The last two black kids charged with beating the three white women in Long Beach on Halloween night have pleaded guilty to felony assault with a deadly weapon. But the hate crime charges were dropped, they won’t get any jail time, and they’ll still have to attend a race tolerance program.
So basically, on paper, they didn’t hate anybody, but they still have to attend a racial tolerance program.
Here is the LAT and PT take on it.
Of course, one of those kids will still be hanging out at the courtroom for months to come. He was arrested for an unrelated crime a couple of months after the Halloween incident.
The PT offered a couple of other tidbits that I didn’t see in the LAT or AP accounts. One of the boys’ lawyers had requested her client’s ankle monitor be removed, but the judge refused. Why?
Brown also refused Vitale’s request that her client’s ankle monitor be removed until he returns to court on June 15 for sentencing, noting the teen had serious problems with school attendance and his grades until he was placed in the California Department of Probation’s monitoring program. Since then, his grades have risen from Ds and Fs to As, Bs and Cs and his attendance is much better, the court noted.
It’s hard to say that this is over and done with. It’s different for me, since I’m Filipino. But if I were a white woman in Long Beach, I’m not so sure how I would feel about walking around at night after all this. I mean, think about it – a bunch of kids charged and convicted with beating a trio of unarmed women were punished with…..house arrest, probation and attending a racial tolerance program that will likely be just like detention to a teenager.
Sounds like cruel and unusual punishment to me — for the victims.
I am a white woman living 3 blocks from the beating site. If one can get into a brawl at the opening night concert of the Boston Pops, one could argue that one is not safe anywhere. Fear will not take the City of Long Beach unless we let it. I for one am praying for peace.
Coming from the East Coast I am always shocked at the level of anger and seething hostility on the part of so many African-Americans here in the LA area. So many times they have you tip toeing around thier wants and needs while many have much less respect for your boundries. They drive nice cars and have nice clothes and the latest in cell phones and various electronic devices yet they quickly put you on the defensive in a racist way. I just didn’t see this level of anger on the East Coast and they would pretty much accept you without nearly the suspicion and negativity I find here. Also I notice many of their adults here are much heavier and out of shape than back east which can certainly make anyone grumpy. I think LA is hard on anybody due to its overcrowding and economy and value system, but they always interpret that as racism directed at them. That is the problem, everything seems to center around them and their needs and they have a separtist view of the rest of us. Its like they bought hook line and sinker the commercial narcissism sold to all of us. But we all face that problem, its not unique to them.