my partner witnessed something terrible yesterday...

[mike_c]

...and I can't get it out of my head.

There is a homeless encampment in a shallow ravine across the street from her office, with maybe six to ten shelters most of the time. It's on municipal land, and I gather that homeless people often don't feel safe from police harassment there during the day, and indeed, I've witnessed police shaking people down on the street near the encampment. The camp is not very visible from the street and many folks probably pass by without even knowing it's there, or without realizing how many people shelter there each night, especially during the dry season.

So yesterday afternoon, right after school ended for the day, my partner was taking a break on a balcony behind her office-- it's actually the back porch of the converted house her employer uses for office space-- when she saw a group of five young boys arrive at the encampment on bicycles. From that vantage you can see the encampment quite well. At first she thought the boys might be living at the encampment. All five boys were clean cut, riding nice bikes, carrying school books in backpacks. They were about 12 or 13 years old-- not older teens, but not really young children, either. That in-between age.

When they determined that no one was there, the boys proceeded to quickly and methodically destroy everything they could find. My partner says they started by smashing everything made of glass. They destroyed the shelters, sleeping bags, and all personal belongings they found, slitting cloth items and trampling them into the dirt. They threw away or destroyed food. She saw one boy smashing a laptop computer by swinging it against a tree. When he was done, he left it lying on the ground for its owner to find. They left everything. They destroyed as much as they could, then left it for the owners to find.

My GF alerted her office mates and one came out with her to witness the rest of the destruction. They didn't call the police because the police apparently don't respond to reports of crimes against the homeless camp-- although as I said, they certainly do hassle the residents themselves.

The boys saw my GF and her colleague watching from across the street and they got back on their bikes and left, but turned around and rode back up the street, passing directly past my partner and her friend. The women confronted the boys-- remember, they weren't obvious gang members or street toughs or anything like that-- they were just suburban kids in a working class neighborhood, school kids carrying their books on their backs, like ten or twelve years old. "That was all those people had," she said. "Why did you break their last possessions like that? How would you feel if someone tore up your things that way?"

The boys replied derisively, as boys that age sometimes will if they think they can get away with it. "They're just a bunch of homos! Fucking homeless! They're winos! Fuck them!" And they rode off, hooting and calling to one another. "Fuck YEAH!"

I keep coming back to the description of the boy who smashed the laptop computer. He didn't steal it. I could understand that, if he had-- not condone it, of course, but we can all relate to wanting things that others have on some level. What I cannot understand is why a twelve year old boy would deliberately destroy something like a computer and leave it lying on the ground for its owner to find, why a boy that age would give greater priority to causing someone else the pain of loss than he gave to his own sense of possession.

My partner was dumbfounded. She realized later they should have photographed the boys, or obtained some way to identify them. At the time, she and her colleague were so shocked that neither of them thought of it until later. Neither of them think they could positively identify the boys.

I just can't get the cruelty and malice of it all out of my head. What the fuck is wrong with people?

[Pirate Smile]

1. Probably the only way that it would get any coverage is if someone had taped it. If they have video

to show, the media will focus on it. If they don't, it is like it never happened.

[Occulus]

9. I wonder if any security cameras caught any of it n/t

[mike_c]

11. unlikely, given the location....

I'd give just about anything for an identifiable photo of just one of the boys.

[jhrobbins]

56. You asked 'what the fuck is wrong with people'...

and maybe you did want a dialogue about it, but it triggered something that I think about quite a bit. I grew up in the 70's and it just wasn't like it is now. The thing that is so odd about it is that there are polls out now that show that it is young people that are OK with homosexuality, for instance; and yet, conversely, there are more attacks and harassments by young people (men)against the LGBT community than ever. And I find the whole thing very confusing. I certainly am not saying there weren't problems, but there did seem to be shame and nowadays, young people seem to have absolutely no shame. There is no compassion for one another - everyone wants to be Snooki and that group and pop culture groups like them.
And some reporters back then had the audacity to call us the 'ME' generation. They had no idea how bad it could get.

[Joe Bacon]

65. People are selfish

It's sad but true. America is a nation that worships selfishness. And this gospel is preached from the churches every Sunday.

[shimmergal]

69. Why are there more attacks

against the LGBT community by young people than ever?

