Wednesday, February 8, 2012
LGBT / Crime Victim of gay attack speaks, Pittsburgh gets serious about eradicating violence
Posted by Gwynedd Stuart @gwynnstu on Wed, Feb 8, 2012 at 5:00 PM
- Gwynedd Stuart
- Brandon White, victim of the recent gay bashing in Pittsburgh, spoke to the media for the first time today.
But violence at 1029 McDaniel Street is hardly a new occurrence.
According to a source — I'm waiting on APD public affairs to confirm the statistics — there have been 384 calls for police respond, 230 direct patrols initiated, and 30 fights reported at the location since January 1, 2011. Last year alone, there were six murders on that corner.
This afternoon, at a press conference that was arranged primarily so the victim Brandon White could speak to the media about his attack, LaShawn Hoffman of the Pittsburgh Community Improvement Association also spoke. His message: Pittsburgh wants the convenience store at 1029 McDaniel Street gone.
Hoffman began by apologizing to White, not just on behalf of his organization, but "on behalf of the entire community as a whole."
"No one called the police," he pointed out. "[In the video] a MARTA bus passes, people walk down the street like this is the norm — this is not the norm in our neighborhood and it has to stop. We're closing down that store."
He added," This is not Jack City. It's Pittsburgh. This incident, as unfortunate as it was, is just one of many that's occurred there."
Hoffman told CL after the press conference that his organization has had many conversations with the owner of the convenience store at 1029 McDaniel Street. He says that in the past, owners have claimed not to know that the store was a gang hangout, this despite the fact that members often wear T-shirts proclaiming 1029 is their turf. The owner with whom his organization spoke most recently claimed they'd only purchased the store a couple of months ago, and weren't aware of the problems.
He says he hopes he and his neighbors can work with city officials and use nuisance laws to their advantage to get the business booted out.
The press conference ended with a statement by Brandon White, the young victim of Saturday's attack. He'd arrived late because he needed more time to "gather himself," but seemed poised once he stood behind the podium, flanked by his therapist and advocates with Atlanta's HIV Intervention Project.
White called his attackers "monsters," and said that his "scars run deeper than anyone can know." Fortunately, he didn't sustain any serious injuries when he was repeatedly hit, kicked and smashed with a tire last weekend.
"They wanted attention," White said of his attackers' decision to upload the video to the Internet. "They wanted to look brak and strong. In my opinion, I'm the brave one."
White said he'd been living in the Pittsburgh area for eight months at the time of the attack, and had visited the store on several occasions. He didn't know any of his attackers. He says he hasn't been back to the neighborhood since; he's staying with a cousin elsewhere.
A couple of gatherings are being put together in the aftermath of White's attack. Tomorrow night at 6 p.m., the Pittsburgh Community Association is meeting at Iconium Baptist Church — across the street from the trouble property — to "create positive solutions" to violence in the neighborhood. And on Saturday, the group Change Atlanta hopes to "unite" with the Pittsburgh community during a 10 a.m. rally at the scene of the crime.
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Comments (13)
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Search for "Pittsburgh Jackcity" or "jackcity" on facebook and you can see who some of these vermin are.
Good for the people of Pittsburgh for trying to make their community better. They have quite an uphill battle. While it's hard to understand why people would ignore what was happening, when you're in an area where this type of behavior is common, it's not just a matter of being use to it, it's also a matter of feeling powerless to do anything about it. Even if APD response time isn't as good as it should be, knowing that incidents like this one happens does help the police allocate resources where they're needed. Sometimes it's only a couple of thugs ruining an entire neighborhood so the variability of crime is high even in areas of similar demographics. The more eyes on the street and the better engaged the residents, the better the outcome.
If you close down the store, they will just find another place to hang out. The real problem is that they have a firm grip on the community to the point that law-abiding people are scared of them. I assume that is the reason why not that many witnesses have come forward. It would be nice if this incident can be used to transform the community, but I doubt that will happen. Reading through their facebook walls, every other post is "RIP xxx" or "Free xxx". When half their friends are in jail or dead and they are still out committing crimes, then I doubt that something like this will give them the inspiration to change their lives around.
Speaking of facebook, how dumb/insecure do you have to be to brag about your exploits. The best criminals are the ones you don't even know exist. These guys are just cannon fodder or a source of steady income for the prison industry.
foot patrols, foot patrols, foot patrols. A consistent APD presence rather than just drive throughs, would do so much for the neighborhood.
The APD knew there were SIX murders in one year at that same corner and yet they have allowed the violence to continue and fester? Seriously? The residents of the this area need answers as to why they police have allowed this violence to persist. Not acceptable.
Those statistics speak for themselves...6 murders on that corner (in ONE year!!), nearly 400 emergency calls in one year, etc.
Screams the question of why no action was taken before another incident like this?! Waiting for public humiliation because thugs happened to video their crime and it happens to go viral....then taking action...that's not government, its Cover Your Ass politics.
How many other corners are gang hangouts? Does the city not have the ability to close those businesses and then NOT allow them to reopen under a different name and get a new liquor license so the cycle continues? Do the citizens have to monitor these stats and picket every corner until action is taken because only public outcry and humiliation will get the gov't to take action?
What was the history of political action to get this store closed? Why was the liquor license renewed? Which public representatives should be held accountable? What can the community do ensure accountability proceeds NOW on other corners in the city, NOW?
I agree with CapBliss. None of the public officials give a shit until it makes national news.
NPU-V (Pitt, Mech, Adair, Peoples) neighborhoods have been this way the last 50 years. How long do the citizens need to ask for help? Poor schools, poor policing, poor politics... these kids have no chance. As the gap between the rich and the poor grows, the people who run this city drive to their nice homes in secluded/gated neighborhoods ignoring the plight that is south Atlanta... and they're our black leaders.
And what happens when they close this store, one of the few that serve the neighborhood? Other than the West End Kroger several miles away, where are peeps going to get food? We have the same problem in Mechanicsville.
The city ignores these problems because the elected officials don't care (Cleta Winslow, really?) and because the police are getting paid by the gangs to ignore their behavior. We have the same issues in Capitol View and everyone knows about it.
Sometimes I wonder if there's a concerted effort to keep SWAT in the garbage. Who knows why? Could be a variety of issues. Elected officials worried about gentrification (and the loss of their voting blocks)? Bribery from the "business owners" who take advantage of a low-income populace? Lack of energy to take on the hard work?
Take your pick. They turned their backs on our schools, the polluters who foul our park's streams, the violent offenders, all the abandoned houses, home invasions, littering, disgusting and expensive grocery stores and everything else that makes living in Atlanta a nightmare.
Maybe this horrible video can cause a change. I know sometimes good things can come from bad events.
Zedsmith brings up an interesting point: lack of foot patrols. In my 3 years living in Atlanta, I've not seen a single APD officer further than about 15 feet from a patrol car. Do foot patrols ever happen? I'd love to get to know a local officer on foot while I'm out walking my dog. Instead, they just drive past. Wouldn't foot patrols go a long way towards building some sort of trust/relationship with members of the community?
Citizens need to get involved and kick the crap out of these morons when and where this is happening. When you see this stuff don't stand there with your finger up your nose. Help the guy out. Or is this the biggest pansy city on the planet now? Beating up Gay people....what kind of moron does that in the year 2012??
My concern is the HIV problem connected to Gay. According to a report from one of the top poz dating and support service PositiveSingle.org, their gay members continuously increased these years.
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