An Arrest In The Mobile Beating

A black thug, Terry Rawls, has been arrested in the beating of Matthew Owens. An odd detail:

It was not the first time violence erupted between Rawls and Owens. Levy said the 2 traded racist epithets in July 2009 and that Rawls assaulted Owens. While a witness initially told police that Rawls had used a baseball bat, Levy said the suspect denied that, insisting he had only used his hands. The witness later said he could not be sure a bat was used, Levy said. 

At any rate, Levy said, the District Attorney’s Office reduced the charge to third-degree assault and dropped it when Owens declined to pursue it. 

Is it a hate crime?

[Police spokeperson]Levy [said] police have set up a meeting to present information about the incident to the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which have jurisdiction over federal hate crimes. But Levy reiterated today that police are convicted that the Martin case did not motivate Saturday’s incident. Instead, he said, the assault resulted from long-simmering bad blood between Owens and Rawls. 

I'm not sure it is a hate crime, partly because I am not sure what constitutes a hate crime (other than political incorrectness or a current fad). I don't think this mob was looking for any random white person to whom they could deliver a beating; they picked Owens for other reasons. OTOH, I don't think he would have gotten that beating if he were black.

I am a lot more confident in saying that Eric Holder's people won't see a hate crime here.

Comments

[Gregory Koster]

You are wrong about Holder & Co. They will find the epithets exchanged in 2009 all they need to prosecute. Who will be given the works? Need you ask?

Should The One be defeated this fall, look for a cascade of pardons. Holder and The One will be set for life, even if no money changes hands.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Local issue, no doubt.

Not worth the news time.

Yet.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Oh, money is going to change hands, alright.

Don't you know how the Cook County Skool Of Bidness works?

[Melinda Romanoff]

O/T-

Gus, you have mail. Respond to henry, he knows how to get me regarding dining out tomorrow.

[Melinda Romanoff]

That's three in a row and my sign off.

G'night all.

[Joan]

Yes, yes, yes, I soooo agree with you about what constitutes a hate crime. It is such a pc term.

[MarkO]

Wait a minute, I hate crime.

[AliceH]

Hater.

[Donald]

Are there any federal statistics in the percentages of violent crimes committed on a race against race breakdown?

Cause I bet they're um, unsettling.

Or unhelpful.

[Danube of Thought]

Owens himself has a long record as a low-life asshole. Could be Trash v. Trash, where they happen to be of different races.

[jimmyk]

Maybe, but a ten or twenty beating one to within an inch of his life.

[Beasts of England]

Donald@11:56 - The linked data do not exactly answer your questions, but a little extrapolation can go a long way...

http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/homicide/race.cfm

[faketony]

We have to get rid of 'Hate crimes'.

If we all are equal how do we have 'protected classes' that enjoy their own special prosecution?

Mr. Owens is a victim of an assault.

[faketony]

...maybe even 'attempted murder'.

[frank k.]

hey , jimmyk .... "It takes a village" , don't you know ? .... frank k.

[Andrew Krause]

Where are the other 19 arrests?

[daddy]

An OT down Memory Lane:

1) Holder Admits to Not Reading Arizona's Immigration Law

2) Napolitano Admits She Hasn't Read Arizona Law But Says She Wouldn't Sign It

Neither Holder, nor Napolitano had taken the time to read the 10 page long Arizona Bill that is now being argued in front of the Supreme's. While making big public stinks about it they both admitted that they had not taken the time to read it.

I haven't seen that mentioned lately, but with what went down at the Supreme Court today by way of arguments embarrassing the Solicitor General, and thus the Administration, I just thought it was worth reminding folks that the 2 top Immigration/Law Enforcement officials in our nation had not taken the time to read a frickin' 10 page bill before publicly criticizing the thing as Un-Constitutional.

They ought to be publicly denounced and drummed out of Office for that, and if they were Republican's they would have been. How long would that have taken of their valuable time, 20 - 30 minutes, an hour max?

Mitt Romney could do himself a lot of benefit by bringing this up and telling us that in his Administration he'll make damn sure his Attorney General and Homeland Security Head reads every damn piece of Legislation that they plan to argue is Un-Constitutional, before they publicly declare it Un-Constitutional, unlike Holder and fat-Janet.

If it loses, will they now absolve themselves of responsibility by saying that since they didn't read it themselves they shouldn't be held responsible for it going down in flames in front of the court because they didn't actually know what the hell was in it?

Who knows, but I just mention this because I recall being astonished that neither of these Bozo's had read it, tho' I sensed that partly they were saying they hadn't read it in order to shield themselves from having to go on record as having to answer specific, potentially damning questions about it.

