<p>Here’s the deal: There are bad people in the world. They can be Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist or a myriad of other affiliations. The (apparently) FOUR young men who will be charged with the beating deserve the most stringent punishment determined by law. I am not a proponent of beatings of gay people or of anti-gay slurs against any human being. However, I am against painting any religious group <em>with a broad brush</em> when a small number of this group commit horrendous deeds. [personal comments re other posters deleted - Mod JEM]</p>
<p>Night, all.</p>
<p>Quick question: even if, for some reason, the people responsible aren’t charged, could the Yale students (or their parents) sue them or something? Seems like you can sue for just about anything, and getting beat up is pretty legit, especially if they identified the kids.</p>
<p>Here’s a non-related, but wild quote found at the end of the article, from the retiring Alameda sheriff:
</p>
<p>I haven’t looked at this thread since I made my last post, so I was not aware until a few minutes ago of hereshoping’s reaction (which I guess I should have anticipated, since I used the word “Catholic”).</p>
<p>Anyway, I backchecked what I posted, and my memory (of an incident that happened more than 12 years ago) was faulty: While the victim and his friends were Catholic school students, the kids who attacked and killed him all attended or had attended the public high school in an adjacent suburban community. So I apologize for my memory failure, and for any implication (which I did not mean to make) that there was something unique to Catholic high schools that made their students violence-prone. </p>
<p>My sense is that the high schools get named a lot in these stories. The killers’ high school was named in many of the stories I just checked. I also saw a group of stories from 4-5 years ago about a brutal attack by a gang of kids from one suburban public high school on kids from another, and 100% of the stories mentioned both high schools. There was another public incident here around then, where a group of boys from a prep school surreptitiously filmed a girl from another prep school giving oral sex to one of them, and then showed the videotape to some of their and her classmates. Again, the school’s name was consistently reported (however, many of the stories concerned a suit by one of the boys to block his expulsion from the school, so naming the school was integral to the stories).</p>
<p>“Quick question: even if, for some reason, the people responsible aren’t charged, could the Yale students (or their parents) sue them or something?”</p>
<p>Only if they can clearly identify specifically which individual kid hit which individual kid.</p>
<p>Much is on video tape, from a church security camera, so what the police are dragging their feet for who knows</p>
<p>To let them all just go, not even take them in for questioning with so many witnesses, makes me so angry, and it does many others</p>
<p>The issue of the high schools is simple. Apparently, two high schools happen to have engaged in unsavory behavior in the past when confronting each other. The issue is relevant because this incident can be seen (potentially) as just another dustup in an ongoing chain of violence. That makes the high schools relevant. The fact that these are Catholic high schools is incidental.</p>
<p>A journalist would be remiss not to mention the high schools because of the history there.</p>
<p>High Schools are typically mentioned by name. Even Catholics get into trouble…apparently. ;)</p>
<p>“Even Catholics get into trouble…”</p>
<p>You wouldn’t believe what an all-boys Catholic High School (not all of them) can be like. Being in trouble was SOP at my high school.</p>
<p>JHS: Former high schools was my point. And if your quote
was in reference to these particular high schools and these particular parents tolerating violence, instead of “homphobia,” I do apologize, although I kind of wonder what would make you draw that conclusion on such little information. ;)</p>
<p>[personal comment deleted - Mod JEM]
My gripe is with these kids, the culture of rivalry that goes beyond the sports field, and the police handling of the case</p>
<p>if these had been some African American kids from Hunters Point, you don’t think they would have been hauled in, they would have been, but because this was a group of upper class white boys, they were given the benefit of the doubt which they did not deserve</p>
<p>Just because the attackers didn’t dress in colors, didn’t mean they didn’t act like a gang with premeditation</p>
<p>I do know that both schools, Catholic, have zero tolerance policies and are proactive in being sure that any kind of hatred is not tolerated on campus, unfortuneately, the gang mentallity, drinking and underlying prejudice reared its ugly heads that night</p>
<p>What irks me is the slowness of the police, and the actions of these mostly priveledged young men who know better</p>
<p>There is a culture of, well, its the rivalry, and we did it when we were at the same school that some parents have that does not help curb the problems</p>
<p>and HH, I am one of those parents who doesn’t just want to maintain “traditions” and status quo</p>
<p>[* personal comment deleted - Mod JEM*]</p>
<p>OMG. I just spend 20 minutes replying to you, berurah and I lost the post!</p>
<p>It has been handled so poorly. Seems like the police just didn’t want to take it seriously from the start, (maybe because it involved priviledged kids?, maybe there was a “boys will be boys” mentality there?, maybe because it involved “some of their own”? ) but now will be forced to.</p>
<p>What was it that incited the attack? Did the attackers want to take a group perceived as elite down a peg or two? Jealousy? What causes these sort of mob attacks?</p>
<p>Moderating note:
Posters, I am in the midst of “cleaning up” this thread so that the incident may be discussed minus any ad hominem attacks on other posters. (I am working from the most recent (most heated) posts backwards.) PLEASE keep ALL posts to the topic of the thread, and refrain from making negative comments regarding other posters. It is appropriate, of course, to respond to arguments/points made by other posters.
This thread is worth retaining, IMO, so I am hoping it can continue without disintegrating again.
Thanks for your cooperation - Mod JEM</p>
<p>In my opinion (if I may be so bold as to express one ;)) this thread is NOT worth retaining until some FACTS about the case are revealed. As of today, there are no new facts in the case. We have no answers to the above questions of mstee, for example, and probably won’t for a while. Therefore, there is little reason for this thread other than for people to express their dismay–fine, as long as it stops there.</p>
<p>Newsom Responds To Choir Assault Case
Story Getting National Attention
By Dan Noyes
Jan. 11 - KGO - The ABC7 I-Team has new insight into how San Francisco police handled the investigation into a New Year’s attack on a Yale University choir. Many are saying it was mishandled. Now the story is getting coverage around the country and the world. </p>
<p>We’re doing a running tally – it’s been 10 days and 17 hours since police responded to the attack on the Yale students, and they still haven’t interviewed the victims. This case is getting city officials the kind of attention they do not want, around the world. </p>
<p>Since the I-Team broke the story of the New Year’s attack on the Yale singing group, The Baker’s Dozen, Monday, newspapers across the country have picked it up. Today’s New York Post reads, “Yale song birds are pummeled.” The story’s reached as far away as Canada, Australia and even India where the headline is “A cappella brings out worst in mob.” It’s a topic on national radio shows and many Web sites including The Drudge Report. </p>
<p>With the pressure building, Mayor Gavin Newsom finally addressed the controversy today. …
<a href=“http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=i_team&id=4928292[/url]”>http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=i_team&id=4928292</a></p>
<p>The mayor just sounds like a moron in that article, trying to shift focus to the fact that people were drinking underage, ignoring the real issues there.</p>
<p>Wow, I can’t believe the Mayor’s response. Something’s rotten in SF.</p>
<p>the mayor was wrong…</p>
<p>if the police messed up the initial investigation, which is how it appears, it would have been best to just say that. Something to the effect of"</p>
<p>We didn’t take the attack seriouslly enough
We didn’t follow through enough at the time</p>
<p>That was wrong and a huge mistake, and we will recitfy it and look at how such an incident was not taken seriouslly enough</p>
<p>A simple admission of OPPSSYY would go a long way, but it seems they are blaming everyone BUT the cops who were on the scene, and apparently there were enough to have handled the whole mess better…</p>
<p>As for Newsom, bad move on his part to react that way…egad</p>