Charges say white assailants hurled racial epithets as they attacked two black men in Brooklyn Park.

[kpete]

Source: Minneopolis Star Tribune

Charges say white assailants hurled racial epithets as they attacked two black men in Brooklyn Park. .

By PAUL WALSH and ABBY SIMONS, Star Tribune s taff w riters

Derrick Thomas was on his bike with home in his sights, returning about 1 a.m. Wednesday from hanging out with his girlfriend and cousin in Brooklyn Park.

Before he knew to be terrified, Thomas, who has autism, found himself flying over his handlebars and writhing on his back on the concrete. Standing over him, he said, were three men armed with an ax, brass knuckles and a gun.

They beat and kicked the 18-year-old while screaming a racial epithet, and they ordered him to strip naked, he told police. Then they robbed him of everything he had, including his Air Jordans, blue jeans and shirt. Police said Thomas has a mental capacity of someone 8 to 10 years old.

"They were saying stuff like, 'We hate the president; we're gonna kill the president, his wife and his kids,'" Thomas recalled from his front stoop Friday, his left eye puffy and discolored. "They said every black person that comes through our park, we're gonna kick their butt. We don't like black people, period."

Read more: http://www.startribune.com/local/west/61452677.html?page=1&c=y

[bertman]

1. I can't believe some awful, racist thing like this could happen north of the Mason-Dixon line.

:popcorn:

[geckosfeet]

6. What - that hate crime perps are caught and charged with a hate crime?

Damn.

They didn't even duct tape, hang and scrawl racial epithets on their victims after they robbed them.

Amateurs.

[sasquatch]

9. Also the police didn't list it as a suicide either

Thank you BTW.

[Gulftrout]

62. Believe it

You're awfully naive. Plenty racists up north. Y'all hypocrites.

[AllyCat]

66. Yet another one who can't see the point of the post.

[Joanne98]

2. It's Michele Bachmann's district. She hasn't denounced this yet

She must be supporting it. She needs to APOLOGIZE TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE FOR BEING A BAD INFLUENCE ON YOUNG PEOPLE!

[Hansel]

4. This is Erik Paulson's district.

Another Republican. This district is directly south of Bachman's district.

[Joanne98]

10. Oh darn!

[Hansel]

22. The thugs live in Keith Elison's district.

I'm sure they are freaked out because they have a Black Muslim for a representative.

[MineralMan]

36. No, Brooklyn Park is not in her district.

[valerief]

46. Isn't Bachmann's hate speech illegal? nt

[varelse]

3. His assailants have been charged with felony crimes

Oops - they already have been charged with felonies, and one of them has a record.

Kilpela and Westerlund each were charged with two felonies, aggravated first-degree robbery and attempted first-degree robbery, and two gross misdemeanors, fourth-degree assault and attempted fourth-degree assault. Those latter charges address the racial motivation.

"We will appropriately investigate, as we do all threats against the president," said John Kirkwood, special agent in charge of the Secret Service's Minneapolis field office. Such threats, Kirkwood said, are felonies.

Congratulations, racist thugs - you have earned special attention from the Secret Service.

[Hansel]

13. This is a big story in the local media.

The disdain for what these people did oozes off of the news reporters as they discuss this crime. You can tell that they are utterly repulsed by this and that is the way they are reporting it. They are not treating it lightly.

They need to start calling the local politicians on their hate speech and calling on Pawlenty to renounce it. Some of them are capable of doing this. But I lay this square in the lap of Michele Bachman and the glut of right wing talk from the so called "Patriot" radio station, MN's own local right wing hate fest. And on Tim Pawlenty for not only not standing up and calling them out, but for playing off them for his own presidential ambitions.

[varelse]

20. For what it's worth

I agree with this assessment of Bachman and Pawlenty, and I applaud the people in your local media who are expressing appropriate reactions to this hate crime.

If Pawlenty expects this to help him into the White House in either 2012 or 2016, I believe he is badly mistaken - somehow I doubt he's quite that stupid. Perhaps he just thinks by avoiding taking a stand on it either way (or being dismissive of the problem), he can have a better chance of winning in the primary election? He'd have a LOT of backpeddling to do in the national election if that tactic did work though.

[Hansel]

28. We don't call him "finger to the wind Tim" for nothing.

He is a politician that fights against any progressive change in the state or anything that might raise taxes. Then when whatever he fought against becomes reality due to the hard work of the Democratic legislature and against his objections and vetoes, he is the first one there to take credit for it.

