August 3, 2007
SFist Blotter
Sorry we missed this story the first time around -- the cops are still looking for the assailants in a stabbing on 19th and Castro back in June. Two gay men were walking down 19th Street when three young Hispanic men got out of a car following them. One of the young men asked them for a cigarette, and then stabbed both men repeatedly. The men managed to make it to 18th Street before one of them collapsed and the other one managed to get help. The less-injured victim, an art director for the Chron, was back at work within three weeks, but the other victim was in an induced coma for almost a month to recover from the stab wounds in his kidney. The police arrested someone in the case last week, but released him for lack of evidence. It's unclear whether the men were targeted for their sexual orientation or whether the assailants were in a gang.
Like an Itchy and Scratchy cartoon, only not funny: a family spat in Fremont that began when a wife "disrespected" her husband rapidly escalated to involve: a half-dozen people, shards of a broken mirror, a bottle, a electric fan, a lamp and a 9 iron golf club. Okay, maybe it's a little funny. (Also, it turns out one of the fighters was wanted on a murder charge, so when the cops came, they took him in.)
And the Examiner's got coverage of a rape trial involving Justin Desmangles, who hangs with the city's literary crowd. Desmangles organized readings at sites like City Lights, and interviewed J.T. Leroy/Laura Albert on his radio show. Desmangles claims he had consensual sex with the accuser and that he'd only playfully choked her with a cord during sex, at her request. Non-mayoral candidate Matt Gonzalez has testified as a character witness in favor of Desmangles, as has city poet laureate Jack Hirschman and state poet laureate (we have a state poet laureate?) Albert Young.
|
I was jogging up Church in the evening and then up onto 21th St to the top of the hill and noticed what seemed to be 8-10 Hispanic youngsters dressed like hoodlums loitering on two different stairwells a block apart.When I reached the top and proceeded back down the hill intending to use a somewhat hidden staircase to walk down to an adjacent street, about 6-8 of them were sitting at the bottom blocking my access. I promptly used another way down "just in case"
Maybe racial profiling, but they didn't look like they were residents of that neighborhood. Its a very affluent neighborhood up there if you've been there. I like to run up there for a good workout and get a glimpse of the city. Thought they may of have been looking for trouble. Very suspicious.
north - it is racial profiling. i have "hispanic youngsters dressed like hoodlums" blocking my staircase all the time. and guess what? they move when i walk up to my apartment before i even say a word...and most of the time they apologize.
keep living in fear of people that look different though.
They were probably from James Lick Middle School. I'd say 99.5% of them are harmless, no reason to be afraid. I know because my brother went to school there 4 years ago.
Were they also doing the Mexican Hat Dance to "La Cucaracha"?
Jesus.
How exactly do "hoodlums" dress? Are there hoods involved? I'm just curious so I can avoid looking like one of "them" since I wouldn't want to frighten anyone just by being present on any given corner. I'm not saying I loiter, but I have been known to stop on occasion, though usually without any intended menace.
[5] Brock, that was a 5* post! Te he he!!!
I'm getting ready to go out for the day. Can't decide if I should wear my poncho, sombrero and tire soled sandals, or a black suit/shirt with a white tie.
Damn, it's hard to look like a hoodlum with my purple hair...
Look, if you are alone and something does not feel right, trust your gut. The jogger did nothing wrong by changing their route, that is not profiling, it is common sense.
Post #2's writer was right on .... a group of 3 or more young men sitting around with nothing better do is best avoided if you're sorta in no man's land as far as other passerby.
If you believe profiling, or rather probability, is silly, maybe you should go tell the school board and colleges they should stop teaching statistics ... that whole sampling, correlation, and other gobbledygook is racist.
I, for one, don't see anything dangerous at all about groups of young men loitering in isolated areas late at night. I say you should walk right up to them, all by yourself, with a spring in a step and a song in your heart. And if you get mugged, at least the mugger will have the pleasure of knowing that you didn't pre-judge them.
"If you believe profiling, or rather probability, is silly, maybe you should go tell the school board and colleges they should stop teaching statistics ... that whole sampling, correlation, and other gobbledygook is racist."
without getting into an argument about manipulating statistics. im fairly certain they would back up the fact that its not a fair assumption that a group of young people are going to mug you. and i highly doubt that people are scared of me and my white friends who sit on the steps.
that being said, whoever said you should trust your gut if you feel unsafe is totally right. and i don't really blame the jogger for changing streets. it was the general tone of the comment that made it seem like profiling.
I, for one,if alone, would avoid any group of young males, black, white, asian, cablinasion, or whatever, clustered in a group in a place without many passersby. It's not their color that makes me nervous, it's their number.
It's called using your brain.
Well, to add to this blotter, there have been two more murders in SF.
-A Mexican immigrant who had been here just 2 months was shot to death in an attempted robbery on Connecticut Street in Potrero Hill, on July 22nd. SFGate JUST MENTIONED it yesterday, and unsurprisingly the article was buried on the crime page, AND, the link was broken, and took me to an article about Ed Jew, instead of the murder. I finally got to the correct article, by entering: "MURDER SHOOTING POTRERO HILL" into the search bar, which gave me he correct link.
- A man was shot to death at 12:50 am this morning in Vis Valley next to McLaren Park. No news on SFgate, surprise, surprise. Cbs5 had it mentioned though, by way of a tiny Bay City News Wire article in the Local section, which is already gone.
It's amazing how much local news tends to focus on OTHER cities when it comes to crime. The Chronicle has to be the worst offender when it comes to this...
And on the topic of other cities, 2 people were shot to death, and another wounded in a triple shooting in Oakland this morning. Also, a 12 year-old girl was struck by a stray bullet in another Oakland shooting.
Well, I watched a guy get gunned down in broad daylight (or at least dusk) in front of the the theater (the one that was showing Hairspray. Can't remember the name) on Market Street. Guy fired three shots into the guy and it never made the news or the papers. I guess unless it's a clean, wealthy, white person, it's just not news.
I thought they usually reported shootings when they happen in busy areas like Market street, especially if it's during the day. Well maybe not "usually" but a hell of a lot more often then they'd report any other shooting where no one is killed...which is barely ever.
When did that shooting happen?
Re: that "itchy and scratchy" paragraph... you're right, it's not funny. Turns out three people arrested, one on a murder warrant from Sac, and 2 charged with assault w/dw.
And I loved the last line in the InsideBayArea story, which read...
"At least two men - including Mack - had to be treated at a local hospital for their injuries. None of them were believed to be life-threatening, the detective said."
Seems to me that a bunch of those guys were
life-threatening!