Category: Violence

Eleven-Year-Old Aston Wise Killed by Coward with Shotgun

Posted on by TL

When will it stop?

The sad news from the Chicago Sun-Times:

Eleven-year-old Aston Wise was a passenger in a sport-utility vehicle parked on a South Shore street Friday night when a masked gunman opened fire with a shotgun, killing Aston and critically wounding his father.

Aston, of the 6800 block of South East End Avenue, was shot in the head in the 7800 block of South Kingston, police said. He was pronounced dead on the scene, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Aston was a sixth-grader at Martha Ruggles Elementary School, 7831 S. Prairie, Chicago Public Schools spokeswoman Monique Bond said.

Police Supt. Jody Weis said detectives are investigating if the shooting was connected to a relative with gang ties.

Weis said Aston had a half brother in the Black Disciplines street gang and that there has been “low-key” conflict between the Black Disciplines and the Gangster Disciples. Police are also looking into the possibility of a carjacking, Weis said.

“We won’t really know until we get a chance to talk with the father,” Weis said. No arrests had been made as of Saturday night.

Another one of our children cut down, this time by a coward with a shotgun.

C.I.A. Drops Blackwater

Posted on by TL

The C.I.A. has finally terminated ties with Blackwater.

Finally.

From the New York Times:

The Central Intelligence Agency has terminated a contract with the security company formerly called Blackwater Worldwide that allowed the company to load bombs on C.I.A. drones in Pakistan and Afghanistan, intelligence officials said Friday.

The contract gave employees with the company an operational role in one of the Central Intelligence Agency’s most significant covert programs, which has killed dozens of militants with Predator and Reaper drones. The company’s involvement highlighted the extent to which the C.I.A. had outsourced critical jobs to private companies since the 9/11 attacks.

The contract with the company, now called Xe Services, was canceled this year by Leon E. Panetta, the C.I.A. director, according to a C.I.A. spokesman. In August, The New York Times first revealed the existence of the contract, which was run by a division of the company called Blackwater Select, which handles classified contracts.

George Little, the C.I.A. spokesman, said that Mr. Panetta had ordered that the agency’s employees take over the jobs from Xe employees at the remote drone bases in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and that Mr. Panetta had also ordered a review of all contracts with the company.

“At this time, Blackwater is not involved in any C.I.A. operations other than in a security or support role,” Mr. Little said.

This is Friday night news. Many times, unpopular news is released on Fridays to downplay the prime time media blitz. This release happend to come just after the NYTimes reported that Blackwater employees had joined C.I.A. operatives in secret operations during the Bush II administration.

Good riddance.

Read more.

Why Do Republicans Oppose Al Franken’s Anti-Rape Ammendment?

Posted on by TL

I’m trying to figure this one out.

Why, exactly, are Republicans in Congress having such a tough time wrapping their heads around Sen. Al Franken’s anti-rape amendment? Could it be that they have friends at KBR and Halliburton who might suddenly be held accountable for the heinous crime of rape?

From ENEWSPF:

Senate Republicans, who have been taking heat for fighting an amendment to protect rape victims, are now lashing out at Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) for even proposing the measure in the first place.

In October, Franken introduced an amendment that would deny funding to defense contractors that "restrict their employees from taking workplace sexual assault, battery and discrimination cases to court." Franken was inspired by the case of Jamie Leigh Jones, a former employee of KBR (previously a subsidiary of Halliburton), who "was gang raped by her co-workers" while stationed in Iraq.When Jones returned to the U.S., KBR tried to prevent her from taking the case to court. The measure to punish such practices passed, with 30 out of 40 Republicans voting against it.

Today, Politico reports that conservative Senators blame Franken for the backlash they have faced. Apparently, Franken isn’t doing enough to defend those Republicans who fought his proposal to protect women like Jones. Moreover, some of them say, the amendment was really just a "partisan" trap meant to embarrass the Republicans who opposed it:

"I don’t know what his motivation was for taking us on, but I would hope that we won’t see a lot of Daily Kos-inspired amendments in the future coming from him," said South Dakota Sen. John Thune, No. 4 in the Senate Republican leadership. "I think hopefully he’ll settle down and do kind of the serious work of legislating that’s important to Minnesota." […]

Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.), who also voted against the amendment, said, "from what I know of" Franken, he "expected" such tactics. […]

"It was partisan – and he knew it," said Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.). "That’s exactly what I’d expect."

Thune did not elaborate on why protecting victims of sexual assault isn’t "serious work," nor did Coburn explain how a measure that garnered support from 10 Republicans — a quarter of the caucus — was "partisan."

Read more here.

After reading, ask yourself, who would oppose an anti-rape amendment?

