushed a number of people.”

http://blog.al.com/live/2012/04/tensions_leading_to_beating_of.html

Facts are nice and it looks like they are starting to emerge. We have to wait for even more facts to emerge. I had a hunch there was much to this than meets the eye. I'm also highly skeptical of the account of Owen's sister.

None of us were there. The conservative media might be playing this up for political purposes, but they weren't there either.

[Cali_Democrat]

1. kick

[Snake Alchemist]

2. He is quoted as saying "Get off my lawn!" nt

[Solomon]

4. LOL. The facts emerging are just pissing you off

aren't they? You so thought it was a revenge for Trayvon but its not.

[Snake Alchemist]

6. What facts? The facts that a mob beat up an old man and used Trayvon as an excuse?

I hope they all soon have a very rigid schedule.

[dkf]

17. In a mob, that may have been motivation for a particular person. Who knows.

Not everyone has the exact same reason I imagine.

[Liquorice]

3. An angry mob attacked him, and the facts don't change that fact. He sounds

like a guy with problems, but you don't get into a large group and beat a man nearly to death, just like you don't shoot and kill an unarmed teenager.

[Solomon]

5. Still relying on the crumbling reports. Perhaps

some one was "standing their ground" and it got exagerated into 30 people in an "angry mob". I think we can agree that butcher knives are deadly weapons.

[Snake Alchemist]

7. Are you really defending 10-20 people beating up an old man?

We should know more shortly. I believe arrests are underway.

[Solomon]

8. First, I don't know if it was 10 to 20 people beating

him. Second, we don't know if he brandished a weapon and threatened little children do we? Third, if I lived in that neighborhood and some guy threatened my child with butcher knives, yes, he'd get a fucking beating. Perhaps someone was kicking his ass. and 10 to 20 people were eventually there and it got morphed into "a mob of 30 people beating him". We don't know.

What we do know by now, is that it had nothing to do with revenge for Martin as originally reported.

We also know, that stand your ground doesn't apply on behalf of black people.

Take it however you want. I know how disappointed you are that its not a Trayvon thing. I feel for you.

[Skip Intro]

9. Um, the article the OP links to says two witnesses say "justice for Trayvon" was mentioned by

one or more in the mob.

That's what the article says.

"The case has drawn wide attention via the Internet, because at least two witnesses reported hearing references during the beating to the Trayvon Martin case in Florida. Owens is white, while witnesses said that the assailants were black."

Just saying.

[The Magistrate]

30. Police, Sir, Say That Was Not Said To Their Investigators

http://blog.al.com/live/2012/04/mobile_police_on_mob_attack_no.html

"Mobile Police Chief Micheal T. Williams said this morning that investigators have not yet corroborated allegations that a Saturday mob attack on a white man by a group of black men was racially motivated.

"Williams said that investigators have interviewed the sister, Ashley Parker, and the victim, and that neither mentioned attackers saying anything about "justice for Trayvon."

"Meanwhile, Mayor Sam Jones cautioned the public not to jump to conclusions and to wait until the investigation had revealed the facts.

"He said that police told him that Parker was in the house during the attack and that other witnesses in the neighborhood didn't report any statement about Martin."

[Skip Intro]

10. The article says nothing about Owens "weilding butcher knives at kids."

I don't understand the need to twist things.

You post half of what is written about what one neighbor said about butcher knives.

The whole, short, excerpt on that reads:

“He ran in here and got 2 butcher knives. I said, ‘What are you doing with these?’” he said. “He was in a rage.”

The neighbor said he does not know what Owens did with the knives but added that he does not believe they were a factor in the confrontation with the children or the subsequent beating.

There are more facts emerging and I agree we should wait on all relevant facts to emerge before passing judgment, but taking half of something and twisting it into something that wasn't reported - I just don't see what purpose it serves.

[Cali_Democrat]

13. The man appears to have stability issues

More information will continue to emerge and shed even more light on this guy.

