The Daily Pennsylvanian :: Your Voice | A 'chilling account' of a teen mob

Brian Goldman | Flashback to a flashmob

I was horrified to read Brian Goldman’s chilling account of his assault at the hands of a gang of teenagers in busy and bustling Center City on a Saturday night, an incident which reminds me of the stunning attack, sexual assault and murder of Queens resident Kitty Genovese in March 1964 when 38 witnesses similarly neither did anything to help her nor call the police.

We are often told by political leaders that the main threat to our nation and to our way of life are violent Islamic radicals. Try telling that to Mr. Goldman or anyone else who has had their life flash before their eyes at the hands of thugs or domestic terrorists.

What will the justice system do to the teenagers who appear to have engaged in a race-based attack on Mr. Goldman, inflicting physical and emotional harm? Not enough.

It is a good bet that whatever sanction is dispensed by the justice system, if any, will be ineffective in reversing the mindset of individuals that have become callous, hate-filled, hardened criminals with contempt for society before they have reached the age of majority, and surely all of them will be returned to the streets soon, affording them ample opportunity to continue fomenting mayhem and hurting innocent people.

Aside from locking up anti-societal misfits and throwing away the key after they have committed harm, I do not know precisely how we go about restoring civilized behavior to our society, how we can deal in a pre-emptive manner with the violent degenerates who walk among us

every day, often armed with guns to settle disputes.

I am thankful that Mr. Goldman survived and was well enough to chronicle his nightmare, but no one deserves to endure the abomination that he did.

Oren M. Spiegler is from Upper Saint Clair, PA.

Comments (7)

My question is why this was not deemed a hate crime. I sense a double standard—if it were a gang of white guys against someone who was black/Hispanic/Asian/gay/etc., I’m sure it would’ve been.

By any definition, this would appear to be a hate crime, and if the races were reversed, it would have been a prominent national story with Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson having visited the Penn campus by now to call for justice for the victim.

Leave it to the Penn community, located in the heart of West Philly, to start caring about the junction of race&violence the moment a white kid gets punched.

It’s more the double standard that bothers me, although I agree with Oren that it certainly does appear to have been a hate crime.

Let’s be fair. This may have well been a hate crime.

But let’s remember that when Al Sharpton and my parents were growing up, hanging people from trees after torturing (lynching) them in a public while scores of people looked on was not uncommon and nothing would have happened even if someone did call the police, so the double standard in America, unfortunately, is based in history. There is a reason why blacks getting attacked my a mob of whites is a more of a tender subject and would inspire outrage from self-appointed black leaders and why a kid getting punched in the middle of the best area of town doesn’t make the 6 o’clock news.

But question:
NO WHERE in Brian’s article did he state the race of his attackers. Or that they were spewing insults about his race while he was being attacked. Forgive me if you know more intimate details about this than i do, but I do wonder where the assumption his attackers were minorities came from if not from Brian.

P.S.

I think the justice system would be getting it right if they didn’t throw kids ( “ callous, hate-filled, hardened criminals with contempt for society before they have reached the age of majority” ) into the prison cycle for and encounter that left Brian with “minimal injury”.

These “degenerates” could probably use more attention from the Department of Education and less from the Police Department.

To the individual who asked how it was determined that racial epithets hurled by the members of the African-American mob against the white taxi passenger, it was reported in the mainstream media, including in the following Inquirer article of 3 February:

Teens held in attack on cabbie and passenger won’t face hate-crime charges
February 03, 2012|By Allison Steele, Inquirer Staff Writer

* o o * o o o

The teenagers arrested after an attack on a cabdriver and his 21-year-old passenger in Center City last weekend, during which racial epithets were shouted, will not be charged with committing hate crimes, the District Attorney’s Office said Thursday.

“We have to be able to prove that race was the motivator for the crime,” said Tasha Jamerson, a spokeswoman for the District Attorney’s Office. “Just because epithets were said during the crime doesn’t mean it was the reason for the crime.”
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The three teenagers charged in the assault, who are black, allegedly spewed racial slurs as they reached through the window and punched passenger Brian Goldman, who is white.

Racial epithets can be used as evidence of ethnic intimidation, Jamerson said, but cannot be the sole indicator. To allege racial intimidation, she said, authorities would need additional proof that the teenagers committed the assault due to hatred of Goldman’s race.

The three teenagers, who have not been identified because they are juveniles, have been charged with assault, conspiracy, and related charges.

The cab was stopped at a red light at 15th and Chestnut Streets around 8:30 p.m. Saturday when Goldman, a senior at the University of Pennsylvania, felt a blow from a punch through the open window. Goldman got out and saw up to 10 teenagers swarming the cab.

The 53-year-old cabdriver, who could not be reached for comment, also climbed out and threatened the teenagers with a tire iron. Though some ran away, one hit the driver from behind, Goldman said.

The driver later told police he heard the teenagers using racial slurs toward Goldman. Goldman, who said he never heard them, fled the scene after a minute.

“Initially I was really shocked and angered by this,” he said Thursday. “But now I just feel fortunate that the driver and I made it out with minimal injuries.”

Goldman said the incident had not made him fearful of spending time downtown.

“I love Philly,” he said. “Nothing will change that.”
Contact staff writer Allison Steele at 215-854-2641 or asteele@phillynews.com.
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