natural born rapists

In New York, a mob of young, lust-crazed males armed with water pistols and a video camera can assault and film women in broad daylight in a public park, with no fear of immediate arrest and with no apparent fear of outraged, effective interference by cops.
At this point, the story is that the men went on a wilding spree from about 6:00 p.m. until 6:45 or so, in broad daylight, in a park full of tens of thousands of visitors. The perpetrators sprayed women with water, before proceeding to rob them, rip their clothes off of their bodies, grope their genitalia, and in several cases, manually rape ,their exposed and assaulted bodies videotaped for the viewing pleasure of the perpetrators. And this behavior wasn't by some ghetto gang, but by supposedly "educated" blacks from a middle class.
In the case of a French couple visiting the city, the mob down held the husband, who could see half-a-dozen members strip his wife naked, and then take turns jamming their fingers into her. The only help : 3 cops.
The wilding thugs continued to attack even after the couple was given shelter in a police scooter. Many guys were around the scooter taking pictures and leering.The mob started banging on the windows, taunting the terrified newlyweds,shaking the scooter.a cop said. "Myself and a group of other cops started pushing them away." - Why only PUSHING THEM AWAY ?
Some NewYorkers argue that the cops would have had to wade through a huge crowd (of Blacks and Puerto Ricans) to stop the violence. It would have been very dangerous and probably have provoked a riot. In other words, the well-being of up to 50 women had to be sacrificed in order to prevent greater violence with a more explicit racial subtext. And for the Frenchwoman the scars will remain for a long time - all the more vivid because of how the wilding gangs have always evaded justice.
How would you feel if you were stripped and sexually violated without decent men and women coming to their aid? Thousands of strangers saw her naked and ravaged.
How would you feel if you were humiliated repeatedly for the same thing—first in a crowd of parade watchers and then on U.S. television (the "videotaper" sold it to NBC for $1,000.) while millions were watching?
How utterly humiliating.
But the shame does not belong to her. The shame belongs to YOU :

At first : the permissive U.S.society :Videotaping an ongoing sex-crime = They had no obligation to do anything, and if they chose to just stand there and take movies as souvenirs of their visit, well, we might disapprove, but they were within their legal and moral rights.( In USA , it's legal !)

Some men who "witnessed " and taped the attacks :
"This is better than Disneyland," said Jason Ortiga, 24,(graphic designer ) as he videotaped a mob of thugs ."Fresh fish!" he yelled about one woman. "We got a live one!" he yelled about another. And when police arrived at the scene, he exclaimed, "It's the pigs!" He declared the event was "one of the best Puerto Rican Day Parades I've ever been to."he sold it to NBC for $1,000.

Another of the videotapers, 24-year-old Jose Mercado said he didn't break away to find a cop because "I figured somebody else might have gone and done it . . . I thought it wasn't my duty to do so." He sold his tape to "about 10" news stations for $9,000.
Rudolph Pleasant also taped dozens of attacks and victims, including a French woman in New York for her honeymoon screaming frantically after her skirt and underwear had been ripped off by the groping mob. "She was screaming, ‘Help me! Help me!' before I even got there," he said. "But you didn't help her, did you?" asked Ortiz's lawyer, "No," Pleasant answered.

Ivan Henao, 33, of Queens, had the most disturbing footage, including more shots of the French honeymooner and of another woman being trapped by a mob of about 20 men in front of a gate.

Jose Rivera, 26, of Brooklyn, told jurors he videotaped the attacks without lifting a finger off the "record" button to help the terrorized women. Instead, he went all out to pursue the victims - his video at times shows him straying into honking traffic or clambering over a chain-link fence. When a defense lawyer noted Rivera's lens seemed drawn to the women's chests, he protested. "Not the breasts alone - but their buttocks, legs, feet," Rivera said. Then he sold the images to a TV station and a newspaper for $2,200 . more

Karen J. Gould women's rights activist (womensissues.about.com):I would like to think that human decency would not allow someone to stand by and take pictures while another human being is being viciously assaulted. But, on the other hand, I can certainly understand why "civilians" might be afraid to intervene with a mob that size. (you feel the fear when you read their commentarys !!! -blunder? ingenuousness? hypocrisy? I don't know , but ,It's a sure thing, these guy are not afraid of the "women's right activist".)


You want a video?

forum :alt.video.tape-trading
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/puertoricanparadecentralparky2k/
http://www.digitalcreationsestore.com/ :"One of the most anticipated with all of the hype over the attacks in Central Park at the parade this year.We didn't get any footage of the actual attacks but ...","You will definitely be satisfied."
(problably filmed by one of the videotapers.)

