Unprovoked beatings of homeless soaring in America

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homeofthebrave
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Unprovoked beatings of homeless soaring in America

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Unprovoked beatings of homeless soaring

By TODD LEWAN,
AP National Writer
Sun Apr 8, 7:20 PM ET


ORLANDO, Fla. - It was a balmy night, the sort that brings the homeless out from the shelters, when the police were summoned to America Street. On the driveway of a condo, just a few paces from the gutter, lay a man. A dying man.

He looked to be 50-ish, and a resident of Orlando's streets, judging by the moldy jacket. And he'd been bludgeoned — so badly bludgeoned that he could hardly move.

Before being rushed to the hospital, where he died of his head injuries, the man, August Felix, described his attackers. Young fellows did it, he whispered to the officers who got to him first. Kids.

Within three months, two 16-year-olds and three 15-year-olds had been charged with second-degree homicide in the March 26, 2006, attack. The motive? "I don't think there was a motive," Sgt. Barbara Jones, a police spokeswoman, said, "other than, 'Let's beat someone up.'"

That high-schoolers had turned — allegedly on a whim — into executioners brought pause to city officials and advocates for the homeless, not just because the killing was unprovoked, but because it fit into a trend larger than Orlando: a nationwide surge in violence largely by teenagers and young adults against some of America's most vulnerable citizens.

A 2006 report by the National Coalition for the Homeless found 142 attacks last year against homeless people, 20 of which resulted in death — a 65 percent increase from 2005, when 86 were violently assaulted, including 13 homicides.

By comparison, 60 such attacks were reported in 1999, the year the coalition — the only entity to gather such data — began to study the problem.

And these numbers are likely low because they only reflect the most egregious attacks reported in newspapers or by agencies that serve the homeless and some victims themselves, according to Michael Stoops, acting executive director of the Washington-based coalition.

The trend is particularly troubling, he says, because such attacks no longer occur just in major cities on the East and West Coasts, as was the case in the 1980s.

In its most recent study, "Hate, Violence, and Death on Main Street USA," the coalition documented attacks against the destitute in 62 communities last year alone, in 26 states. Since 1999, such violence has occurred in 44 states and Puerto Rico, and in 200 communities nationwide.

An overwhelming majority of the attackers — 88 percent — were 25 or younger; 95 percent were male. No less than 68 percent of those accused and convicted in attacks were between the ages of 13 and 19.

This pattern of violence, in Stoops' view, hasn't gotten the attention it deserves from the public or law enforcement.

"Homeless people are the newest minority group in America that is 'OK' to hate and hurt," he said. "It's as though, somehow, they're viewed as less deserving, less human than the rest of us."

Americans did pay attention to the story of 58-year-old Jacques Pierre, a homeless man who'd been sleeping on a bench on a college campus when three teenagers woke him up, taunted him, then nearly killed him with baseball bats.

Why?

That Jan. 12, 2006, ambush in Fort Lauderdale was filmed by a surveillance camera, and broadcast worldwide.

"For once," says Sean Cononie, who operates a homeless shelter in that seaside city, "Americans saw with their own eyes how kids hunt down and kill homeless people as though it were a sport."

Such "sport" has occurred elsewhere:

_In Toms River, N.J., five high-school students were charged with beating a 50-year-old homeless man nearly to death with pipes and baseball bats — throwing hockey pucks at him for good measure — as he slept in the woods.

_In Butte, Mont., a 53-year-old homeless man was killed at a Greyhound bus depot because he refused to give another man a cigarette, according to court records. The victim's skull was fractured. The 22-year-old assailant received a 50-year prison sentence.

_In Spokane, Wash., a one-legged, 50-year-old homeless man was set on fire in his wheelchair on a downtown street; he died of his burns. Police charged a 22-year-old man with first-degree murder.

_In Nashville, Tenn., a 32-year-old homeless woman sleeping on a boat ramp was shoved into the Cumberland River, according to witnesses. Two men, ages 21 and 22, were charged with homicide in her drowning; authorities say the attack was unprovoked.

Cononie, who also publishes a monthly newspaper, "The Homeless Voice," reported another trend:

"Kids are even starting to videotape themselves hurting homeless people. That's something we never saw before."

He was referring to an February incident in Corpus Christi, Texas, in which a 22-year-old, a 16-year-old and a 15-year-old describe on camera how they are going to assault a homeless man, then do so.