I have written emails to Pawlenty before asking him to do something to dial the hate speech down from his party in MN, particularly Michele Bachman. I got a form letter reply basically saying they don't have time to respond. Shortly after, he took a very hard "public" swing to the right. I say "public" because Pawlenty was always a right winger posing as a moderate. Now the cat's out of the bag on the real Tim.

[bertman]

17. Now these racist thugs will be assigned to White Supremacy Training Camp at the

State Prison--if we're lucky.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

24. Further radicalizing them. What a great idea. Not.

[Better Today]

5. Who the hell let's their autistic child with a mental capacity of 8-10

out on a bike at 1am????? WTF?!!

That being said, no matter the color of assailants or victim, the crime is heinous.

[Bjorn Against]

8. He was not a child, he was 18 years old.

If he wanted to go out at 1:00 his parents could not prevent him from doing so, he is legally an adult.

[Better Today]

14. Sorry, doesn't wash. IF his actually mental capacity was that of 8-10 then

a parent or guardian of consequence should have the power of guardianship over him even at 18. My daughter works in the industry specifically related to adults with mental disabilities, and they do NOT generally have the rights you describe as they have been legally ceded to an appropriate adult or adult care supervisory agent if the parents no longer choose to be that agent.

[Hansel]

19. What doesn't wash is your attempt to blame the victim.

We do not know why he was out there and it is beside the point. This is a brutal and hideous crime and is not diminished by your opinion that the victim should not have been out past his bedtime.

[malaise]

34. +1

Thank you

[firedupdem]

65. +1 Sad, any attempt to fault the victims here is ridiculous. n/t

[Gulftrout]

71. Complete lack of street sense

Only a fool gonna ride a bicycle at 1 am. Victims put themselves in a bad situation.

[amandabeech]

98. I think that the comment was directed toward his parents, not him. n/t

[Bjorn Against]

29. Not all developmentally disabled adults are without rights

All you know about this person's mental capacity is based on one sentence in a newspaper article, there are many developmentally disabled adults who are able to live fairly normal lives and do not have to have a parent or guardian watching them 24/7. How do you know his rights have been legally ceded to an adult or adult care supervisory agent? You make a lot of assumptions in an effort to blame the victim.

[noiretextatique]

33. he was with his 40yo uncle, who was also beaten

he was hit in the face with brass knuckles.

[noiretextatique]

41. he has the right not to be beaten by racist thugs

even at 1am in a park. did you even read the article? he was with his uncle.

[MineralMan]

40. Where did it say that about his mental capacity.

He has autism...that's what it said.

Blaming the victim doesn't wash here, as you'll no doubt discover. Your "That being said" statement is disgusting. This was a hate crime, pure and simple. The victim bears no responsibility for what happened to him.

[Better Today]

50. At no point did I blame the victim, I condemned the attackers. Spin based on the title of my post

is disingenuous.

I am concerned however about the victim's caregivers, who seem to think an 8-10 year old (mentally) should be out at 1 am. Again, perhaps because I am so close to the issue of mentally disabled adults through my daughter, I get extremely angry at the way their caregivers don't do their jobs. In this case, I see it as the caregivers being criminally irresponsible.

I will go back and read regarding the uncle being present. I may have missed that part. If that is the case, and the uncle is old enough (mentally and chronilogically) to be considered an attendant, then I shall consider myself corrected.

[MineralMan]

52. Your concern is noted.

However, the only thing said about the victim was that he is autistic. You created the 8-10 year old stuff. Go read again.

And you did blame the victim. Why was he out? That's blaming the victim.

But, I note your concern...

[Better Today]

54. Not true, I didn't make it up, it's right in the OP "Police said Thomas has a mental capacity

of someone 8 to 10 years old."

[firedupdem]

67. I see the caregivers that raised those ignorant pieces of garbage

who committed the crime as being irresponsible. Clearly, they didn't do much good if they raised these cowardice punks. :eyes:

People have the right to walk the streets and not be attacked! Who cares what time it was?

[Gulftrout]

72. Partially victims fault

Gotta be outta your mind to go riding that time of night!!

[Odin2005]

81. The guy is autistic. Us folks on the Autism spectrum are not the best with regards to "common sense"

[valerief]

48. Yes, it must have been the victim's fault. For being black. nt

[Cali_Democrat]

68. Someone on DU ALWAYS has to blame the victim.

It never fails.

[Fire1]

74. Yeah. Cause it's a cop out. n/t

[Odin2005]

80. He's an adult, and the "mental age" thing from the cops is probably BS.

The mental capacity of many autistics is always underestimated. If he had a girlfriend he sure as hell doesn't have the mental capacity of a 10yo.