Well, this isn't all of it, but remember the conventional wisdom: it's people who're insecure about their sexual (and personal) identity who tend to be most homophobic. Now who's more insecure about their sexuality than tweenie boys? And girls of that age run a close second, although they don't always show it so overtly. This isn't to say that they're all gay and repressed; just that they don't know what to do about their sexuality yet. Sooner or later most of them grow out of it, but in the meantime a certain number will act out in antisocial ways.

Our culture doesn't make this stage very easy, either. We have few rites of passage to mark a young person's passage from childhood to adult status. There's the Jewish bar and bat mitzvah and the Latino quincenera, but I don't know of any others, aside from getting one's first driver's license. Which is a different sort of achievement entirely.

[jhrobbins]

89. Right SG, but there have always been 'tweenie' boys and girls and they

haven't always acted like they are acting for the last 10+ years.

I think you hit on it saying 'our culture doesn't make this easy'. Not only does it not make it easy, but in many, many ways it foments this behavior. There has been a sea change in America and the globe since right around the late 90's.
I really hope I don't come off like some alta caca like my father did about 'boys with long hair' etc, but I think this is different and I struggle with how to articulate it. I believe there was some gordian moment in the late 90's when things changed dramatically. America has come to be one vast Potemkin village.

[HereSince1628]

2. I fear that nothin more is wrong than that the clock

says it's 2010 in America

[thecrow]

3. They learned this from someone

It's terribly heartbreaking!
I would organize some sort of charity drive and take pictures of the aftermath at least.

[The Doctor.]

55. No, it's that they haven't learned

To put the shoe on the other foot. They haven't learned empathy. Either they'll be ashamed years from now, or they will be Republicans.

[destes]

64. They're already Republicans

[bobburgster]

72. Your post is exactly how I see it too.

God, it makes me so sad.

[thecrow]

87. They are already Republics.

Destroying things like that.
They prolly have teabag parents, too.
Hateful.

[HereSince1628]

4. What's wrong? Well, nothing other than it being 2010 in America.

I am sure the kids heard all they needed to at the kitchen table.

[Truth2Tell]

12. Bingo, just another day in America. nt

[1955doubledie]

34. What kitchen table?

:shrug:

[monmouth]

5. A lot of anger in these little thugs. Very sad for the homeless folks..n/t

[Brickbat]

6. You can't "why did you..." people like that into shame.

You have to come out snarling and chasing them off. I know it's hard to shake one's self out of shock into action, but a badass stride and a murderous expression can work wonders, even with us office ladies types. I know; I've done it myself. Not blaming your wife; just passing on an awareness that in this day and age, action is what's going to win.

[glitch]

46. Agreed. Also, considering this possibility beforehand so that you're prepared when it happens

We're trained to be stunned and helpless, we need to get over that. Retrain yourself and others that anger response is appropriate and necessary and ok in situations like this.

These entitled little shits are a tragic example of the sickness in our culture, but where it's institutionalized (cops not responding to homeless complaints and even harassing them) is the system failure.

These kids are acting out the disease, like open sores on a cancer-ridden body. And no immune system in sight.

[Alameda]

7. you really have to keep your head and document things....

otherwise it's just a story. People today need visuals.

[sakabatou]

8. "[T]here's nothing as pure and cruel as a child."

[amerikat]

10. Sickening. Shouldn't be to difficult to locate the school they came from.

Call the local churches also. they maybe able to help them replace
some of what they lost. And why in hell are people living in tent cities in
this country. Makes my blood boil.

:grr: :grr: :grr: :grr:

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

13. Future tea party candidates for Congress right there

Little fucking pigs.

[PJPhreak]

14. I would go talk to the folk in the Encampment...

And see if there is some way to replace what was destroyed.Get a list of things that they need...Get the word out.

Being the first of Oct it is gonna get cold fast those sleeping bags could save someones life.
The laptop might have been that persons only way to help with job serching,keeping in touch with family and doing HHS stuff (Foodstamps ect) there is lots of free wifi almost everywhere.

When I was homeless we ALWAYS left someone a "Camp" to prevent just this,this is very common actually.

And maybe put a cheap Webcam on the railing of the "Office" porch and keep a old computer hooked up to it so if this happens again you will have in tape (Disc) That way you might catch these little shitbags!

