Sixth immigrant dies from brutal robbery attacks last week

[AlphaCentauri]

A sixth Hispanic farm worker died Tuesday from injuries suffered last week when members of an apparent armed-robbery gang went on a brutal early morning rampage with guns and baseball bats in four south Georgia trailer parks, officials said.

John Bankhead, a spokesman for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, said the six victim died Tuesday at a Macon hospital. A rape victim and four men who where shot or battered with bats are recovering.

None of the victims _ all men except the rape victim _ have been identified, and authorities have announced no arrests.

The attacks early Friday in Tift and Colquitt counties have sent a chill through south Georgia's large Hispanic community, which includes hunderds of farm workers who harvest the state's multi-million-dollar vegetable and tobacco crops.




http://www.accessnorthga.com/news/ap_newfullstory.asp?ID=65870

[YDogg]

1. I was driving through Tifton that morning.

Freaked the hell outta me to hear about the attacks later.

[jody]

2. That's so sad. I've met many Hispanic farm workers in that area.

They are hard working, law-abiding, and very religious.

I hope the criminals are caught and sent to a Central American country for prosecution.

[jwirr]

3. What kind of animals is this country producing that

it has become the thing to prey on those weaker than them? This is the kind of mentality that bushie encourages and likewise the reason he keeps his supporters. Greed - Hate - Self Righteousness.

[-..__...]

4. Where is there any indication that the "animals" are from this country?

And who's to say if they're here legally also?

This kind of shit sounds like one Hispanic ethnicity preying on another.

Used to be that the old "Black Hand" crowd (Maffia), in this country started out preying upon their own people.

In more recent times, it was the Asian gangs that spread fear and intimidated their own people.

I used to live in a heavily diverse community of Central and South Americans.

Color me naive, but at that time I didn't realize some of the hatred between peoples of different Hispanic origin... the Salvadorians hated the Nicaraguans. The Brazilians hated the Colombians. For some reason, Guatemalans were at the bottom of the pecking order. :shrug:

I can see MS-13 types involved in something like this.

[jwirr]

5. Of course it could be that. I know that kind of hate also as I live

in a minority community now and the community is often at war with each other. I guess I was stereotyping southerners! Sorry.

[jody]

6. "stereotyping southerners"? Which ethnic group did you mean? n/t

[jwirr]

7. How about right wing christians who have a strong bias

against anyone not just like them?

[jody]

8. Do you really believe "right wing christians" robbed and murdered

the victims?

[jwirr]

10. I do not know who did it but I do not rule out that group.

Who do you think was in the KKK? They were holy roller in the light of day and KKK in the dark of night. Are you saying that it is not possible? Right here on the res were I live there are flare ups between whites and our people that have ended up in deaths and rapes on both sides. Everything is not always what it looks like.

[jody]

11. You say "whites and our people" but other groups are in South Georgia. n/t

[QC]

14. Got any evidence for that?

Please feel free to share it with us if you do.

[-..__...]

9. Maybe soccer has something to do with it?

;-)

[LisaL]

16. I don't think so.

One surviving victim described killers talking in English.
It's pretty clear they are americans.

[DoYouEverWonder]

34. Usually in crime stories

if the race and/or color of a person is not mentioned it is assumed they are white.

[jody]

35. In this case they were not, see #27. n/t

[DoYouEverWonder]

36. So if you go to the original story

it is immediately apparent that the suspects are black or hispanic.

I guess that's why they didn't bother to mention it in the story itself.

[jody]

37. I don't think so. When the media reports crimes, perhaps one should not

jump to conclusions about the suspects until more information is available.

In this thread, a few people did that and now they find out the suspects are from another ethnic group. :shrug:

[High Plains]

18. Well, maybe in the arrest reports; guys with Anglo names

But a nice attempt at diversion, though.

[QC]

19. Speaking of attempts at diversion,

the post to which you are responding went up quite some time before the news broke that suspects had been arrested.

[High Plains]

22. The poster was off an an anti-Hispanic, anti-immigrant tear...

"...And who's to say if they're here legally also?..."

"...This kind of shit sounds like one Hispanic ethnicity preying on another..."

"...I can see MS-13 types involved in something like this..."

[-..__...]

28. Now who's speculating?

"The poster was off an an anti-Hispanic, anti-immigrant tear..."

That's quite a stretch and totally without merit.

As you posted... "speculation is a dangerous thing".

