Michael Brown question prompts assault

Shame, shame on the people that looked on and said nothing.
 
Shouldn't have clicked on that... I liked my blood pressure where it was. And people were *laughing* while it was going on too? :notgood: :silenced:
 
http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/28/us/st-louis-metrolink-beating/index.html. Mar 28 (same as OP link)
"Question about Michael Brown leads to beating on St. Louis light rail train"
Headline does not fit story, imo, and something like this would be more accurate.
"On StL Metro Link men beat other man with no provocation"

W headline, I expected story about a person taking side against MB, provoking a person or causing altercation.
Instead, turns out - man asked guy to lend phone, was refused, then asked him about MB, to which guy responded -
'I'm too tired to think about it' and 1st man started punching him in face ~12x, and a second man joined in, kicked him.

Was phone request was ruse to either steal phone or to start MB convo, in turn, an excuse for punching, beating?
I guess any answer would result in punching, beating, kicking, then attackers getting off at next stop.
Glad that surv cam got pretty good image of them; hope it leads to arrests and convictions.*

ETA: *that is, if events occurred the way the punchee described them.
 
C

Wow just wow!! So where is the outrage for this?

I'm outraged. This sort of incident goes on every day in this country and the only time we hear about it is when it can't be swept under the rug. Rape, murder, and mayhem are a constant these days, but they are covered up to protect the guilty. It makes me sick.
 
http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/28/us/st-louis-metrolink-beating/index.html. Mar 28 (same as OP link)
"Question about Michael Brown leads to beating on St. Louis light rail train"
Headline does not fit story, imo, and something like this would be more accurate.
"On StL Metro Link men beat other man with no provocation"

W headline, I expected story about a person taking side against MB, provoking a person or causing altercation.
Instead, turns out - man asked guy to lend phone, was refused, then asked him about MB, to which guy responded -
'I'm too tired to think about it' and 1st man started punching him in face ~12x, and a second man joined in, kicked him.

Was phone request was ruse to either steal phone or to start MB convo, in turn, an excuse for punching, beating?
I guess any answer would result in punching, beating, kicking, then attackers getting off at next stop.
Glad that surv cam got pretty good image of them; hope it leads to arrests and convictions.*

ETA: *that is, if events occurred the way the punchee described them.

"IF"? I have no reason to doubt the victim, and NO, I do not think the headline is misleading. Of course the wanted a beatdown, and in my opinion, MB was the reason. How many other atrocities have been committed in his name? Quite a few if you look it up.
 
"IF"? I have no reason to doubt the victim, and NO, I do not think the headline is misleading. Of course the wanted a beatdown, and in my opinion, MB was the reason. How many other atrocities have been committed in his name? Quite a few if you look it up.

I believe we're thinking along the same line, but I expressed my thought vaguely.

cnn Headline:"Question about Michael Brown leads to beating on St. Louis light rail train" bbm
Do you think the initial puncher really had a question about MB events? Did he care what this dude thought?
I think he had either an attitude about MB as murdered by LE or an attitude period. Not a 'question about MB.'
Maybe one of these better expresses the thought & would have been a more accurate headline:
'Attacker's attitude about MB leads to unprovoked beating on StL light rail train'
or
''Attacker's attitude about life leads to unprovoked beating on StL light rail train'

You posted: "Of course the wanted a beatdown." I think so too and suppose that even if man had said:
"MB was murdered in cold blood; DW should be charged, get death penalty and be executed before midnight tonight,"
the attacker would have responded the same way - by using his fist to punch him in face ~12x.

I have no particular reason to doubt the punchee. That said, in reading virtually any news article,
I ask myself it is unvarnished truth or if ppl have reason to shade truth, to withhold vital pieces of story, or to just lie.
Sometimes I easily imagine reasons for ^, after all we're on Websleuths; other times, I brain-strain to find one.
So I said "if."
 
Link up dated Mar 30, ~ hr ago:
"....police announced Monday evening that two people had been arrested in the attack and
another person believed to have been involved was in custody and cooperating with police.

"The two people arrested are 21 and 15, police said." bbm
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/...cle_acb16940-735a-5dd6-a4fd-4bcd123a0891.html
^ A welcome development.^

Wording of vic's stmt re convo changes a bit, from ~ 'I'm too tired to think about it' to this:
"...After he said he hadn’t thought much about it, the same suspect began punching him in the face." same link, ibm

"A security guard said he saw three men attack the man around 10 p.m. on an eastbound train
stopped at the Forest Park MetroLink platform."

Others quoted in article commented about MetroLink. Several said they feel safe in using MetroLink.
"Metro spokeswoman Dianne Williams reassured on Monday that it’s one of the safest public transportation systems
in the country and that “senseless acts” like the recent assault are very rare."


A local minister said, "'They need to start enforcing their rules on foul language and loud music.'"
Seriously, maybe a better place to start enforcement is w physical attacks, imo, imo, moo, then work on potty mouths & loud music.
 