I also have a very vague memory, which I can't currently verify, that somewhere along the line Obama also admitted he hadn't read it. Him I believe, because I don't think he read's anything but a Teleprompter.

Hope somebody finally shoves a microphone in Holder's and Napolitano's face and asks them if they've gotten off their butts and finally read the Arizona Law that I hope kicked their ass in Court.

[Ralph L]

An Arrest In The Mobile Beating
Duh, there's no such thing as perpetual motion beating, so it had to stop sometime.

[daddy]

I may have uncovered a 3rd Obama Administration Official who neglected to read the 10 page Arizona Bill.

Powerline posts this illuminating exchange that took place today between Justice Kennedy and Solicitor General Verrilli:

JUSTICE KENNEDY: So you’re saying the government has a legitimate interest in not enforcing its laws?

GENERAL VERRILLI: No. We have a legitimate interest in enforcing the law, of course, but it needs to be — but these — this Court has said over and over again, has recognized that the — the balance of interest that has to be achieved in enforcing the — the immigration laws is exceedingly delicate and complex, and it involves consideration of foreign relations, it involves humanitarian concerns, and it also involves public order and public –

Obviously SG Verrilli, like his partners Napolitano and Holder, didn't read the Arizona Law either. I'll be happy to chip in for a 6-pack to whichever JOMer can make any sense whatever of Verilli's answer:)

[Cecil Turner]

I think it's gonna take more than six.

[Bob]

An earlier news report said that Owens has mental problems. If this is true the entire neighborhood would know this. In a Politically Correct world this is an attack on a DISABLED person. As obnoxious as he may be he is an unfortunate HANDICAPPED man and protected under the law. The FBI and DOJ should be advised.

[cboldt]

Owens's crime was noticing a crime. So he got a beat down. Criminals hate to get caught. Does that make this a hate crime?

Mobile, Ala. black-on-white beating sparked by theft, not basketball

... the incident started after one of [Matthew Owens's sister, Ashley Parker] children witnessed some of the eventual assailants stealing an item from a neighbor's porch -- not, as some media outlets have reported, following a disagreement about a pick-up basketball game in the street.

That erroneous media reporting, dagnabbit.

[cboldt]

-- An earlier news report said that Owens has mental problems. --

I believe that is based on a set of allegations by an un-named neighbor who hates Owens.

In a stunning development on Tuesday, WKRG released raw footage of an African-American woman who lives on the street where the beating occurred exclaiming that Owens, not the mob, was at fault. She yelled her protest in the direction of correspondent Lauren Vargas and her cameraman as they prepared to shoot a news segment.

The woman, who did not identify herself, said that police had to be called "every weekend" because "Mr. Owens was swinging ... knives out here in front of these kids." She also alleged that he was "bipolar" and "he drinks."

She also accused Owens of being a racist: "The kids' ball just went up here in his yard," she yelled, "and he started cussing, like calling them `niggers.' How would you like for your kids to be called `niggers' all the time?"

WKRG reported Wednesday after Rawls' arrest that he lives in the same house as the woman who accused Owens, on-camera, of being a racist. ...

Parker told TheDC that after Owens yelled at the group of black youths for stealing, he told them to bring their parents over so he could talk to them.

The kids brought their parents, said Parker, and then some.

[Bob]

Hate crimes can be committed on the basis of a person's protected characteristics of race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and DISABILITY. Was he targeted because he is the neighborhood crazy. Is Owens also in a protected class?

[Bob]

cbdolt, The neighbor in defending their brutal retaliation may have inadvertently spoke the truth. But she is almost certainly unaware that he may be in a protected class himself. If he is so impossible to deal with call the police. Assaulting disabled people because of their disability is not permissible.

[Jane (Better a crate than a plate)]

If it loses, will they now absolve themselves of responsibility by saying that since they didn't read it themselves they shouldn't be held responsible for it going down in flames in front of the court because they didn't actually know what the hell was in it?

Think of how much this ridiculous charade cost the taxpayers.

[cboldt]

-- The neighbor in defending their brutal retaliation may have inadvertently spoke the truth. --

I doubt it. I think she's lying to protect her thug son. It worked, somewhat. The press reported that Owens was fruity.

[Bob]

I think she's lying to protect her thug son.

Most certainly but she then blurts into a possible admission of retaliation against another protected class. Playing the politically correct game goes both ways.

[AliceH]

LOL, RalphL@2:49

[Clarice]

A few more of these and pols who want to abolish hate crimes might just have an awakened to the truth voting bloc to support them.