[Mari333]

7. sadly, I expect a lot more of this.

watch your backs.

[NOLALady]

11. We have to understand

there's a reason for their hatred and racism. They fear black people. They must attack them in Parks, to insure that they will not have to fight them at their homes.

[Eric J in MN]

38. The assaults were on the streets. The name of the town is "Brooklyn Park." NT

NT

[Gwereeya]

12. Beckerheaded Idiots!

Kinda makes you wish we had coercive sterilization available, doesn't it?

[varelse]

21. I need to borrow that

"Beckerheaded Idiots"

It could go viral!

[tsuki]

31. I like Be_kerhead Hatriots. nt

[AlienGirl]

32. No, it doesn't. Racism is not genetic. nt

[fascisthunter]

15. the effects of hate speech on radio and tv

it empowers these losers, making them feel valid in their hatred of others.

[southernyankeebelle]

16. At least in the south they don't hide their hate. Not saying much. I am

still trying to understand why a person can hate another person because of the color of their skin. I will never understand that. Black american citizen fought for the citizens of this country when they put on a soldiers uniform. Shame on people who can't get pass peoples color.

[Blacksheep214]

18. We need to ask the question:

Have you now or have you ever listened to Fox News, especially Hannity, Beck and Fox and friends, or Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly or any other right wing radicals on the radio (podcasts et al)?

How many incidents related to these large audience fear and hate mongers will be acceptable before Homeland Security finds these people to be domestic terrorists using the public airwaves to espouse revolution and anarchy.

Even the first ammendment has it's 'fire in a crowded theatre' limitations.

The difference between dissent and opposition and what these people are doing is simply, THE TRUTH!

They all make shit up or edit for effect.

Lies are not news. Orchestrating protest, making the news because of it also is not news.

When can we yank their broadcast licenses for 'the good of the country'!

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

23. You need to read the Constitution.

[Blacksheep214]

25. Read it like Bush/Cheney?

nm

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

26. Much like you they too didn't read it at all.

[Aramchek]

61. tell the truth, you've never read it either

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

63. Everyone my age read it in school, I can't speak for younger folks.

[Aramchek]

77. I'm talking about reading it after your brain had developed enough to fully comprehend it

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

83. That would depend on the individual.

[Aramchek]

84. but noone's brain is fully developed at 18 or earlier

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

85. So one has to have a fully developed brain to understand complex issues? Is that your assertion?

[Aramchek]

88. no, only that you would have a greater understanding of the Constitution if you read it now

as opposed to the 8th Grade,
or whenever you studied it in Primary School

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

90. 10th grade and I had to read it in the military also.

[Blacksheep214]

94. Complicated concepts for a 15 year old.

At that age you don't even give a shit!

Please quit fabricating Dave.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

96. We already established it's too complicated for you right now.

It wasn't too complicated for me at 15.

[Blacksheep214]

86. Let's be serious

Our country is based on training our youth in the importance of continuation.

This applies to all matters personal, religious or political.

This is the dreaded indoctrination the right is so fearful of.

Please tell me who leads the pack in this continuation training!

Does the act of continuation make the act being continued correct?

The electoral college, religion in government, Zionism, Military Spending.

Our Sacred Cows need continuation by all means possible. Lest common sense take over!

Idiotic responses are welcome to prove my point.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

87. Sounds like a horrible education model to me. Definitely not used when I went to school.

[Blacksheep214]

93. Things have not changed for the better

nm

[Hansel]

30. This is not a constitutional issue.

The air waves belong to the people of the United States and they have the right to pull the plug on any radio program that is detrimental to the public discourse.

These guys still have the right to say anything they want, they just won't have the public air waves as a conduit for doing so. No one has the RIGHTS to the air waves. Using the public air waves is a privilege.

The constitutional rights to free speech are an individual right, but no one is constitutionally bound to give them a platform to spout them.

[noiretextatique]

35. we need to hold them accountable

for their speech. if that means pulling the plug on those who are inciting violence, so be it.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

39. Charge them with inciting violence it is illegal.

[noiretextatique]

45. works for me eom

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

37. So stripping a station of their license because of political speech isn't a Constitutional issue?

If they break the law and incite violence then charge them with that crime. These backdoor attempts to silence those opposed to the President are idiotic and would set a horribly dangerous precedent.

