Idaho town braces for sentencing after alleged high school racism and rape

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Guardian



Three football players were accused of assaulting a black, disabled team-mate with a coat hanger, and the aftermath has torn apart this mostly white town

Maria L La Ganga in Dietrich, Idaho
@marialaganga
Thursday 23 February 2017 05.00 EST


The young black man sat in a big leather chair in his lawyers office, recounting the song that one of his team-mates on the Dietrich high school football team had taught him. He sang it, the lawyer said, like it was the Star-Spangled Banner. He didnt know what it meant.

Moon man, moon man, cant you see, he sang, Spics and niggers need to hang from trees.

. . .

The young man, who is developmentally disabled, was allegedly raped with a coat hanger 18 months ago by John RK Howard, the white team-mate who taught him the song, and two other football players.

On Friday, Howard will be sentenced but after agreeing to a plea bargain designed to limit his punishment, he will avoid prison. The prosecutor in the case claimed the attack, which occurred after months of racial abuse and bullying, was not racially motivated and did not constitute a sex crime.



Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/23/idaho-football-coat-hanger-rape-john-rk-howard-plea-deal

[angstlessk]

1. After reading the few paragraphs

I cannot read the whole story...it will make me sick!

[still_one]

2. They will effectively get away with it. When the prosecutor states it was not racially motivated,

and did not constitute a sex crime, that tells you everything you need to know about Dietrich, Idaho

[brer cat]

16. Unbelievable!

not racist, not a sex crime?!

[still_one]

17. makes me sick to my stomach

[Else You Are Mad]

3. Don't want to ruin the lives...

Of good, white football players!


These stories make me sick.

[luvMIdog]

4. unbelievable

This is a HORRID outcome!! Has this whole country just gone insane?

[Solly Mack]

5. "The prosecutor in the case" is a piece of garbage.

and the judge, Randy Stoker is no better.


John RK Howard is a rapist and a racist who got away with his crime.

[raccoon]

6. Good god, what is that prosecutor smoking? nt

[MrScorpio]

9. White supremacy nt

[secondwind]

7. WTF??!!!?? And then they want to know why BLM takes to the streets?!!??

[politicat]

8. The judge, Randy Stoker, is a piece of work.

He's the one that let the weatherman rapist off with no punishment (not even probation) because the weatherman lost his job after he was arrested, and "that was punishment enough." He's the one who gave no meaningful punishment to the rapist who admitted he preferred to groom young girls via social media, who blamed the little girl for her own rape because she had a social media presence, and sentenced the rapist to abstinence or marriage. And as a prosecutor, dropped thousands of sexual assault cases rather than even try for a plea.

He googles up interesting.

[neohippie]

12. Judge should be removed from bench and disbarred

This is outrageous, and he consistently fails to his job both as a prosecutor and judge

[politicat]

18. Yes. And the "good" people of Idaho keep electing him.

He belongs to the right church, wears the right underwear, and is committed to keeping those whom his faith believes must be eternal servants always in their place.

He ran unopposed in 2014. He's up for retention in 2018, so he can be turfed, but it's going to take organization. Judges are hard to get rid of, because they're so far down ballot and they're almost always up for retention in off or odd years.

Local elections matter. This is an example of why.

[phylny]

10. This just breaks my heart.

Such cruelty. I wonder how the players' parents are spinning this?

[Mc Mike]

11. Not racially motivated and not a sex crime?

Glad the prosecutor established the ground rules, or casual observers might have developed incorrect notions, and been confused.

[heaven05]

13. white privilege in action, yet again

IF the situation had been reversed, racially, those three black men would be under the state prison now or dead by 'suicide', aka Sandra Bland death, in the local jail. These three WILL AVOID PRISON time with a plea, what pleas were those, "come on, he's just a n*****". AmeriKKKan justice and the trumpnation at it's most hypocritical worst.

[Wuddles440]

14. Another day...

and another soul crushing story. Beyond despicable. What the hell is wrong with these people and why are they still members of any decent and just society? We are so very screwed as a nation.

[Blue Idaho]

15. Another proud day for Idaho...

This is what happens when you have 23 years of uninterrupted republican supermajority in the state House, Senate, and you own the governor's mansion. Even though it's geographically separated, Idaho is part of the old south - you will see confederate flags flying in front of houses alongside American flags. Toxic place.