Edit to add: Don't depend on the PD to do ANYTHING about this...they hate the homeless as much as those dirtbag Kids!

I just noticed where you live...in that part of the US this kinda thing is ALL to common...They Hate Hippies,Trust me,they think every homeless person is a "Wacked out,Treehuggin Freak in a LSD induced Coma...One of my harsher road trips was up the 101 from SF...And that was 20 years ago,I can't imagine what it must be like now!

[nadinbrzezinski]

15. Sadly this is common in US History

comes from a sense of entitlement.

Now if we can help a little let us know. I can always kick some back to help people worst than me. But this is not something we mostly teach to our kids these days... or for that matter, ever.

This actually was fairly common during that glorified era called the Great Depression too.

[mike_c]

18. you're right, there are lots of folk songs from the depression era...

...about life and death in the hobo jungles, and about cruelty toward the homeless.




East Texas Red

Down in the scrub oak timber of the Southeast Texas Gulf
There used to ride a brakeman and a brakeman double tough
He worked the town of Kilgore and Longview nine miles down
Us trav'lers called him East Texas Red the meanest bull around.

I rode by night and by broad daylight in wind and snow and sun
I always seen little East Texas Red sporting his smooth running gun
The tale got switched down the stems and main and everybody said
The meanest man on the shiny rails was little East Texas Red.

It was early in the morning and along towards nine or ten
A couple of boys on the hunt of a job stood in the blizzardy wind
Hungry and cold they knocked on the doors of the working folks around
For a piece of meat and a spud or two to boil a stew around.

Red he come down the cinder dump and he flagged the number two
He kicked their bucket over a bush and he dumped out all their stew
A traveler said, Mister East Texas Red you better get everything fixed
'Cause you're gonna ride your little train just one year from today.

Red he laughed as he clumb the bank and swung aside of a wheeler
The boys caught a tanker to Seminole and west to Amarillo
They struck them a job of oil field work and followed a pipe line down
It took them lots of places till the year had rolled around.

On one cold and wintery day they hooked them a Gulf bound train
They shivered and shook with dough in their clothes to see Kilgore again
Over hills of sand and hard froze roads where the cotton wagons roll
On past the town of Kilgore and on to old Longview.

With their warm suits of clothes and overcoats they walk into a store
They pay the man for some meat and stuff to fix a stew once more
The ties they walk back past the yards till they come to the same old spot
Where East Texas Red just a year ago had dumped their last stew pot.

The smoke of their fire went higher and higher a man come down the line
He ducked his head in the blizzardy wind and waved old number nine
He walked off down the cinder dump till he come to the same old spot
And there was the same three men again around that same little pot.

Red went to his knees and he hollered,
Please don't pull that trigger on me.
I did not get my business fixed but he did not get his say
A gun wheeled out of an overcoat and it played the old one two
And Red was dead when the other two men set down to eat their stew.

--Woody Guthrie

[DirkGently]

16. They learned those words and those attitudes at *home*. Jesus.

[femrap]

17. I think the question is....

What is wrong with little boys today? Just a bunch of 'little princes' who feel self-entitled to do as they please. I wonder if they have started in on animals? Future ex-cons.

And they got away with this...so it will escalate.

If they are seen again, please get a picture of them.

[MrScorpio]

19. Quite a statement on the true state of American human nature, isn't it?

Because, what was just demonstrated is the obvious result of the kind of cultural biases that are bred into some of the "good homes" and "decent suburban neighborhoods" in this country.

It's why anyone who is outside of the "cultural norm" can be quickly considered suspect and is a likely target for derision with all too probable violence being committed against them.

I'm not surprised at all that that incident had happened and was committed by those that did it.

Of course, it's quite shocking indeed to actually see such a thing with ones own eyes.

But, I hope that your friend has gained a much better understanding of what America is all about for those who find themselves outside of the clean cut world.

[KT2000]

20. Last night 8 kids & adults

surrounded a homeless man in a small town near me. They rushed him, yelled at him and spat on him. They wanted his can of beer. They followed him from one location to another and kept it up. He took out his pocket knife and held it above his head to warn them. A woman passing by jumped in between the man and the kids/young adults and they finally left.

