Sorry, but I have zero - ZEEERROOO - sympathy for brutish thugs like this. While I realize that they are still young in their mental and social development, our society should not allow violence - especially random, unsolicited attacks on innocent citizens, to go unpunished. Frankly, I've never understood why it is that we are not more stringent and severe in doling out legal punishment to those who physically hurt others, since nothing is more frightening or potentially life-threatening than being assaulted and battered by an enraged or aggressive bully.
The message our society sends to those individuals who consider perpetrating violence on another should be very clear. If you physically attack someone you will go to prison.
Period.
No probation, no good time, no breaks, no plea deals. You will be locked up, isolated, placed in austere conditions and kept away from everyone for a long, long time.
For thugs like the ones described below, I say throw the book at them. These kinds of creeps are what jails and prisons were created for. Send these cowardly vermin to the penitentiary for a good loooonnnggg time and you will send a very strong and clear message to others who may be contemplating similar activities.
Saturday, 07/07/07
3 teens charged in downtown beating spree
Homeless man, pedestrian hurt in July 4 attacks
By JENNIFER BROOKS
Staff Writer
Three Nashville teenagers are accused of beating and robbing at least three people during a vicious Fourth of July spree downtown.
Police say the three young men are believed to have cruised through town in a Chevrolet Suburban, jumping out periodically to assault passers-by — beating one victim, a 46-year-old homeless man, so severely that they broke his hip.
"The three alleged bullies preyed on the defenseless," department spokesman Don Aaron said in a statement about the attacks.
Joshua Binkley, 18, of Wesley Avenue; Kourtney Clark, 18, of Autumn Ridge Drive; and an unidentified 17-year-old were arrested later in the morning July 4 and charged with aggravated robbery, robbery, aggravated assault and assault.
Police found a cell phone belonging to one of the victims, a man who was attacked and threatened with a metal pole while walking his dog at 2:30 a.m. on Grace Street. All of the known attacks took place within a short time: The homeless man was attacked and beaten in the 900 block of Jefferson Street around 2 a.m.; at 2:15 a.m., a 47-year-old man reported that three young men jumped out of a Suburban on 12th Avenue North and beat him for no apparent reason. He sustained a head injury.
Evidence found in SUV
Later Wednesday morning, officers from the East Precinct stopped the Suburban based on the description of the vehicle used in the attacks. A search of the vehicle turned up the cell phone.
Although only one of the victims was homeless, advocates for the homeless say these sorts of attacks happen with depressing frequency.
Last August, Tara Cole, a 32-year-old homeless woman, drowned when two young men allegedly found her asleep by the Cumberland River and rolled her into the water.
"It does happen more often than you'd think," said Cathie Buckner, a member of the leadership team at the Nashville Homeless Power Project. "For some people, because these people don't have money, because they don't have homes, they don't have value."
Vice mayor an advocate
Nashville vice mayor and mayoral candidate Howard Gentry Jr. experienced this firsthand during the June night he and three other mayoral candidates spent on the streets of Nashville to get a feel for how the city's homeless live. Gentry went into a restaurant to ask for food and found himself "physically picked up and escorted to the door."
"They feel the homeless are defenseless, voiceless, that they can do what they want to them without consequences," Gentry said. "The homeless community is a part of this community. They are entitled to the same compassion and assistance as anyone else."
This latest attack came as area advocates for the homeless were preparing a vigil next month to mark the anniversary of Cole's death.
Police are asking anyone with information about the July 4 attacks, or anyone else who may have been attacked and didn't report the crime, to contact Detective Robert Swisher at 615-862-7569.
7.07.2007
Teenage Thugs BUSTED For "Preying on the Defenseless"
Sorry, but I have zero - ZEEERROOO - sympathy for brutish thugs like this. While I realize that they are still young in their mental and social development, our society should not allow violence - especially random, unsolicited attacks on innocent citizens, to go unpunished. Frankly, I've never understood why it is that we are not more stringent and severe in doling out legal punishment to those who physically hurt others, since nothing is more frightening or potentially life-threatening than being assaulted and battered by an enraged or aggressive bully.
The message our society sends to those individuals who consider perpetrating violence on another should be very clear. If you physically attack someone you will go to prison.
Period.
No probation, no good time, no breaks, no plea deals. You will be locked up, isolated, placed in austere conditions and kept away from everyone for a long, long time.
For thugs like the ones described below, I say throw the book at them. These kinds of creeps are what jails and prisons were created for. Send these cowardly vermin to the penitentiary for a good loooonnnggg time and you will send a very strong and clear message to others who may be contemplating similar activities.
Saturday, 07/07/07
3 teens charged in downtown beating spree
Homeless man, pedestrian hurt in July 4 attacks
By JENNIFER BROOKS
Staff Writer
Three Nashville teenagers are accused of beating and robbing at least three people during a vicious Fourth of July spree downtown.
Police say the three young men are believed to have cruised through town in a Chevrolet Suburban, jumping out periodically to assault passers-by — beating one victim, a 46-year-old homeless man, so severely that they broke his hip.
"The three alleged bullies preyed on the defenseless," department spokesman Don Aaron said in a statement about the attacks.
Joshua Binkley, 18, of Wesley Avenue; Kourtney Clark, 18, of Autumn Ridge Drive; and an unidentified 17-year-old were arrested later in the morning July 4 and charged with aggravated robbery, robbery, aggravated assault and assault.
Police found a cell phone belonging to one of the victims, a man who was attacked and threatened with a metal pole while walking his dog at 2:30 a.m. on Grace Street. All of the known attacks took place within a short time: The homeless man was attacked and beaten in the 900 block of Jefferson Street around 2 a.m.; at 2:15 a.m., a 47-year-old man reported that three young men jumped out of a Suburban on 12th Avenue North and beat him for no apparent reason. He sustained a head injury.
Evidence found in SUV
Later Wednesday morning, officers from the East Precinct stopped the Suburban based on the description of the vehicle used in the attacks. A search of the vehicle turned up the cell phone.
Although only one of the victims was homeless, advocates for the homeless say these sorts of attacks happen with depressing frequency.
Last August, Tara Cole, a 32-year-old homeless woman, drowned when two young men allegedly found her asleep by the Cumberland River and rolled her into the water.
"It does happen more often than you'd think," said Cathie Buckner, a member of the leadership team at the Nashville Homeless Power Project. "For some people, because these people don't have money, because they don't have homes, they don't have value."
Vice mayor an advocate
Nashville vice mayor and mayoral candidate Howard Gentry Jr. experienced this firsthand during the June night he and three other mayoral candidates spent on the streets of Nashville to get a feel for how the city's homeless live. Gentry went into a restaurant to ask for food and found himself "physically picked up and escorted to the door."
"They feel the homeless are defenseless, voiceless, that they can do what they want to them without consequences," Gentry said. "The homeless community is a part of this community. They are entitled to the same compassion and assistance as anyone else."
This latest attack came as area advocates for the homeless were preparing a vigil next month to mark the anniversary of Cole's death.
Police are asking anyone with information about the July 4 attacks, or anyone else who may have been attacked and didn't report the crime, to contact Detective Robert Swisher at 615-862-7569.
Smiling does a body good
