Monday, February 6, 2012
Crime UPDATE — Video of gruesome Southwest Atlanta gang attack hits the Internet
Posted by Gwynedd Stuart @gwynnstu on Mon, Feb 6, 2012 at 3:20 PM
UPDATE — The Atlanta Police Department released the following statement at around 3 p.m.:
“The Atlanta Police Department is working to determine more about the attack depicted in this video, including attempting to identify the victim and the perpetrators. We are also working to determine if the victim filed a police report, or if police were called to the scene. We have engaged investigators and officers in Zone 3 - where the incident appears to have taken place - the Gangs Unit and the Homeland Security Unit, which investigates bias crimes. Our LGBT liaisons have also been made aware of the video. We encourage the victim to come forward to discuss the incident with investigators. If anyone else has information about this video, or can identify the victim and/or perpetrators, we encourage them to call Atlanta Police in Zone 3 at 404-624-0674 or Crime Stoppers Atlanta at 404-577-TIPS (8477).”
Also, local LGBT activists are planning a protest, rally and vigil "to demonstrate that these type of acts of hate will not be tolerated towards the LGBTQ community."
Devin Barrington-Ward of Change Atlanta said, “Atlanta is commonly known as the black gay Mecca, thousands of black gay men from around the world leave their homes to come to Atlanta for a better life, for increased accepted and for their safety. This act directly rocks the very foundation of our city, a city that is the birth place of the civil rights movement which strived for all people to be accepted and to live without fear of being harmed due to who they are."
Supplemental reading: CL's 2010 cover story about "bias crimes" perpetrated against members of the LGBT community.
——————————————
In broad daylight, outside a convenience store on busy McDaniel Street in Pittsburgh, a group of several men repeatedly hit and kicked a man to whom they refer as a "faggot."
A 30-second video of the attack — which was taken down within the last hour or so pursuant to You Tube's violence policy — first appeared on the website World Star Hip Hop and was later featured by The Smoking Gun. I was able to watch the video once before it was taken down, but here's basically what it shows:
[T]he video opens with an unseen cameraman and a second man outside the grocery store. The second man announces, “Round one. Jack City. No faggots.” Then, after a diminutive man exits the grocery, an assailant approaches him from behind and delivers a brutal punch to the side of the victim’s head. The man’s cell phone flies from his hand and he crumples to the ground.
APD spokesman Carlos Campos told CL, "The video was brought to the attention of the Public Affairs Unit by The Smoking Gun. We are working now to learn more about it and hope to have some sort of statement soon."
The Smoking Gun calls the assailants members of a gang known as the "Pittsburgh Jack City Gang," not, presumably, to be confused with the "Jack Boys," a group that was indicted for a string of crimes last year, including the November 2010 murder of Charles Boyer outside his Virginia-Highland apartment complex.
Updates as we get them.
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Comments (22)
Showing 1-22 of 22
social conservatives across atlanta thrown into a logical trap: are they supposed to side with the lazy violent negros or the godforsaken homosexual? modern prejudice is difficult
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Pittsburgh, what a lovely part of town...unless you're tender headed.
I don't wish to condone vigilantism, but bullies like this may soon realize their would-be targets can and will fight back... and that attacks like this are really a game of Russian Roulette for the attackers. Being a homosexual doesn't mean one is necessarily passive, physically weak, or defenseless.
Don't be so hasty to dismiss a connection between Jack City and the Jack Boys. TSG notes that Jack City also refers to itself as Jack City 1029, ostensibly a reference to 1029 McDaniel Street.
The very last comment on the Creative Loafing piece on the Jack Boys, linked above, contains a note from July 2011 by someone claiming Jack Boys status with the phrase 1029 Mcdaniel.
(Again, IP address logs are fun, in case you want to see where homie connects to the Internet.)
The address has a long and ugly history. Note this release by the Fulton County DA: http://www.atlantada.org/latestnews/pressr…
Plenty of chatter about that corner online, too.
Yelling "faggot" at someone while beating them with starter cheap shots? If that's not a hate crime, I don't know what is; to top it off, it's caught ON TAPE. This should be an open shut case. I can only hope the APD will actually follow this true and call it what it is: not a biased crime, but a hate crime.
Persecution of this is contingent upon the APD doing something effective....so not likely.
I don't get how these guys aren't locked up if they love a high profile and telling everyone where they hang out.
"social conservatives across atlanta thrown into a logical trap: are they supposed to side with the lazy violent negros or the godforsaken homosexual? modern prejudice is difficult"
No, Eric, we will leave that to narrow and closed-minded imbeciles such as yourself who are compelled to attach labels to everyone, like "lazy negro" or "homosexual".
Social conservatives are unanimous in seeing that empty-headed loudmouth liberal assholes like you are too fucking retarded to see what happened for what it is: A violent crime.
I'm not as concerned about what social conservatives think as how 'Chuckie' will try to spin this as innocent African Americans being railroaded by the white devils.
Nothing to see here, move along....
I look forward to these walking feces being made someone's bitch in slam.
How 'bout a gay weightlifting, sharpshooting revenge squad? Now there's a screenplay just waiting to be writ.
Yes, let's make a video committing a crime right in front of the place where we like to hang out. Cause we don't give a fuck and our average life span is 25 years.
Well, they'll be going to the real Jack City soon.
"No, Eric, we will leave that to narrow and closed-minded imbeciles such as yourself who are compelled to attach labels to everyone, like "lazy negro" or "homosexual".
Social conservatives are unanimous in seeing that empty-headed loudmouth liberal assholes like you are too fucking retarded to see what happened for what it is: A violent crime."
well at least you're not boring, but you should know that i refuse to date dumb people
"narrow and closed-minded imbeciles such as yourself who are compelled to attach labels to everyone"
"empty-headed loudmouth liberal assholes"
i mean i recognize that you have a crush on me but i can never respect you because you say blatantly stupid things
Or better yet, enjoy the trip from Jack City to Jack "off big Tyrone every day for the next 5-10 years" City
"Or better yet, enjoy the trip from Jack City to Jack "off big Tyrone every day for the next 5-10 years" City"
i understand the spirit of your joke but it's pretty heartless to mock institutionalized sexual violence in the form of prison rape
http://wagingnonviolence.org/wp-content/up…
Eric, who ever told you you were date-able?
Do you believe everything someone tells you?
@ AA - Unfortunately you may be right about the APD... But I like to be optimistic in that justice will come swiftly. On my way to work this morning I heard on the radio that the FBI may, if they haven't already, gotten involved; so now whether the APD does anything or not, this attack may carry federal charges. If it does, I think it's going to send a clear message to anyone who attacks someone out of pure hatred, and also to the APD showing that no matter whether they want to categorize this as a "biased" crime and not one of hate, hate is hate and it will be punished accordingly.
SEE THE VIDEO FOLLOWUP TO THIS STORY HERE>
http://youtu.be/OxtX5pmfM7w
FBI IS INVESTIGATING
"I'm not as concerned about what social conservatives think as how 'Chuckie' will try to spin this as innocent African Americans being railroaded by the white devils."
[Yawn] Spin my bawls, yokel.
haha five people are so mad at me because of how awesome i am that they approve of forcible rape
the conservative mindset, ladies and gents
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