I don't know what is happening but there is a strong suggestion in our society right now that some people are not worth much. That would include the homeless, poor, gay people, sick people and more.
If you combine horrible parenting with the negative attitudes that pass for political discourse we have now, I am afraid the malformed children will act upon those attitudes. Something tells me hate is OK in their home life.

[ThomCat]

22. I'm so glad someone helped him.

I'm so glad someone had the courage and humanity to step in and help. :cry:

[ThomCat]

21. The more stress people are under, the more people strike out at others.

Their families are probably less financially secure than they once were, and they probably hear their families worrying about it.

So they take out their anger and frustration on the people they hope they will never be. x(

It's a way of saying "I'm not one of you and I'll never be one of you." It's magical thinking, and now that they've done their rite of destruction, they hope it will be true. Now, somehow, they'll never be homeless too.

How many times per day do you think homeless people see that kind of rage in people's eyes and hear it in people's voices? Anger against homeless people is becoming a hell of a lot more common, and a hell of a lot more dangerous if the anecdotes I'm hearing are anything to go on. :(

And just like you said, the police can't be bothered to respond to it. Homeless people aren't people to them. The police don't think that homeless people deserve to be served or protected. Only harassed.

What does all of this tell you about our society. :cry:

[mike_c]

26. yep-- it's ironic, but in that neighborhood it's a fair assumption...

...that those boys families are just a paycheck or two away from living in that encampment themselves.

[nessa]

23. Unbelievable. (nt)

.

[Poll_Blind]

24. In my experience, bored middle class kids are some of the worst.

Just enough money to provide access to distractions which make ordinary life very boring and no frame of reference for morality. Just bored. And sometimes breaking stuff provides enough fleeting entertainment to make the time go.

I walk a lot. Sometimes when I can, I'll walk 12 hours in a day. I walk all over my little town of Eugene, Oregon. I walk through the good parts and I walk through the bad parts and sometimes I feel threatened or unsafe. But I am never as hyper-aware of my surroundings or as uneasy as when I'm walking in the area where I live. Because it's as white-bread as you can get. White, middle-class families with decent incomes (or better), with almost every home outfitted with all the electric goodies we love so much.

And in so many of them, people just going stir-crazy insane from it.

In the middle of summer when it's hot and no one's sleeping, I'm out walking at night and you'll see the difference in the middle class neighborhoods. They don't know what to do. They just sort of spin and spin and spin. A person downtown might threaten you but they want your wallet so they can do something with the money. Maybe it's a fix of meth...whatever. But if you get into a tangle where I live it's because they're bored out of their skulls and they're just fucking with you...you're the entertainment for the evening.

Over the almost 3 decades living in Eugene, I have formed this opinion through so many different experiences. I can't say it's some universal truth but, where I live, bored middle class kids (and the bored adults they occasionally grow up into) are the worst thing you're likely to run into outside of a pissed off troupe of raccoons.

PB

[Nostradammit]

39. Well said, Poll_Blind, I'm in total agreement.

I'm just across the river from you and see what you are seeing.

Surely better days are ahead of us, but right now it really sucks to live in the U.S.
So many broken people.

[eppur_se_muova]

49. I'm afraid you are right -- nothing is as dangerous as young men with nothing to keep them busy.

These boys may be a little younger than that, but they are well on their way to becoming the "undesirable element" in our society.

[foxfeet]

25. K&R

To keep this visible.

[unapatriciated]

27. This is very sad.

Consider writing a letter to your local paper and starting a drive to replace the things that were destroyed. We all need to bring awareness to our poor and homeless and dispel the myth that they are "winos".

[WinkyDink]

28. " They didn't call the police...." I don't care WHAT their rationalization was; this was TERRIBLE.

[mike_c]

30. I don't think they're very proud of it either....

I should perhaps add that calling the cops is not likely to be the first thing either of them would want to do except in the most dire circumstances. Lots of reasons for that, but they mostly come down to the sort of paranoia David Crosby sings about in "Almost Cut My Hair":

It increases my paranoia
Like looking in my mirror and seeing a police car

Here in Humboldt County, the cultural divide is deep, and we tend not to be on the same side of it as the Eureka Police Department. I realize that's not a good excuse-- it's just the situation. Frankly, if I had been present, I would likely have intervened personally before I'd have called the police. I simply do not trust them. Ironically, my partner was married to a cop for 25 years. And now SHE'S reluctant to call them.