On the tape, the attackers kick the man in the back, grab him, and flip him around to show off his injuries, according to police. The camera, which had been stolen, was recovered by the owner, who called police once she saw the footage.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070408/ap_ ... e_homeless




The land of the free... :roll:
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weedbender
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Post by weedbender »

Sounds like these guys have gotten some trianing from the Taliban. :lol: This stuff goes on all the time in other countries as well. But atleast these people have food and shelter when they want it but sometimes they even turn that down. :cry: If the punks get caught they pay the price in prison so dont worry. :wink:
My children got killed in school by a suicide bomber and I need some pain killers.
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homeofthebrave
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Post by homeofthebrave »

Sounds like these guys have gotten some trianing from the Taliban. :lol:
Sounds like your morally corrupt society is teaching your kids it's okay to kill someone because they are different, especially if they are too weak to fight back.

Your kids will make great conscripts when the crusade runs of of enlisted soldiers...
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weedbender
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Post by weedbender »

Our society has its problems but we dont blow each other up in every state becasue we dont agree on the " SAME " religion.

LOL
My children got killed in school by a suicide bomber and I need some pain killers.
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homeofthebrave
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Post by homeofthebrave »

Our society has its problems
You got that right! :lol:
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MaxPower
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Post by MaxPower »

Even 10 year olds beat up homeless people.


10-year-olds attack, beat homeless man, police say
POSTED: 3:42 p.m. EDT, March 30, 2007
Story Highlights• Children and 17-year-old face felony aggravated battery charges
• Police believe teen was a ringleader in the alleged attack
• 10-year-old beat homeless man with piece of concrete, cops say
• Attack highlights increasing trend of U.S. young people attacking transients

By Ashley Fantz
CNN

Adjust font size:
(CNN) -- Egged on by a 17-year-old, two 10-year-old boys joined in the attack of a Florida homeless man, leaving him bruised and bloody, police said.

The incident highlights an upswing in violent crime across the U.S. against the homeless.

In 2006, there were 142 attacks and 20 murders, several involving teenagers seeking a vicious thrill, according to the Washington, D.C.-based National Coalition for the Homeless.

Tuesday's incident, which took place in Daytona Beach, Florida, may make history, said the nonprofit's acting executive director Michael Stoops.

"If we're talking about 10-year-olds, that means we've hit an all-time low," said Stoops. "The youngest person to have ever been arrested for a crime like this is 13." (Read CNN's exclusive story about homeless 'sport killings')

Daytona Police Sgt. Billy Walden said the teen and two boys were walking in their neighborhood around 9 p.m. when they saw 58-year-old John D'Amico. They began throwing rocks at the homeless man.

The 17-year-old, Jeremy Woods, punched D'Amico who then fell over a concrete wall. As he lay on the ground, one of the 10-year-olds -- whose names are not being released -- used parts of the concrete to bash D'Amico in the head, a police report shows. (D'Amico describes his attack)

D'Amico's eye was severely damaged in the attack. Woods and the two boys were charged with felony aggravated battery and are being held without bond at a juvenile detention center in Daytona Beach, Walden said. (Watch cuffed 10-year-olds in court )

The Volusia County State Attorneys Office received paperwork on the case late Thursday and will make a decision about whether or not to pursue charges, said spokeswoman Linda Pruitt.

The three boys made their first court appearance Wednesday wearing ankle shackles and handcuffs, and white jail jumpsuits too big for the two tiny 10-year-old frames. Judge Peter Marshall assigned them public defenders.

Attacks in Florida
Violence against the homeless occurred in cities and suburbs throughout the U.S. last year but Florida led the pack with at least six such crimes in 2006. (See a map of 2006 attacks)

One of those cases has garnered international attention and is expected to go to trial this fall after a surveillance camera captured two teens beating a homeless man with bats in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on January 12, 2006.

Prosecutors say 17-year-old skateboarder Tom Daugherty, 18-year-old Brian Hooks, a popular hockey team captain, and a third unseen teen, Billy Ammons, a high school dropout, assaulted two more homeless men that night.

One of them was 45-year-old Norris Gaynor. A witness, Anthony Clarke, told police and CNN last year that he saw the three teens approach Gaynor as he slept on a park bench. Daugherty began whacking Gaynor with a bat, Clarke said.

The Daytona Beach area was the scene of another high-profile attack in which four teenagers confessed to beating 53-year-old Michael Roberts to death in the suburb of Holly Hill in May 2005.

The teens -- one as young as 14 -- pummeled Roberts with sticks and logs, fracturing the homeless man's skull and breaking his ribs.

All four pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder and are serving separate sentences ranging from 35 years in prison to 22 years and were sentenced to probation for life.

Florida lawmakers met Tuesday with advocates to work on a bill that would provide more protection for the homeless and provide local communities with assistance funding for homeless prevention.



http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/03/29/homele ... index.html
Homer Simpson- “‘Kids, there’s three ways to do things: the right way, the wrong way, and the Max Power way.’”

Bart Simpson- “‘Isn’t that the wrong way?’”

Homer Simpson- “‘Yeah, but faster.’
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