To Protect and Coddle

Ariane Friedrich (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

While browsing the online news this morning, I came across a story where a famous German athlete was being stalked.  Read here.  This isn’t anything new.  People, especially famous people, are stalked all the time.  What made this blog worthy was what transpired after.

The stalker, to use the athlete Ariane Friedrich‘s own words, obviously ‘messed with the wrong person’ as she is trained as a police officer.  Not only that but she also took it upon herself to post the stalker’s information including name and address, on her Facebook page.  She also posted excerpts from the email he sent her.

So what’s wrong with that?  Well it seems that some people, including the German authorities has an issue with this outing.  Apparently her actions contravened their online data protection law, which makes it illegal to share information about someone online.    “As much as I can understand your anger about the stalker, you as a police officer should not just pillory somebody on the Internet,” one person wrote on Friedrich’s Facebook page.

In contrast to the negative reactions, I tend to agree with Ariane.  I think she did the right thing.  Maybe this guy is the husband of a wife who doesn’t know about his dark side.  Or maybe he works in an environment where he may need to be monitored.

I think that the law has coddled and protected the privacy of criminals for too long and it is one of the causes of repeat offenses.   I am not saying that as soon as someone is suspected of a crime, their names and pictures should be published.  What I am saying is that when proven guilty beyond a doubt, all privacy protection should be lifted.  Everyone should be made aware that John Doe has committed a crime for which he has been charged.  (One never know who else might be tempted to come forward with more accusations after this).  Sometime the embarrassment of their names and pictures being published could be more effective than a jail term.  (I know of individuals who did time behind bars then upon release, told everyone that they were in another province).

The cold, hard fact is that criminals are not made to take full responsibility for their actions.  In my opinion, victims are doubly victimized.  Once by the perpetrator and then again by the legal system that does all in its power to provide a soft landing for said criminals.

That’s just my take.  What’s yours?

 

 

Related articles

• Olympian outs stalker on Facebook, triggers debate (worldnews.msnbc.msn.com)
• German track star fights back against genital photo stalker – shames him on Facebook (offthebench.nbcsports.com)
• German Olympian Calls Out Crap Email Dude on Facebook [Facebook] (jezebel.com)

In Response To, “Race” Not An Issue in the Trayvon Martin Murder?

I recently  blogged about the case of a young and unarmed black kid, Trayvon Martin shot by a white man, George Zimmerman.  Read here.   It was basically an opinion stating that from what I could deduce, I saw no sign that race was a factor in the killing.   A fellow blogger responded to the contrary in a reply to my post.  Read that here.

As one who loves to argue/discuss a good point and for those of you who share this blogger’s opinion, here’s my response.

I am painfully aware that injustice against blacks (Other races too but let’s stick to the topic) do exist.  Like I said, I did as much research as I could on the Trayvon’s case.  Before doing any researching, my initial conclusion  was that it was 100% racially motivated.  Nothing I read confirmed this.  I did read the ‘black coon’ comment and my first reaction was to go ‘aha! so it WAS a race thing’ then on further reading, I found that this comment was inconclusive.  ’F*ing coon’ was later thought to have been ‘f*ing cold’ then ‘f*ing punks’ by forensic audio experts.  Only a biased mind would argue that it was indeed ‘f*ing coon’.

The blogger went on to say ‘ Perhaps you haven’t noticed that this is indicative of a continuing trend of a lack of follow-up on crimes perpetrated against black people?‘  Ironic indeed since one of my first blogs was based on the injustice in the Troy Davis’ case.  Another black man.  Read that blog here.  I even did a part two on that case as it really touched me.  Part 2 here.  So you see, I am in fact not blinded to racially atrocities against blacks.  I however, choose to be objective rather than subjective.

Another irony is the blogger wrote,  ”Perhaps, you haven’t considered that had it been a black man who had shot a young white kid, that there would be no way in heck that that black man would have been walking around free, and armed, for weeks afterwards?”  On my blog on the Troy Davis case, I wrote ‘ I do not like to go there but it begs to ask, would it have been different if Troy was a white man?‘  Ample proof that I do know the ‘truth’, you would agree.

“The older I get, the more I become convinced that people don’t take too much seriously unless it happens to them, or “theirs.” It’s easy to talk about “being Christian,” and “learning to forgive,” but even Jesus believed in justice.”

From reading many of my blogs dealing with pain and tragedy and the miscarriage of justice, there should be no doubt that I do take matters such as this with all seriousness.  I have children and family that I love dearly so I know how I would feel should I be in the victims’ shoes.   As a christian, I admit that my first response is usually to put things in a spiritual perspective.  No apologies there.  It is really refreshing when I read of parents forgiving the killers of their spouse or kids.  I pray daily for strength to be able to be man enough to do that.  For the records,  Jesus did not believe in the justice dispense by us humans and that’s why he preached forgiveness every chance he got.

Finally, here is an excerpt from Trayvon’s mother herself.  As the grieving parent, she could have labeled this a hate crime but didn’t.  Her take was rather noble and level-headed.

‘Saying she believed the shooting death of her 17-year-old son was “an accident,’’ Sybrina Fulton revealed on NBC’s Today Show her opinion in the case for the first time Thursday.

“I believe it was an accident,’’ Fulton said. “I believe that it just got out of control, and he couldn’t turn the clock back.’’

. . .

Fulton added that she sympathizes with the Zimmerman family, but asked for their understanding as well.

“I understand that his family is hurting, but think about our family. We lost our teenage son,’’ she told Today Show anchor Ann Curry. “I’m sure his parents can pick up the phone and call him, but we can’t pick up the phone and call Trayvon any more.’’