[Sisaruus]

41. Unless you have reason to believe police action would be worse

I know of one instance in my state where the police swooped in with town trucks and removed everything (tents, sleeping bags, clothing, books, photo albums, food ... everything) from a homeless encampment and took it to the trash-to-energy plant for complete and final destruction.

[mike_c]

74. this particular encampment is well known and has been tolerated by the city...

...for at least the past several months-- that's the time that I've been aware of it. However, the city HAS torn down several encampments in the past, and the camp in question IS illegal, strictly speaking (it's on city property where overnight camping is prohibited). I don't think that was so much a consideration though, as simply the understanding that the police likely would not respond, and if they did, it's even less likely that they would do so to protect the homeless camp.

[louis-t]

29. Because their parents watch Fox 'News'.

I didn't even look to see how many others had the same response. I knew if I did that, I wouldn't have responded.

[HipChick]

31. +100

[Zax2me]

38. +1000

[Bozita]

57. FoxNews Youth Corps? ... Hitler-Jugend?

[CrispyQ]

32. The only thing worse than being poor in America is being poor AND homeless.

Our society has thought of poor people as losers for so long, that they are practically invisible & disposable. Couple that with poor parenting & the sense of entitlement that these little JDs have & it's a bad mix. Sick little pricks.

[donheld]

33. I sometimes fear we are creating a nation of Sociopaths.

It just seems to me, more and more of the people of our country are able to act like this with no conscience at all. It makes me fear greatly for the future that is ahead us.

[REP]

35. They're little worthless bullies

They probably make life hellish for a number of classmates as well. Worthless vermin.

[B Calm]

36. Should have followed them home and told their parents!

[Raine]

40. I would guess that the parents would've been fine

with it, sadly that's probably where they picked up that kind of hate. :-(

[WVRICK13]

77. Unfortunately, I Bet

those are the people they learned their selfish hatred from. Parents get what they raise and we get the results.

[B Calm]

85. Children don't always learn to do bad things from their parents. If

your child did this, wouldn't you be grateful that someone told you about it? Of course you would!

[Greyhound]

37. Great story and what indeed, but what country do you live in?

This kind of violent, destructive behavior is accepted and even encouraged as "normal" in America. It has been for my entire life and I see no signs of any desire to change it.

Did you catch the high school bully thread yesterday?

[johnroshan]

42. I remember my backside getting sore when

I said a rude word to my housekeeper and my mom caught me. I think kids need better role models.

[The Uncola]

43. Pardon me if you've already been asked this and answered.

But why in the world didn't your "partner" do anything to stop this? If we won't stick up for each other, how can we expect someone else to do it for us? Cripes, how does she "know" the police "won't respond" if she didn't even bother to call them? I'm sorry, but standing by and doing ABSOLUTELY nothing, then wringing your hands over "our society is so awful" afterward, is nothing more than a cop out. If your police won't DO THEIR JOB, it's up to YOU to hold them responsible for it and griping about it on the internet ISN'T going to get that done. Have you forgotten?:

"In order for ‘evil’ to prevail, all that need happen is for ‘good’ people to do nothing."-Edmund Burke

[susanwy]

61. I wondered the same thing...

The poster's partner "watched" as these kids destroyed this camp? How long did it take? Five, Ten, Fifteen minutes? I would have held up my cell phone and yelled at the top of my lungs KNOCK IT OFF YOU LITTLE SHITS, I'M CALLING THE POLICE AND TAKING YOUR PICTURE! And if that did nothing, I would have grabbed a big burly co-worker and ran over there personally. If you don't confront bullies it is tacit approval that their actions are acceptable.

I understand the reluctance to call the police, but just the threat might have ended the attack before they destroyed everything.

Susan

[mike_c]

73. good question-- I haven't pressed for an answer...

...because, frankly, it's wasn't her fault that these kids did what they did and I'm reluctant to shift responsibility to her choice not to act. On the more practical side, the homeless camp is a hundred meters or more from her office, across a street and down a ravine, in a wooded location where she might not have felt safe. I don't know. Neither of us is especially young anymore-- I don't know whether perceived age had anything to do with her reluctance either. I doubt that she feared the kids-- they were REALLY kids and she and her coworker did confront them later, when the kids rode past them on the street.

