The Other McCain

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First Arrest in Alleged ‘Justice for Trayvon’ Mob Attack in Mobile, Alabama

Posted on | April 25, 2012 | 12 Comments

The case of Matthew Owens, a white man who suffered critical injuries after being beaten by a black mob — some of whom allegedly shouted “that’s justice for Trayvon” — has produced its first arrest: Terry Rawls, 44, who “has an extensive criminal history . . . including assault, burglary, theft and cocaine possession.”

Meanwhile, however, it appears that the victim in this incident was not exactly a model citizen himself:

Records from the Mobile County Metro Jail show that Owens had been arrested multiple times in the past, including multiple violent confrontations including charges of domestic violence, assault and sex abuse over the past 12 years.

Some witnesses say Owens brandished knives at the black kids playing basketball in the street — the incident that allegedly prompted the beating — and Owens may have shouted racial slurs.

Thus, as with the Trayvon Martin case itself, the beating of Owens does not appear appropriate for simple narratives of victimhood.

Quin Hillyer lives in Mobile and wrote in his American Spectator column that there is “almost no doubt that racial animus played the major role in the vicious beating.” Quin attended a press conference at Mobile police HQ today and was not convinced by the official assertion that there was “absolutely no reason to believe” the beating was racially motivated.

Maybe there is ultimately no way to know the motives. Maybe, rather than engaging in a snipe-hunt for “social justice,” people will have to be content with whatever outcome the law-enforcement system produces. Maybe everybody just needs to calm down, mind their own business, stay out of trouble and stop demagoguing every damned thing.

UPDATE: Well, what have we here? A “more nuanced portrait of Zimmerman has emerged,” according to Reuters, including this:

Though civil rights demonstrators have argued Zimmerman should not have prejudged Martin, one black neighbor of the Zimmermans said recent history should be taken into account.
“Let’s talk about the elephant in the room. I’m black, OK?” the woman said, declining to be identified because she anticipated backlash due to her race. She leaned in to look a reporter directly in the eyes. “There were black boys robbing houses in this neighborhood,” she said. “That’s why George was suspicious of Trayvon Martin.”

Read the whole thing. And calm the hell down, everybody.

Category: Alabama, Crime, Florida, Racism

Comments

12 Responses to “First Arrest in Alleged ‘Justice for Trayvon’ Mob Attack in Mobile, Alabama”

  1. Adobe_Walls
    April 25th, 2012 @ 8:36 pm

    Stop demagoguing, they won’t so we shouldn’t, the more divided the nation becomes the stronger one side or the other becomes. May God have mercy on the losing side.

  2. GAHCindy
    April 25th, 2012 @ 8:55 pm

    If we could get rid of all the stupid talk of “hate crimes” and just punish people for their wrong-doing, regardless of their inappropriate thoughts, these things wouldn’t even be news. Just bad people doing the things that bad people do. I don’t see how getting beat up for being white is any worse or deserving of any more justice than getting beat up for being a jerk.

  3. DavidD
    April 25th, 2012 @ 9:18 pm

    Even if it were true that Matthew Owens had brandished a knife and shouted racial epithets at the kids, vigilante justice is not the answer.

    How are the actions of the crowd in this case any different from those of a lynch mob?

    If you were to ask the people in the community, surely they would say that lynching is wrong. Why, then, did they participate? Why didn’t they just call the cops if Mr. Owens had indeed done what they say?

  4. Adjoran
    April 25th, 2012 @ 11:41 pm

    Actually, it seems that Owens and Rawls – the man arrested for assaulting him – have a long history, including a previous assault charge against Rawls which Owens declined to pursue..  It remains to be seen whether others in the crowd present participated in the assault, or were there to watch the neighborhood’s rival miscreants go at it.

    The problem the Florida authorities evidently have is trying to avoid a riot when Zimmerman is eventually freed, since there appears to be no evidence against him at all beyond his statement, which will likely be tossed. 

    A suspect must fully understand his rights and the circumstances to waive them; Zimmerman had been beaten on the head, his nose broken, and endured the trauma of fatally shooting his assailant.  If the judge allows five hours of interviews without counsel to come in, an appeals court will probably correct it anyway.  But if all they have are minor discrepancies, it won’t even get that far.

    Let face the FACTS of the case:  it was a justifiable shooting by all available evidence, and only became a controversy when race pimp Ben Crump approached the parents with the prospect of a payday.

     

  5. Adobe_Walls
    April 26th, 2012 @ 12:33 am

    The charging document is crap and unless ABC had video the police didn’t the prosecutor lied by omission at a minimum not to mention all the unsubstantiated assertions. Alan Dershowitz on Megyn Kelly’s show said, “This affidavit submitted by the prosecutor in the Florida case is a crime.”
    This prosecution is so bad and badly handled that one has to wonder what promises about covering the prosecutor’s back have been made.

    http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2012/04/25/dershowitz_affidavit_submitted_by_prosecutor_in_zimmerman_case_a_crime.html

  6. Anamika
    April 26th, 2012 @ 2:45 am

    Adobe — They just wanna kill the Father; our Father. They wanna kill the males, especially the white males. They love dead white males. It’s the rage all across the college campuses. It’s a conspiratorial plot, I tell ya, funded by the OFA aka NWO to divide and conquer America by aiding and abetting different groups against each other while reaping the profits from the misery they’ve inflicted while at the same time consolidating their power.

    The feminist movement is a tool being employed by the New World Order as a means to break down the the family by destroying the heterosexual male role mode  in society, by demonizing the father, the son and the holy spirit. Wake up and smellthe eternal. Obama and his  feminist-socialist ilk are part of a Satanic plot to destroy our American way of life of freedom and rugged individualism.

    It’s the Great Whore of Babylon, dude. It’s a holy war. Beware of the Prince of the Power of the Air. Kill your television.

    Don’t stop with your television. Go out to the garage. Get a hammer. Be brave, now…this is important ….take the hammer and smash your computer screen to bits. It’s the only way. Believe me. You have to do it.

  7. Adobe_Walls
    April 26th, 2012 @ 7:58 am

    Get a life or better yet a disinfectant!

  8. Justice for Trayvon « Andrew J. Patrick
    April 26th, 2012 @ 10:02 am

    […] STACY MCCAIN CHIMES IN: And points out that the victim is hardly a model citizen. We shouldn’t have any problem admitting that, as it makes not the slightest bit of difference. Share this:TwitterLinkedInFacebookStumbleUponDiggRedditLike this:LikeBe the first to like this post. […]

  9. Datechguy's Blog » Blog Archive » Steven Taylor strikes back…and wiffs » Datechguy's Blog
    April 26th, 2012 @ 12:30 pm

    […] I don’t doubt there might be more than meets the eye on this particular story, just as there was more than meets the eye on Zimmerman business Though civil rights demonstrators […]

  10. M. Simon
    April 26th, 2012 @ 3:03 pm

    The prosecution didn’t look at Zim’s medical records from the incident until O’Mara GAVE it to them in court? Really?

    Nifong territory.

  11. Bud Smith
    April 26th, 2012 @ 5:52 pm

    So far the mobs have had a free run, as they did in LA. Sooner or later they are going to try their brand of justice on people who are prepared. When they do I expect the price, for the mob, maybe come much higher than they want to pay. I am surprise that people do not do a better job getting prepared.

  12. Frankie
    April 27th, 2012 @ 6:06 am

    I dzd ith buthh noww I cain”t sea whuot U’m teypeang.