Related articles

• Who Cares About Race? (pjmedia.com)
• Reflections on the Trayvon Martin case (themoxiesophic.com)
• Trayvon’s Mom Sybrina Fulton Thinks Shooting Was an Accident (VIDEO) (blippitt.com)
• Trayvon, Emmett and America’s Unfinished Business (jeffwinbush.com)
• Justice For Trayvon Martin Should Have Been Served Hot (myvuze.wordpress.com)
• Trayvon Martin: The Problem With the ‘Some of My Best Friends Are Black’ Defense (ideas.time.com)
• The Tragic Death of Trayvon Martin: The Reflections of C.S. Lewis (wannabepretentious.wordpress.com)
• Trayvon Martin: the criminalisation of black children must end | Ava Vidal (guardian.co.uk)
• One Woman’s “I Am Not Trayvon Martin” Vid Goes Viral – Does She Have A Point? (clutchmagonline.com)
• Paging Obama, Holder, and Sharpton: Black Man Shoots Unarmed Hispanic Man in Arizona, Claims ‘Self Defense’ (sfcmac.wordpress.com)
• “I am not Trayvon Martin” (newblackwoman.com)
• Hoodies and Race (markosun.wordpress.com)
• Coon hunting, slave-catchers and vigilantes (dailykos.com)

Justice For Trayvon Martin Should Have Been Served Hot

The unfortunate and tragic incident involving the shooting of a young black kid, Trayvon Martin, has got me doing some reading as I try to come to my own unbiased conclusions.  From what I have read so far, I see it as an isolated case of  an unprovoked confrontation gone wrong.  Nothing I read made me think it had anything to do with race.  Zimmerman, the guy who shot young Trayvon, acted over zealously and obviously has some underlying and unresolved personal issues.  No one knows what was driving him that night.  It would have been advisable to have him tested for drug use following the shooting but unfortunately this was not done.

This case has gotten more than its fair share of publicity due in part to the racial undertones that also makes it so volatile.  Should Zimmerman have been arrested and charged? Absolutely.  Manslaughter, or second degree murder charges should have been brought against him.  It was indeed a miscarriage of justice on the part of the system.  The definition of justice states: ‘The upholding of what is just, especially fair treatment and due reward in accordance with honor, standards, or law’.  Everyone is innocent until proven guilty but when there someone is killed in an altercation, the killer, if his guilt could be ascertained, should be arrested then and there.  Heck, I’ve known several cases right here in my city where a home owner was charged for defending his property.

In a world where fear and hate walk hand in hand, events like this unfold daily with the same consequences.  Maybe it was a hate crime, maybe it wasn’t.  Either way it should never had happened but it did and it does and I hate to say it but it will always happen.  What should we do?  We have to be ready to forgive and not seek revenge.  Ready to be open to the fact that even though they acted like monsters, they are still humans in need of help.  Zimmerman obviously had demons that night.  He was walking around armed and willing to use firepower on an unarmed youth that he outweighed by 40 pounds.  It doesn’t matter if the kid was white or yellow, justice must be served.

It is a pity that it took the voices of the masses to finally spur the system to right the wrong and seek to bring charges against Zimmerman.  I hope that he gets a fair trial and come to terms with what he did.  I also hope he seeks and gets the help he certainly needs.

And that’s my take.

NOTE:  Immediately after drafting this blog, the news broke that George Zimmerman was arrested and charged with second degree murder of the unarmed youth.  I added the last paragraph and changed the topic to reflect this.

Related articles

• George Zimmerman To Be Charged In Trayvon Martin Case [VIDEO] (hellobeautiful.com)
• George Zimmerman: Victim of Racist Hatred and Liberal Ignorance (thecollegeconservative.com)
• Zimmerman dodges first degree murder charge and launches website (lameducks.wordpress.com)
• George Zimmerman Could Be Charged With a Hate Crime [Trayvon Martin] (gawker.com)
• Open Season on Bunnies and Black Folk… (darkactsbible.wordpress.com)

Don’t speak ill of the dead. Oh, and don’t lie either

Reading the newspaper this week, I came upon yet another murder in my normally peaceful and perfect city.  This time it was a 21 year old aspiring model.  A handsome looking dude from the pictures.  He was  found shot to death in the front yard of a house located in a not-so-nice part of the city.

This happened last Saturday and has been in the news for the last few days since then.  One thing that stood out for me was the fact that his friends and family were very adamant in insisting that this young man had no ties to gangs or drugs, thus lending credence to the  ’That’s what they all say” mantra.

The newspaper’s front page this morning stated that the police were investigating possible gang link in the killing.  The deceased was apparently wearing a Hell’s Angels’ support T-shirt when he was found.   Wearing a T-shirt or any other item of clothing does not necessarily qualify as being a gangster but the fact that he was in the company of gang members in a car stopped by cops back in February and his older brother is a known gang member, does nothing to allay suspicions.  Too many coincidences.

So, when someone dies, do we tell their life like it was or do we try to paint a more acceptable picture of them?  If so, why?  Why isn’t it koshered to say ‘Ole Sam was one ornery man.  He never had anything nice to say and was cruel to humans and animals alike.  Yep, that’s Sam.  He sure wasn’t a good man.”  That would not only be the truth but reflects exactly what everyone knows about the deceased.   Why say he was a good man with good intentions when everyone knows or suspect that he was far from that?   It’s up to the deceased to sell his ‘good man’ story to God.  We can’t help him in that regard.

The question now is, since we are told not to speak ill of the dead, do we lie about the dead? But we were also told not to lie, so which one takes precedence?  Does the saying, ‘If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all’ apply to the dead?

Oh my!  There must be some really quiet funeral services out there!

Just my take.