[The Uncola]

90. I didn't mean to..

.. give any impression that your partner was responsible for or "at fault" for those kids actions. If that how it came across, my apologies. What I don't get, is how we can let the cops off the hook for not doing their jobs, just because these underage CRIMINALS were doing their CRIMES to people who already have been beat down by an uncaring society. At some point, we ALL have to stand up and SCREAM that we WILL NOT allow this to go on. The how, is of course, no simple matter either. But we need to start somewhere and we need to do now, because the dark shadow of inhumanity to our fellows, will most certainly consume us all if we don't.

Is it possible to take this story to your local media? Raise hell in your next city council meeting that your police are not doping the job they are sworn to do? I'd start there.

[rucky]

44. Anybody call 9-1-1?

[mike_c]

76. no-- it might actually have been counter productive....

As I mentioned up thread, the city police generally do not respond to reports of harassment against the homeless at that camp, and when they do respond they're just as likely to harass the homeless folk themselves. The camp is illegal, although presently tolerated. I'm not confident the police would have done anything to intervene.

[TexasObserver]

45. recommend

[kimi]

47. How incredibly sad and infuriating

We who would never do such things can't comprehend the viciousness of those who can, and will, perpetrate such actions.

I'd suggest that the folks in the neighborhood go down and try to donate what they can to the people who were victimized. If I understand correctly, this was in Humboldt County? I lived there at one time, it was in a bad time in my life and I depended on others to help me out then. I'm clear on the other side of the country now, but I feel for those folks who were hurt by these little terrorists.

Yes, indeed, it takes one good person to open their eyes, to have others come forward. I hope that happens in this case.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

48. This is taught behavior. n/t

[Kablooie]

50. Cute little Republicans for Jesus in training.

[BeFree]

51. Wrong... Leave Jesus out of this

These kids are little nazis.

[Oldtimeralso]

58. Didn't that Jesus do Something Called "The Sermon On The Mount"? n/t

[Kablooie]

81. My meaning is that some who *say* they follow Jesus live a life that is the opposite.

Many Christian religious extremists don't realize that their hatred of others is contrary to what they say they believe in.

[1monster]

52. Middle School aged kids are the meanest little bullies in the world. Not all

middler schoolers, of course. But the ones that are seem to have no empathy or compassion, no ethics or values.

I'm glad that most of them out grow that state, but too many don't and too much of the damage they do each other never really heals.

Behavioral scientist need to study the pre and early teen phenomena to understand what causes it, how to prevent it, and how to end it as quickly as possible...

Having had a lot of experiences with kids those ages, I would not have silently witnessed the event. I would have been yelling at them that I was videoing them and had called the police. And would make sure their parents saw their wanton destructive behavior. that I would work hard to see that they, personally, were legally required to pay to replace every thing that they destroyed.

I would have, like your partner, made sure there were plenty of witnesses.

That kind of behavior needs to be stopped in its tracks.

And had someone come back and seen those brats destroying what little the homeless had left, the victims may have retaliated. Those kids could have been in a lot bigger trouble than they anticipated. Or they may have compounded their crimes into something far bigger than they had originally intended.

[Raoul]

53. Mike

You actually answered your own question with the statement right before it - you can't get the curelty and malice - that's what is wrong with some people especially the neocons and their twisted philosophy. And this is why gov. has to step in some times to prevent the cruelty.

[G_j]

54. I would have called the police regardless

at least for the record

[EFerrari]

62. The police are just as likely to punish the homeless and not these kids

who, if you think about it, are just acting on the message they're getting that the homeless are not really people who should be respected.

[Capitalocracy]

59. This is clearly an act of terrorism. A hate crime.

Why didn't he take the computer? Because this kid already has one. He already has everything he needs. Now all he wants to do is take away whatever the less fortunate have left. It's too dirty for him to use it himself. Kind of reminds me of the CEOs and right-wingers, who don't seem content just to be rich, but to make sure everyone else is good and poor.

This reminds me of something that happened to me many moons ago. In my late teens, I was hanging out with a few friends near a park, and we saw a large group of people in a gazebo. It was pretty dark, but they appeared to be a group of homeless people, and they had what appeared to be a homeless individual who they were basically taking turns punching and kicking. He was helpless and his life was obviously in danger.