Edgardo De La Torre, 16, Struck by Car, Allegedly Killed by Teen Over Girl

Posted on by TL

There’s no good way to tell this story. Two young guys allegedly in a dispute over in a girl, one allegedly loses it and runs the other one over with a car. A stolen car.

And the 16-year-old victim is dead.

From the Chicago Tribune:

A Maine East High School student was run down and fatally injured by another teen driving a stolen car, an attack in a Niles mall parking lot that police said stemmed from a dispute over a girl on a social-networking Web site.

The victim, Edgardo De La Torre of Des Plaines, died after being taken off life support Tuesday, his 16th birthday, his mother, Leticia, said Wednesday. She said her son’s organs would be donated but declined to comment further.

De La Torre was with six other teens who were walking along Church Street near the Golf Mill mall at about 7 p.m. Saturday when they heard a car speed up, Niles Police Sgt. Tom Davis said.

"He accelerated and basically ran this kid down," said Davis, adding that the car was going between 30 and 40 mph. "It’s my understanding there was a dispute over a girl on a Web site and that is the reason he attacked him."

The teens ran into the mall parking lot as the car sped up and headed toward them, Davis said.

The car knocked down a 16-year-old boy from Glenview before making a U-turn and striking De La Torre, who suffered head injuries, according to police.

From Chicago Breaking News:

Alex De La Torre was walking with his older brother and other teens near a Niles mall when they heard a car speed up behind them.

They took off running for the nearest store but never made it.

The car hit Edgardo at nearly 40 mph, throwing him into the air. Alex said he rushed to his brother and held him.From Chicago Breaking News:

"He was shaking. He couldn’t breath or anything because he was choking," Alex, 14, told WGN-Channel 9 Wednesday night, a day after his brother was taken off life support and pronounced dead. Edgardo died on his 16th birthday.

"I just held him in may arms. And then I went into a J.C. Penney to get some help. And after that, the ambulance came."

Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victim and the alleged offender.

In one instant, gone.

Alex De La Torre, 14, left, talks about holding his brother Edgardo after he was run down in a parking lot.

The Advocate: Tom Petty Assumed Gay by Violent Dad

Posted on by TL

Wow.

From Advocate.com:

Tom Petty admits that his father physically and verbally abused him because he assumed the singer was gay.

"[My father] was scary and violent," Petty said in the new issue of Rolling Stone,according to website Spinner. "He beat the living hell out of me, and there was constant verbal abuse."

Haven’t heard from Tom Petty in a while. Of course it would help if I listened to the radio.

Wow.

More here.

Ugandan Government Moving Law Forward to Kill Gay People

Posted on by TL

No kidding. The Ugandan government is moving to kill homosexuals.

From AllAfrica.com:

The Ugandan government will put to death gay citizens repeatedly caught having sex and throw into jail those who touch each other in a "gay" way, if a new proposed Bill becomes law.

A new Bill, the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, seeks to legislate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) people in Uganda. And it wants to pave the way for its harsh treatment of them by nullifying any international treaties, conventions or declarations believed to be contrary to it.

"The Bill is so inhumane … It violates every aspect of a human being. I mean you cannot tell me you will kill me because I’m gay," says Gerald Sentogo, the gay administrator for the organisation Sexual Minorities Uganda.

The death penalty is listed as punishment under an offence called aggravated homosexuality. This part of the Bill states that "repeat offenders" of homosexuality are liable to get the death penalty. The death penalty is also applied in a homosexual relationship if a partner is under 18, or has a disability, or is HIV positive. People accused under the aggravated homosexuality clause will be forced to undergo an HIV test.

Local and international civil society groups operating in the country fear that the Bill, once enacted, would curtail most of the civil rights guaranteed in the Ugandan constitution, and international human rights instruments and protocols.

But Uganda’s ethics and integrity minister sees the uproar surrounding the Bill as a positive sign that Uganda is "providing leadership" to the world. The minister, James Nsaba Buturo, tells IPS he is happy the Bill is causing a lot of debate globally.

"It is with joy we see that everyone is interested in what Uganda is doing, and it is an opportunity for Uganda to provide leadership where it matters most. So we are here to see a piece of legislation that will not only define what the country stands for, but actually provide leadership around the world," he says.

The new Bill will force people in authority to report offences to the police within 24 hours, or they themselves will face fines or up to three years in prison.

Read more here.

12-year-old Jahmeshia Conner Found Dead in South Side Alley

Posted on by TL

The sad news from the Chicago Tribune:

A 12-year-old girl who was missing for the last two weeks was found dead in aSouth Side alley this morning, her family said.