The police are downplaying any connection to the Trayvon Martin incident for good reason.

[Cali_Democrat]

28. This article does...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002607531

[coalition_unwilling]

12. "Fussing" at the kids with butcher knives, was he? Why do I

smell right-wing agendas in the story as originally reported? Or maybe that wasn't a right-wing agenda I was smelling, as I had to lift my feet.

[Cali_Democrat]

14. The moment folks like Drudge began pimping this story....

People felt the need to dig a little deeper and look at what has been revealed....

Things aren't always what they appear, especially when it comes to stories pimped by conservatives.

[coalition_unwilling]

16. Especially when those conservatives start waving the bloody shirt. This

was so predictable - my bullshit meter was firmly in the red zone this morning before I had even finished my first cup of coffee.

[dkf]

15. So if Owens was brandishing knives at the kids why didn't someone call the police?

Shouldn't they have taken their kids into the house and let the police handle it? Hey maybe the dispatcher would have told everyone to stay away and let the authorities handle things.

And didn't the mob go vigilante the same thing Zimmerman is being condemned for?

If the mob wants to claim self defense I am entirely willing to consider it, same as I am willing to consider the charges against Zimmerman.

What we get from this is the realization that no one has learned a thing from the Trayvon Martin case.

[Cali_Democrat]

18. More facts have to emerge

We don't know much about the confrontation at this point.

[dkf]

19. Well they should be arrested ASAP right?

Who needs evidence, there is probable cause!

Funny how things work out.

As for me, I'm going to wait to come to conclusions, but again, this is not positive for race relations.

[Cali_Democrat]

20. Like you

I'm going to wait to come to conclusions.

[dkf]

22. But it's almost uncanny how much the incidents are like

Funhouse images of each other...

Even down to someone screaming for help, begging for their life.

Owens illustrates how he may have had the weapon, a knife, but he was in mortal danger even so. To the gun nuts it will be evidence of why you need a gun for self protection.

How very odd is that?

[Cali_Democrat]

23. Barely any facts have emerged and nobody knows much of anything about what transpired.

Especially folks who weren't there like yourself.

I will wait for more facts to emerge before jumping to conclusions about fun house images, guns for self defense, mortal danger, screaming for help and begging for ones life.

[dkf]

24. Well maybe the media won't try to inflame things with the "justice for Trayvon"

Angle.

I hope they are responsible about trying to dampen any rage instead of exacerbating things.

[Cali_Democrat]

25. It appears Owens has quite a history

Records from Mobile County Metro Jail show that Owens has been arrested numerous times. Levy detailed 3 violent confrontations he has been involved in since 2009.

I'll be curious to see those arrest records.

I highly doubt this guy should have been allowed to own a gun with numerous arrests.

[dkf]

26. He was the victim in two of the three incidents.

"In July of that year, Levy said, police took a report that someone hit Owens with a baseball bat. At that time witnesses told police that Owens yelled racial slurs and threats at a black man in the neighborhood. No one was charged in that incident, Levy said.

Parker said his brother-in-law was walking peacefully down the street at the time and that he was talking to himself but that assailant thought he was talking to him.

In an Oct. 29 incident, police said, a black man walking up the street asking for cigarettes eventually stopped at Owens’ home. An apparent disagreement ensued, and the man hit Owens in the face, police said."

The man has a history of getting violently beaten up, not the other way around.

Ironically the one guy he punched was white.

[Cali_Democrat]

27. The guy clearly has some significant stability issues

It's no surprise that someone like him would be caught up in a situation like this.

Again, we need more facts.

[Lilyeye]

21. Its still sickening that a group of people had to beat this man. Nothing excuses that.

However, this does show that this wasn't just simply a man getting beat because of "justice for Trayvon." The right wing nuts was desperately pushing that memo.

[slackmaster]

29. I'm getting the impression that Mr. Owens has some mental health issues

That's no reason for a crowd of vigilantes to beat him up.