ETA: *that is, if events occurred the way the punchee described them.

Not sure why the victim would need to lie under any circumstances.

Sad thing is this supposedly happens a LOT in some urban areas, the targets are usually lone caucasian males and when it isn't caught on video no charges are filed. Either the males are too ashamed to file a report or the police just tell them that realistically they will never find the perps, so the men drop it.

Even if it is reported it is just described as a "robbery attempt". You can bet if there was no video this would have been described the same way except of course none of us would be discussing it.

I realize this victim may not have had any other choice regarding riding the bus, but if he DID have a choice had he done this many times before and thought nothing would happen to him? MO law makes it a class C felony to carry a legal firearm on a bus which makes individuals such as this even more of an attractive target. Fortunately Georgia law allows bus carry with a CCW so everyone has a chance to ride mass transit and be able to protect themselves against savage criminals like this.
 
The name of MB was used so people would know why the attack happened. Forget the CWP, when this type of thing is happening, just carry the weapon and answer for it later. It's not like he wasn't the victim of a crime. He deserved the right to defend himself.
 
Haven't been on in a while and thought (for some odd reason...) I'd check in this morning but you've re-affirmed why I stopped frequenting and posting here. Have a meaningful day ~
 
Haven't been on in a while and thought (for some odd reason...) I'd check in this morning but you've re-affirmed why I stopped frequenting and posting here. Have a meaningful day ~

The truth is hard to take sometimes.
 
Shouldn't have clicked on that... I liked my blood pressure where it was. And people were *laughing* while it was going on too? :notgood: :silenced:

We are seeing this happen everywhere now. People attacking and beating up on people for no reason.

Violence has become a type of blood sport entertainment all across the country now.

So many no longer care about their fellowman much less helping them when they are in need.

I read another story about three teens invading a home of an elderly man in his 80s. They did not rob him but they beat him up unmercifully. Once he was unconscious they left taking nothing. He did not know any of the intruders. I think that was their goal the entire time. Like I said, to some it is all a sick twisted game to them to commit violence on defenseless people.
 
We are seeing this happen everywhere now. People attacking and beating up on people for no reason.

Violence has become a type of blood sport entertainment all across the country now.

So many no longer care about their fellowman much less helping them when they are in need.

rsbm

These generalizations are simply not supported by the facts. Violent crime rates have been in a steady decline for over 20 years. Anecdotes about specific awful incidents don't reflect any trends -- if anything, they tell us about how news reporting has changed.
 
This Ronald Williams = def dob 1994, so ~20 y/o.
Probable Cause stmt shows one punch w fist to vic's head.
Here, no mention of other def's question re MB.
Does mention def asked vic to let him use his cell phone.
See related link below for full P/C stmt.

Summary of P/C from StL Mo. City Circuit Attorney website:
_______________________________________________________
Ronald Williams has been charged with third-degree assault
March 31, 2015
Related Links




Language from Probable Cause Statement: The victim was a passenger on the MetroLink seated in the front of the train. As the train was travelling eastbound, the defendant and others approached the victim from the rear of the train. One of the individuals requested to use the victim’s phone and since the victim did not know the individual, he declined to provide his phone. A short time later, the victim was struck multiple times by one of the individuals wearing a red shirt. As the victim was being punched by the indivdual in the red shirt, this defendant punched the victim once in the head with his left fist. This attack was captured on video from MetroLink and others on the train. The police department received information from the community that led to the identification of the defendant.


*Charges are only accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until the defendant is either found guilty or has pleaded guilty.

Statute: assault in the third degree
http://www.moga.mo.gov/mostatutes/stathtml/56500000701.HTML
Statute: hate crimes--provides enhanced penalties for motivational factors in certain crimes
http://www.moga.mo.gov/mostatutes/stathtml/55700000352.html



 
CNN's Don Lemon will be discussing this crime on his program tonight (starting at 10:00 PM EST). Never thought I would see CNN cover such a crime on the air. Normally they ignore these type of hate crimes.
 
I can't find it but I saw a video where the video was captioned where you could hear the voices as the attacker asked questions and the victim quietly answered. I am still looking for it and will post it when I find it. Meanwhile i submit the video below.

This video is interesting because the person videoing starts firming BEFORE the assault, as if he could tell something was going to happen. He even moves forward to get a better view. The video is hear laughing at the end, gleefully exclaiming "man that's messed up".

Here is youtube clip of the raw video that runs about 1:12 minutes. It also has sound and starts BEFORE the first hit. I would like to know what you hear on the video. It is hard to hear but I am sure we can figure it out.

Right around the 27 second mark they attackers are up in the front in a group of about 3-4, loudly talking. I hear "what u think about this" and "how u feel about this.

[video=youtube;_JPrDklNukQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JPrDklNukQ[/video]
 

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