[noiretextatique]

44. what is "political" about calling the President a racist?

what is "political" about saying the President hates white culture? it is not political speech i have a problem with...it is hate speech.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

47. No different than calling Bush a nazi or a racist. Do you consider that hate speech?

[Hansel]

49. No, it is not a constitutional issue.

As much as you want it to be, it is not. Again, they have a right to free speech but the public is not required to give them a platform on which to spout it.

Your hyperbole doesn't change that fact. And this would not be as dangerous of a precedent as allowing the hate speech to continue unchecked is.

With your rights to the air waves comes responsibility and the right wing has shown increasingly that they are not responsible in their behavior and what they say.

What is idiotic is your argument that this is a constitutional issue. It is not.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

55. The Supreme Court of the United States disagrees with you.

There have been many rulings on broadcasted speech.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/judicial/2009-04-28-scotus-fcc-expletives_N.htm

http://w2.eff.org/legal/cases/FCC_v_Pacifica/fcc_v_pacifica.decision

[Hansel]

59. One of which is that you cannot swear on the public air waves.

Reconcile that. One time swearing is an accident. But the rule still stands that you cannot swear on the air waves on purpose.

[JonQ]

82. I love how so many have already decided the cause

Newsflash: most white supremacists hate republicans (and their friends on fox) as much as they hate democrats.

The way people respond to any violence on here, in the complete absence of evidence, remeinds me of the way white supremacists always "know" that blacks are to blame (or jews, catholics, etc) whenever anything goes wrong.

You know the culprit automatically and are just waiting for the crime to occur to blame them.

Not much difference between that and "the jews are responsible for all the worlds wars".

[Blacksheep214]

89. Anyone support white supremicists?

Didn't think so!

Anything can be discussed if only the other side quits believing made up shit! There is no other way to describe it.

Hysterical bs canot be a topic of discussion because there is no verification of any points.

[Scruffy1]

27. The Dogs of War

Having lived in Minnesota for most of 40 years there is no doubt the Beckheads are directly responsible. Mostly in Minnesota we have a kinder, gentler racism among the the less educated, but they generally would not use violence and are happy in their little white world. The nut who shot up the church in Kentucky had all the Beck and Hannity hate books. This bullshit is so cowardly of the Dobbs, Beck, O'Realy, Hannity, and Bachmann. They incite and the goobers do the time. By the way these
poor assholes will be doing many years in prison while their leaders live on multi million dollar salaries. We need to boycott everything sold on Fox. I canceled my cable because they carries Fox and let them know why. Could you imagine what a boycott of cable and satellite b a million people would do?

[Hansel]

43. Having lived in Minnesota for 45 years

I agree with this.

I think it is interesting where they guys committed this crime. Instead of going just a few blocks north were there is a large Black population, they went out to Brooklyn Park into what used to be a solidly white area until there was an influx of Blacks from Chicago, St Louis and Detroit. They probably thought they could get away with this easier there since there is a general anxiety due to the increase of violent crime in this area brought in by outsiders.

I used to live in this area and moved out because an increasing number of shootings taking place. When a man was mistakenly taken for a different person and gunned down by a gang member on the bus route I took to work every day I moved out into a more northern suburb.

I think these guys probably thought that they would be applauded for going into this area and "cleaning it up". Instead they have repulsed the vast majority of Minnesotans.



spelling edit

[Eric J in MN]

42. "Brooklyn Park, MN"

I just want to clarify for people outside the state that the assaults were on streets in a town called "Brooklyn Park" and not in a park.

Brooklyn Park, MN is north of Minneapolis and a suburb.

[ezdidit]

57. the distraction of racial hatred is making our country less safe.

This is a perfect example of how the distraction of racial hatred is making our country less safe.

(What's most impressive is that these racist yokels were arrested so fast. It's like a battle against graffiti: you have to erase their tags before they get a response from others. I :applause: illegal codesmilie_remote(':applause:') the Secret Service and the Local LEO's.)

Local, State and Federal LEO men and women are at the forefront of the war on terror. All this racist & extremist crap from the right is distracting them from their principal job, but President Obama is too caught up in some vain notion that it should not be suppressed on national security grounds when it is specifically our national security that is being directly threatened by internal threats.

[MadMaddie]

78. I consider them "Terrorist"! The DOJ and local police

have not gotten to the point to id them as terrorist. If these individuals and groups had brown skin and pushed the hate speech, propaganda, homophobia and terroristic threats etc they would be under surveillance and eventually arrested.

Beck, O'Leilly, Bachman, Limpballs and the rest are getting a pass because they are white. I hate to point out the obvious but that's the truth.

