It's a "scuffle", a "brawl", not a riot. Never mind that a dozen were arrested

[cali]

200 Massachusetts beachgoers brawl during Mother’s Day seaside scuffle:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/200-beachgoers-brawl-mass-mother-day-article-1.2217736

How would this have been characterized if the participants were black? Words matter.

[seabeyond]

1. words... matter. nt

[gordianot]

2. "I always get it and by God you better let me have it"

Or..... I am so stupid ass drunk I have no idea what I am doing.

Obviously I took the non black perspective.

[malthaussen]

3. I've been re-reading a lot of US civil war history recently.

I have to grind my teeth with great frequency when the battles are described as "contests."

Words do matter, but I think we need to remember that the power lies not in the words, but in the meaning we attach to them and the way in which we use them. I often think people argue semantics when they should be arguing substance. But it is so much easier to argue about semantics.

-- Mal

[Art_from_Ark]

29. I believe the meaning of "contest" may have softened since the Civil War era

While we may think of "contest" in today's context of "speech contest" or "beauty contest", back then "contest" could be construed as a violent fight or struggle. And among the synonyms Merriam-Webster lists for "contest" are "war", "warfare", "battle" and "combat".

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/contest

[Cali_Democrat]

4. They won't be referred to as thugs

white privilege

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

6. NO chance, none. The denial of racism in America, on DU, etc, stunning

[MADem]

22. Uh....they won't be referred to as thugs because they were juvenile girls.

At least some of them were black--the only adult (college kid) arrested was black.

They let him go on his own recognizance, he has a curfew and can't go to the beach until he gets this resolved. He's annoyed about this, doesn't think it is fair.

He picked a troublemaker for a girlfriend, I suspect.

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2015/05/11/police-arrest-up-to-12-people-in-revere-beach-brawl/

[Boudica the Lyoness]

27. What are you talking about?

[daleanime]

5. True....

[Egnever]

7. Aww how cute now we are looking for reasons to be outraged

Where there are none

[Blue_Adept]

8. Boy these numbers keep changing

This morning on the Boston-local news, it was a dozen people. Then I see national report that says 100 according to the Mayor. Now it's up to 200.

[Agschmid]

15. Yes I am in Boston and I heard 12.

[MADem]

21. People are making this out to be more than it was.

A bunch of girls fighting, a few boyfriends posturing.

It happened in a rather visible place on a hot day. One of the girls hit a cop, so they reacted with overwhelming presence, and it was over in two shakes of a lamb's tail.

It was nine "brawlers," total, mostly juvenile GIRLS -- one young adult lad, and he was a black community college student--he's probably not even 20 yet.

[MADem]

18. The final number is NINE. Only one adult "brawler" who is a black college kid.

Four or five of the arrested were juvenile girls.

The one "adult" is a college kid attending Roxbury Community College. He has a pretrial hearing on Jul 15, he has a curfew of six PM, and he can't go to Revere Beach while his case is pending. He's back home probably getting yelled at by his mother. He probably wishes he didn't go to the beach on Sunday.

People are trying to jazz this up. It was a fight between girls over a purse. Another girl smacked a cop. The popo didn't wait for drama, they called in reinforcements, and they locked it down fast.

If there were a hundred people "involved," probably seventy five of them were cops! In the video of the police cars and the crowds, you can see families strolling with their infants and toddlers. This just isn't the "ATTICA!!!!!!! ATTICA!!!!!!!" type situation that some are looking for....

[Blue_Adept]

23. Oh, I know

which is why I find the posts and the news articles about it amusing. it was basically a minor curiosity on the local news networks and you can see others trying to gin it up into something more for...

ratings.

[TheCowsCameHome]

9. Check out the videos,

then tell us who was in it.

[gordianot]

10. On reflection too bad it was not in Alaska and Sarah Palin could not bring her circus.

[MADem]

11. "Brawl" is often associated with fisticuffs while "riot" generally involves property damage.

