A whole store saw a weeping girl dragged by her hair, but only one person intervened

[TexasTowelie]

A young girl is pulled by her hair at a Wal-Mart in Cleveland, Texas. (Erika Burch)

Early this week, a shopper in a Houston-area Wal-Mart store witnessed an upsetting scene. A little girl, maybe 6 years old, was being propelled alongside a shopping cart by an adult man who had a fistful of her hair wrapped tightly against the cart's handle.

The girl, bent sideways as she stumbled along, was crying and begging the man to let her go, promising to behave.

Tell me, on what planet do you see this, then calmly return to your grocery shopping? In which universe do you not think, "Hey, hold on — somebody needs to help that child."

Somebody did, thank goodness. A woman — a stranger — tried to intervene, and asked the man to stop. He told her to mind her own business, which is perhaps not a surprise coming from an adult who is dragging a weeping child by her hair.

Read more: http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/latest-columns/20160923-a-whole-store-saw-a-weeping-girl-dragged-by-her-hair-but-only-one-person-intervened.ece

[Skittles]

1. there's really no debating this

that is inappropriate behavior, no matter what that child did......it is child abuse

the man needs to be investigated

[niyad]

4. perhaps a bit more than investigated. . . .

[niyad]

2. and the comments after one of the articles was just disgusting. bunch of reichwingers

screeching that the woman was interfering in something that was none of her business, etc., etc. bunch of real sickos out there.

[niyad]

3. had I been in that store, I would probably be in jail now.

[riversedge]

6. If he is so brutal like this in public--I can't imagine what goes on in his home!

[niyad]

7. the thought, and an accurate one it is, is horrifying.

[Control-Z]

9. I just posted much the same down thread.

I lived it. He's hurting her worse at home, I'm sure. This publicity is sure to trigger an investigation, though. Which is the only hopeful thing about it.

[riversedge]

5. That was exactly my thought when I first saw this earlier today.

[Control-Z]

8. If he's doing that to her in public

he is doing far worse in the privacy of his own home. I know.

My heart breaks for that little girl. If someone doesn't intervene she's got a hard life ahead. Or a short one.

[Vogon_Glory]

11. As horrible as this story was, I witnessed a flip-side version

As horrible as this story was, I've also learned that there are also situations where people hear, care, and then act.

I was mindeing my own business at a branch of the Austin (Texas) Public Library when I overheard a young girl screaming in the women's restroom. Most patrons heard the pitch of fear and agony and realized that this wasn't a kid throwing a hissy fit. Several people went into the bathroom and found a molestor trying to assault the screaming girl. One of the other patrons got the girl away from the assailant, and the rest of us set to calling 911 and to ensuring that the perpetrator didn't leave the restroom.

After what seemed like forever, the cops came and got the guy.

I left the building at that point, but I saw the girl's father gently carry his daughter to the EMS van as I was getting ready to drive away.

People occasionally DO step up to the plate.

[TexasTowelie]

12. FYI, there is a story in the Dallas Morning News.

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2016/09/27/woman-stops-attempted-rape-girl-austin-library-patrons-guard-man-police-arrive

I'm glad that everyone reacted and did the right thing. I'm sure that the girl was shaken by the incident, I used to live fairly close to that particular library back in the 90s.

[Vogon_Glory]

13. I'd Worried That The Suspect Was Hispanic And Was Someone From Where He Used To Get Away With It

When I heard the descriptions of the suspect while he was cornered in the stall of the women's bathroom, I'd worried that he was a Hispanic migrant and that the Trumpkins could go to town by using him as a tool for libeling ALL Hispanic migrants, but it seems like he's also a native-born son of Uncle Sam.





A coda for concerned parents. That branch library's bathroom is generally quite safe, with only one entrance in or out, and is sited away from the building's main entrance. And after the perp's actions, patrons are going to be on edge for WEEKS.