[Blacksheep214]

91. The Black Panthers

scared more people by excersing their 2nd ammendment rights to bear arms and wear leather. They sure didn't do a lot.

These Beck douchebags are brainwashed and are controlled to act on a suggestion.

Of course most would say the Black Panthers were more dangerous to America!

[MadMaddie]

100. Exactly!

Welcome to DU Blacksheep214!

[No Elephants]

51. The ugly nature of the reactions to Obama's policies have nothing to do with his race. My ass.

[Better Today]

53. I'm really curious about something else I'm reading in these posts....

If the assailants had not made racial slurs but simply used profanities like MF or Asshole or something non-race specific; would you all somehow decide this was NOT hatred? What if the attackers were black and making racial slurs?

Seems to me anyone who attacks or beats anyone in this manner should all be held to the same criminal felonious charges, regardless of what they say during, before, or after the assault; or what color their skin or the victim's skin is.

[Hansel]

58. Hates crimes are charged against people

who are committing an act based on some attribute of the person being attacked meant to send a chilling message to anyone who also is a member of a group with that attribute. If someone attacks someone for their race (even if they are White), their religion, their sexual orientation, their gender, their income status (transient) just because they are a certain color, religion, sexual orientation, gender, etc. and the meaning of the attack is to send a message that terrifies that group then is it a hate crime.

These types of attacks have the impact of terrorizing large segments of the population and can and have resulted in members of these populations not being able to seek the same freedoms of where to work or live or shop or worship, etc as anyone not of the same group. They are a wider ranging crime than an attack on just one victim, as brutal as that may be. And they have a way of escalating and spreading if the people are not dealt with harshly and the community does not clearly understand the significance of them.

I agree, anyone committing a violent attack needs to be dealt with severely. However, it is important to send an extra message to the community to let them know that even if you do not like the group being attacked, that attacks on them will not be tolerated. The potential for acceptance and thus escalation is just too risky.

[earcandle]

56. RW Nuts want to start a civil war. We have to be cool and put the heat on hate mongers.

[LatteLibertine]

60. Events like these are unfortunate on many levels

even though these fellows will be punished in a way they win because they are harvesting racial discord and mistrust.

I knew we'd have to deal with these people when President Obama was elected. Now I am worried about how far these fools may set race relations back. It's true they are a distinct minority and folks tend to focus on and remember the bad.

Of course many of the most wealthy who want to keep the poor and middle class divided along racial lines adore this sort of thing.

[graywarrior]

64. I blame the media for promoting the busllshit that comes out of the mouths of Bachmann, Beck,

Limbaugh and all the other racist hateful pieces of shit that are all over tv and radio.

[Barack_America]

69. All this because a black man was elected President.

It's pathetic.

Get over it, assholes.

[ZombieHorde]

70. Those assailants are nuts. nt

[Lydia Leftcoast]

73. Brooklyn Park is a working class suburb north of Minneapolis

A few months ago, the Minneapolis Star-Trib carried an article about a shopping center in Brooklyn Park that was losing stores and money. The online comments were full of racist remarks, referring to Brooklyn Park as "the jungle," "home of the diversity" and "a place where a white person is afraid to drive through."

Yes, there are African-Americans who have fled the more rundown parts of Minneapolis, and there are also Liberians, who in one of those examples of ethnic specialization (like Greek diners in New York or Korean convenience stores in Portland) comprise most of the nursing home staffs in the area.

But of course, to the Beckerheads who committed those crimes, dark-skinned people are all the same, whether they're working middle-class jobs or serving meals part-time in a nursing home while going to school.

[shadowknows69]

75. Come out in the open you cowardly fuckers and let's be done with it

Toe to fucking toe. Let's see how many people, and guns, you really have on your side. Oppressed people in this country aren't all the liberal pacifists you think we might be when the chips have to fall.

[Blacksheep214]

95. Let's Meet..

at Ft. Sumter to discuss it!

[defendandprotect]

76. Right wing has been trying to get a race war going for decades . . .

[shadowknows69]

99. They'll rue the day they finally get it.

They think they'll just be fighting a bunch of scared "darkies" with only pitchforks or something. I think they're in for a surprise.

[defendandprotect]

101. African Americans are too intelligent for that --

but it's an agenda that the right wing has often preached -- violence of "blacks."

Right wing really needs it!!

[Odin2005]

79. OMG, and this poor guy is autistic too.

:puke: :cry:

[Odin2005]

92. KICK

[last_texas_dem]

97. Wonder if Limbaugh will claim this is a product of "Obama's America," too?