Too large a group to confront, and me being a nonconfrontational person, I decided someone had to call the police. Nobody else in the car was willing to do it, they were afraid to call the police. Back in those days, I would occasionally violate some of the more unnecessary laws that don't actually protect anyone, so I can see where they were coming from, but I convinced them to lend me a cell phone so I could call.

When I called 911, they were more interested in my personal information than in what was actually going on. I said look, I'll give you all my information, but please dispatch a police car now, this person is in danger. The answer was no, give me your name, address, etc., first, then maybe we'll send a car. I couldn't believe it.

We stuck around watching to make sure the police showed up. When two officers arrived, lights flashing, the assailants basically stood in front of the wounded man lying on the floor. They spoke with the officers for less than a minute, and the officers left. They then continued with what they were doing.

Homeless in America, all the police harrassment, none of the police protection.

[butterfly77]

60. They think..

it can't happen to them.

[NM Independent]

63. I'm sorry, but I just have to say it. Your partner is a coward, and that is your answer.

"In order for evil to prevail, all that need happen is for good people to do nothing." Edmund Burke

I'll spend the rest of my day in a grumbling mood about cowards that who can't find the most minute amount of courage to defend the defenseless.

You just described exactly what is wrong with this country. It's not those boys, it's cowards like your partner that allowed it to happen without putting the fear of God in those sorry little shits. It doesn't take much to scare the hell out of a tween boy.

She could have yelled and screamed at the top of her lungs BEFORE they destroyed EVERYTHING, and run them off. She could have called the damn police instead of making an assumption. She could have followed the boys, and identified at least one of them that had parents that would DO something about it. She could have taken video, or at least ONE damn picture to identify them (seriously, every phone has a camera). There are MANY things that she could have done. But what did she do? Chastise them as they ride away, and then send them off with the notion that they can do whatever the fuck they want, and then talk shit to an adult that says something about it. Here's a clue, their next thought is likely, "hey we can destroy their homes and get away with it, I bet we could have fun killing one and never get caught."

Let me tell you a story, the last time I witnessed an injustice, I DID something about it. A young woman was being forced into a car in a parking lot. I drove by just as I saw her being backhanded across the face. I slammed on my brakes, blocking traffic, and jumped out of my car to run over there. Just the fact that someone was running toward them scared that sorry bastard. I grabbed her by the hand and led her away. When he dared to put his hands on me to stop him, I punched him right in the damn mouth. I got her into my car, took her to a shelter, and made damn sure over the next few weeks that she was okay.

I'm 5'3, and 145 soaking wet. That guy was over 6'. I honestly don't consider that courageous, I consider it a god damn common courtesy to a fellow human being. Remember the golden rule people. In her shoes I would have forever hated people if I had gone through that on a busy street, and nobody came to help me.

I hear stories similar to the OP often, and it makes me so angry that people do NOTHING. Did she try to find someone from the camp to let them know what happened? Did she try to provide some way to help them herself? Did she find them a meal? Find an extra blanket, pillow, tent, sleeping bag, food, or anything else to give them? Don't you realize that if they weren't suicidal before, something like that just might push someone over the edge?

You ask what the fuck is wrong with people after describing what the fuck is wrong with people.

IT TAKES A VILLAGE! Grow some cojones people. The stakes are the future of the human race.

rant off

[Tsiyu]

70. I agree

i wasn't there so I can't speak for the natures of those observing, but my happy little five foot ass would have been going off on those kids. And I would have found someone to film the situation. it had to take a while to tear up everything and I am just not the sort of person to stand by and watch.

But that's me

AND I would have followed them home. And told their parents, regardless what they said.

Just hope that karma catches up with the little sociopaths.

[Brickbat]

71. That was righteous.

Well said and so very true.

[mike_c]

75. she's a late middle-aged woman-- sometimes the border between wisdom and cowardice...

...is hard to pin down precisely. In any event, no one who witnessed what happened is proud of their response, I can assure you. I also know that she isn't normally a fearful person. As I mentioned up-thread, she was married to a cop for twenty-five years-- maybe something from that experience affected her response.