[TroglodyteScholar]

12. I heard a story about this on Georgia Public Broadcasting...

It mentioned that immigrant workers in that area are often targets of robberies because they don't have the necessary papers to open bank accounts...so they have a lot of cash either on their person or hidden in their homes. This is really really sad. :(

[Eugene]

13. AP: Arrests Made in Ga. Hispanic Killings

AP: Arrests Made in Ga. Hispanic Killings

Authorities Announce Arrests in Attacks on Hispanics
That Left Six Workers Dead in Georgia

MOULTRIE, Ga. Oct 4, 2005 — Two men were arrested Tuesday in connection
with a string of brutal attacks in south Georgia that targeted immigrant
farm workers, authorities said.

The crime spree last week left six workers dead, either shot or
bludgeoned with baseball bats. Four other workers were injured and a
woman raped.

Stacy Bernard Sims, 19, and Jamie Underwood, 22, are accused of shooting
and beating a Hispanic man at a Norman Park trailer park and then raping
his wife.

<snip>

Authorities believe Sims and Underwood may have been part of an
armed-robbery gang that preyed on immigrant workers, who often carry
large sums of cash because they lack documents to open bank accounts.

<snip>

Full article: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1184324

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[High Plains]

17. Gee, I don't think these guys are Mara Salvatrucha members

Good attempt at diversion by an earlier poster, though.

[QC]

20. See post #19. n/t

[-..__...]

21. My bad...

for even thinking that a bunch of swell guys like "Mara Salvatrucha" would even consider committing such a heinous crime.

[High Plains]

23. See my post #22

...Oh, the dangers of uninformed speculation.

[-..__...]

29. "Uninformed speculation"?

In late breaking news?!?

Say it ain't so?

:eyes:

[High Plains]

30. No offense, D_S...

You're certainly not the only one. Yours truly has even been guilty of similar things. But I try to avoid it because then I only end up looking stupid when my uniformed speculation is proven wrong.

peace out.

[-..__...]

32. It's the Internet.

Where would else can we get and share our daily dose of speculation and over-the-top conspiracy theories?

:smoke:

[Bridget Burke]

24. Houston Police don't check immigration status.

They want victims & witnesses unafraid to come forward when crimes are committed. That's why the Minutemen announced plans to come here this month. Other groups announced plans to "welcome" them to our fair city.

I notice some messages have been removed. Surely, someone has pointed out that you can't know someone's immigration status by the color of his or her skin.

[raccoon]

25. This is awful. I hope they make an example of the perps. nt

[AlphaCentauri]

26. 3 charged in murders of immigrant workers (update)

TIFTON, Ga. - Three people have been charged with murder for the deaths of six Mexican immigrants who were killed during robberies in south Georgia.

Stacy Bernard Sims, 19, Jamie Underwood, 27, and Jennifer Wilson, 26, were charged with six counts of murder for the attacks last week in Tift County, authorities announced Wednesday at a news conference.

Sims and Underwood were arrested Tuesday and accused of shooting and beating a Hispanic man and raping his wife in neighboring Colquitt County on the same night of the killings.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9594098/

[AlphaCentauri]

27. sketches of suspects

http://www.tiftongazette.com/content/1/8368/Murder+suspects+soughthtm

[jody]

33. Interesting. Some who replied to this thread quickly blamed one racial

group in South Georgia and now the paper reports that the suspects arrested are from another group.

That suggests those who rushed to judgment are guilty of racial/ethnic bigotry.

[DoYouEverWonder]

38. Interesting how the original story is very clear about race

where the updated story that is at the top of this thread has been significantly revised.


2005-10-02

TIFTON — A steady stream of people, mostly Hispanics, were in and out of interview rooms at the police station Saturday as city, county and state investigators continue to sift through evidence trying to solve the Friday murders of five Hispanic men and other assaults in the area.


<snip>

A Norman Park man was shot and beaten Friday morning when two black men entered his mobile home in the early morning hours. His wife was also hit and raped by the men and authorities believe the men had time to travel to Tifton and Tift County and commit the murders and assaults here.

Lewis said that there is no indication at this time that the murder and assaults were drug-related, but in one case, authorities aren’t discounting that the act may be gang-related. The most logical motive now points to robbery.

“You have to assume that they are all connected because of the close proximity of the crimes and the fact that they occurred so close in time,” Lewis said.

http://www.tiftongazette.com/content/1/8368/Murder+suspects+soughthtm

[meganmonkey]

31. That's pretty fucked up

:(

I'm glad they caught the murderers/rapists