Last edited Mon May 11, 2015, 01:26 PM - Edit history (1)

If there wasn't a lot of property damage, I'd say "brawl" or "melee" is an appropriate word. From what I understand, the "brawl" started with two girls fighting, a stolen purse, perhaps, and a third girl punching a cop in the face. Then it spread to the boyfriends chiming in, and went on from there.

I'm not clear on the race or ethnicity of the perpetrators in this situation. Revere/East Boston is much more diverse these days than it was a decade or two ago. (UPDATE-see other posts/links; the premise of the OP is debunked)


If these troublemakers rampaged down Revere Beach Boulevard breaking windows and destroying property, I'd call it a riot. As it was, it was a bunch of drunken assholes tossing a few bottles, giving the cops some lip, and from what I know about cops in Revere, they don't play. It's entirely possible they made the situation worse rather than better, but in short order the beach was back open.

[Capt. Obvious]

12. NECN called it a riot

http://www.necn.com/news/new-england/Enormous-Brawl-on-Revere-Beach-in-Mass-303230711.html

[MADem]

14. Their headline calls it a brawl, and the only adult defendant arrested was black.

http://www.necn.com/news/new-england/Enormous-Brawl-on-Revere-Beach-in-Mass-303230711.html

It is what it is--a bunch of girls got in a fight, everyone gathered around and egged them on, a few other fights broke out, a bunch of arrests (9 apparently) were made, but ONLY ONE of the people arrested was not a juvenile.

This wasn't Baltimore, this was someone trying to steal someone's purse on the beach in a very pleasant seaside neighborhood.

[GeorgeGist]

30. Nope

[Capt. Obvious]

31. Yup

Did you watch the video?

[Nye Bevan]

13. What makes you think the participants were white?

Do you have some pictures to share with us?

[MADem]

16. The only adult arrested was black.

http://www.necn.com/news/new-england/Enormous-Brawl-on-Revere-Beach-in-Mass-303230711.html

The rest were kids, and the "adult" young man was barely an adult. You can see him at the link above.

This was a fisticuffs, maybe a purse-lifting, according to one witness, but in essence a fight between a couple of girls, with another girl involved who belted a cop, and boyfriends posturing. Apparently many of the "beer bottles" thrown were in fact plastic soda bottles.

The PD in Revere have a reputation for not screwing around. They crack down fast. On the one hand, that may seem bad. On the other hand, they have a reputation for "community policing" (i.e. they live in the neighborhoods they serve). The minute things got wild, they called in reinforcements and settled things down quickly. There's video of people strolling the beach in the evening after the dust-up. It was over quickly. Nine arrests, all but one juveniles.

Anyone trying to "Baltimore" this incident up is going to have to work pretty hard to do that.

[PasadenaTrudy]

17. Click the link for pics

[MADem]

19. Why are you rolling your eyes? It's a politely worded question.

The only adult arrested was black. And he was accused of "brawling," not "rioting."

He didn't even start it--a couple of underaged girls did. Then another juvenile girl hit a cop.

This is not the big drama that people want to make it. No property was damaged, and those "beer bottles" being thrown were plastic soda bottles.

Why do people want to make stuff more dire than it actually is, I wonder?

The "adult" kid (he's a community college student) has been arraigned and released on his own recognizance. He's been put on a curfew and can't go to Revere Beach until his case is resolved. The other eight juveniles will be dealt with in that system.

[cwydro]

20. I watched both links.

One link calls it a riot.

In the other link you can see two girls who appear to be in handcuffs and also appear to be AA, so I'm confused too.

[Nye Bevan]

24. There's still an opportunity for the OP to be outraged.

All she needs to do is to direct our attention to the black participants in the fracas, and to the media outlets that did call it a riot. There's always a way to be outraged when you want to be.

[cwydro]

25. Lol,

you've got a point there.

[LanternWaste]

26. Much as there's always a way to rationalize a thing when one wants to...

"There's always a way to be outraged when you want to be..."

Much as there's always a way to rationalize a thing when one wants to.

[olddots]

28. it is called Re ve ahh

and the source is a foul rag that is wicked re tah dead .