Family members said they have viewed photographs and identified the girl as Jahmeshia Conner, who was last seen Nov. 15. She was a fifth grader at O’Toole Elementary School.

Chicago police said the body was found this morning in the 6400 block of South Marshfield Avenue, about a block from her home. Further details about her identity and cause of death were pending an examination by the Cook County medical examiner’s office, police said.

Family members said it appeared from the photos that Jahmeshia may have been beaten.

Various online missing-children sites refer to Jahmeshia as an "endangered runaway," but family members insisted she would never run away.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the family.

Read more here.

Huckabee Granted Clemency to Suspect in Wash State Quadruple Cop Killer Case

Posted on by TL

From The Seattle Times:

Maurice Clemmons, the 37-year-old Tacoma man being sought for questioning in the killing this morning of four Lakewood police officers, has a long criminal record punctuated by violence, erratic behavior and concerns about his mental health.

Nine years ago, then-Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee granted clemency to Clemmons, commuting his lengthy prison sentence over the protests of prosecutors.

"This is the day I’ve been dreading for a long time," Larry Jegley, prosecuting attorney for Arkansas’ Pulaski County said tonight when informed that Clemmons was being sought for questioning in connection with the killings.

Clemmons’ criminal history includes at least five felony convictions in Arkansas and at least eight felony charges in Washington. The record also stands out for the number of times he has been released from custody despite questions about the danger he posed.

Clemmons had been in jail in Pierce County for the past several months on a pending charge of second-degree rape of a child. He was released from custody just six days ago, even though was staring at seven additional felony charges in Washington state.

Clemmons posted $15,000 with a Chehalis company called Jail Sucks Bail Bonds. The bondsman, in turn, put up $150,000, securing Clemmons’ release on the pending child-rape charge.

For your consideration. No comment at this time.

Nod to AMERICAblog.

According to the New York Times, the officers who were killed were identified as Tina Griswold, 40; Ronald Owens, 37; Sgt. Mark Renninger, 39; and Greg Richards, 42.

Gregory Robinson Died a Hero at 14; Case Remains Unsolved

Posted on by TL

As I wrote last March, 14-year-old Gregory Robinson sounds like someone you would have admired.

Hearing gunshots, Robinson tried to protect a 10-month-old and a 4-year-old, and was shot dead. His murder remains unsolved, along with many others.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

The murder of 14-year-old Gregory Robinson, a Simeon Career Academy student who died shielding two younger children from bullets last March, remains unsolved.

This saddens the Rev. Don Smith of Holy Jerusalem Church, who doesn’t live far from where the murder took place, in the 1100 block of West 110th Place.

"I think some of these kids are so engrossed in video games, they don’t know reality," Smith said. "They think shooting is like a video game — [that] they shoot you, and three seconds later you get back up. It don’t work that way."

The murder of the Chicago Public Schools student — and many other homicides in the city that remain unsolved — was the reason Smith and a cadre of ministers and community groups hit the streets Saturday morning, ringing doorbells and passing out pamphlets asking for neighbors’ help in solving them.

Chicago Police spokesman Roderick Drew on Saturday could not immediately provide the number of unsolved murders in the city.

The South Side of Chicago is too dangerous still. There are about 100 community groups working in tandem with the Chicago Police Department to solve these murders. Dubbed Chain of Change, the project "organizes youth activists to individually and collectively strategize how to end violence by exposing its roots through the creation of media. Beyond media distributes video cameras to youth groups, who create short videos that challenge individuals to think about their own roles in this struggle."

Here is one of their video projects:

It’s a start. Another start.

And still the bullets fly.

Thomas Mangiantini Killed His Sons, His Wife and Himself

Posted on by TL

The tragic news from the Chicago Tribune:

Police have recovered a note left behind by Thomas Mangiantini, who they say killed his two young sons, his wife and himself in their Addison home.

The note, one page long and handwritten, was discovered late Wednesday night, hours after the bodies of Mangiantini, his wife Elizabeth and their sons Tommy Jr., 8, and Angelo, 12, were found, according to Addison Police Chief Tim Hayden.

Hayden would not disclose the contents of the note, but said Mangiantini was distraught.

The police chief also said two guns were recovered from the scene and Mangiantini used both of them to shoot his family. The police have not yet determined to whom the guns were registered, Hayden said.

Thomas E. Mangiantini, 48, killed his wife and children before shooting himself in the mouth, Hayden said. He was found dead in his bedroom.

The DuPage County coroner ruled today that Elizabeth Mangiantini died of a single gunshot wound to the head. Tommy Jr. was also shot once in the head and Angelo suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the head, the coroner said. Their deaths were classified as homicides.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the relatives of this family.

Read more here.