I want to emphasize that she and her coworker are NOT responsible for what happened. It wasn't their choice to trash a homeless camp. I'm not going to criticize them for the actions of five juvenile delinquents.

[Marengo]

88. Your partner may not have been a perpetrator

but she is responsible, for not having done ANYTHING to stop the vandalism.

[The Doctor.]

91. Would've, could've... I'm sick of hearing "Well if *I* were there..."

What bullshit. I've been both a hero and a fool. I've stepped in more often than not, but I've also missed opportunities to take action. You don't know, you weren't there, and I'm sure even a hero like yourself and others on this thread have failed to act at one time or another.

I've dealt with stupid punks plenty of times. It doesn't mean I'm infallible.

[Bluenorthwest]

66. I think it would be nice for your partner and co-workers

to ask the victims of these thugs if they might offer replacements for some of the things, even second hand or gathered from home. I think it might make both the victims and the witnesses feel better and it seems like some people with nothing now have less than nothing. Seeing as the guilty have escaped, a bit of justice might be had via restoring what can be restored. The victims would probably be happy that anyone even noticed.
Because those are some fucked up kids, and some balance would be good for the block.

[L0oniX]

67. It needed to be video taped and turned into tv news ...exposing the pigs for not doing their job.

To serve and protect ...my ass!

[InvisibleTouch]

68. I predict...

...that at least some of those kids will be in a bad situation themselves one day - maybe not identical, maybe not homeless, but in a comparable agony. Then they will think back on this. Too late by then, of course.

[KurtNYC]

78. Why? Fear, misery and a need for love

I think some combination of those 3 things is the reason any human does anything (anything beyond get food water and shelter). 12 year-old boys aren't any different that way but their actions are more feral than those of the rest of society. Without excusing their actions at all, my best guess is that they:

Fear
a. not just of the homeless but the possibility that THEY may live like that some day soon
b. alcoholics - the "wino" comment, they may be living with alcoholics at home
c. being excluded from their nasty little group of friends
d. being called or considered a gay -- the homo comment
e. and becoming the target of kids like them

Misery
They are miserable. In my experience only miserable humans do things like this. There is an ancient maxim: "The oppressed oppress."

And IMHO this is a twisted cry for love and approval from each other and possibly their parents if their parents have expressed fear and loathing toward the encamped. Love includes discipline btw.

[McCamy Taylor]

79. Bashing the homeless is an American sport. Their dads did it and their granddads did it.

[proteus_lives]

80. Sadly, it's part of the human condition.

You'd see kids in 10th century France tormenting a Roma caravan.

Or kids in 17th century Afghanistan harassing beggars on the road.

What your partner saw today was the dark part of the human soul. Perhaps those kids will regret their actions someday, perhaps they won't.

I wish I knew if something could be done about it. Perhaps we need another 10,000 years of evolution.

[Crunchy Frog]

82. You should send a LTTE to your local paper. n/t

[TxVietVet]

83. The rightwingnuts and their talking heads

demonize the homeless and unemployed.

This is what we have come to as a society. To destroy something that was not theirs was bad enough but to label those people as 'fucking homeless' and 'winos' is really sad. To demonize the poor and downtrodden is not the America I grew up in. The conservanazis are having fun with race/religious baiting and pushing the idea that if you don't have a job, then you are lazy scum. What these kids need to be taught is that old saying their parents probably don't even remember: "There, but for the Grace of God, go I."

This is sickening.

[mike_c]

84. "there but for the grace of god...."

Yeah, as I mentioned up-thread, one real irony is that, given the working class nature of the neighborhood, it's quite likely that these kids' families are themselves only a paycheck or two away from living in that homeless camp.

[Downtown Hound]

86. I know you already addressed the camera issue

But I'll just throw in that this is why I ALWAYS keep a video camera close by. I have one in my house and I have one on my phone every time I'm in the car and in most places. This day and age, you never know when you're going to get pulled over by a psycho cop with no regard for civil rights, or you never know if you're going to witness the next 9-11, or you never know when you're going to come across a group of boys tearing up a homeless camp.

It may sound paranoid, but we live in paranoid times. And video is one of the few true weapons we have of fighting back against the world's insanity. How do you think those boys would feel if they woke up tomorrow and found themselves on youtube? I think you'd find that arrogance disappear VERY QUICKLY.