Center for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Two Spirit & Transgender People of Color Communities
We are also witnessing a dangerous public discourse that is using racism and ageism (!) to scapegoat men of color and young people as the roots of the problem. We also reject current trends of public discourse that have sought to single out youth and
hip hop culture as somehow inherently violent.Commentators and public figures who attempt to scapegoat and criminalize youth and hip hop culture as the root causes of violence against women ignore the daily and historic role that young people and hip hop culture have played in struggles for justice, including the ongoing struggle for women's rights and feminist justice.
Men who perpetrate violence against women are of all racial backgrounds. And as evident from the assaults that took place during Woodstock 2(and the reality of daily life in this country(!)), these attacks are not restricted to ethnic-based celebrations or communities. So ,everything is normal !

A commentary in a newsgroup :Again I ask: what were the actual physical injuries? How many broken bones? How many lacerations requiring sutures? Did any of the women require emergency surgery?How many contusions?
The answer, as far as I know, is none. (It's stupid of course, but he's honest)


ONLOOKER 'Those brothers were just having fun'.

NBCDateline completed its analysis of this "delicate question"(!) by consulting a man"present" at the assaults, who insisted that though he was "not blaming anyone," there were "two sides to this coin." He described the assailants as "a crowd of guys, just oversexed and overheated, provoked to a point to where it allowed them to do what they wanted to do. They saw open flesh and they just got hungry for more."

Kathy Dobie reporter : Sociological explanations for why dozens of young black and Latino males attacked
dozens of black and Latino young women (!) in Central Park two weeks ago miss one key point -- those who tried to help (!)the victims were also young Latino and black males.
Sometimes cruelty is as simple as rain -- we kick the fat boy because we can.
Sometimes when a man rips a shirt off a woman, he's angry at women, not at class injustice.
Sometimes when a man rips a shirt off a woman, grinning as she sobs, he's having a good time.
It's true no one tried to break up the mob -- but no one ever does. It would be like walking into a tidal wave. I doubt it's possible (except in the movies) but some people did help.
There's a moment caught on camera that's as powerful as all the awful moments.
When one woman stumbles from the crowd, weeping and trying to hide her bare breasts, three men come up to her, surrounding her but protectively -- they make of their backs a wall. They bend low, concern on their faces, trying to talk to her. She's crying so hard, I don't think she hears them. One man tries to put something over her shoulders--a towel, a shirt? Another of the men pulls his mesh jersey over his head and hands it to her to wear. It's just not true that given the right conditions every person will behave the same way.You can't say the men in the park behaved the way they did because they're left out of the American dream or overly influenced by MTV or the way girls behave on spring break or how President Clinton behaves year round or any number of reasons that have been bandied about.
Instead, imagine yourself there in the park that day and then ask what you would've done. (!) (more)
a victim"There were no men in the park,They were animals." OK?



Lisa De Pasquale :The NOW crowd conveniently leaves this portion out of their "gender-based violence" rhetoric. Contrary to what feminists report, those who are violent and aggressive toward women are also aggressive toward men. Once again, attempts by feminists to polarize men and women and portray females as victims of a patriarchal society have fallen short on logic. (more)


Alyssa Milanos " (Actress, best known for her role as Tony Danza's daughter on the hit "Who's the Boss?")
"I guess what my point is is that if a guy wants to touch a girl's bottom, he should go ahead and do it. I mean, ladies, they did give us the right to vote. What I'm trying to say is that we should be flattered if guys want to touch us. We really need to loosen up."
(It is not about central park attacks but Milano's words have angered some, especially because they came just two weeks after)
(more) (Oh,Alyssa !)

a cop :"You're hysterical, if you've suffered a sexual assault come back in 24 hours when you're more calm."

RAP MUSIC
The ripping of clothes and molestations of our (!) women should not be tolerated by anyone.
My only hope is that artists like Fat Joe, who is very involved in the Puerto Ricancommunity, speaks up against this wildin out.
This should not be tolerated by any means, especially to our own (!)women!! (YO!)

A group of African American community leaders calling The New York Leadership Alliance blamed gangsta rap as the cause for the attacks and they have now launched a campaign which they are calling SOS [Save Our Sons] which will target record companies that release this material.And the parade’s board of directors is proposing changes to next year’s festivities, including a ban on some rap music.He did say that violent and sometimes obscene lyrics send the wrong message. Some people disagree :
Davey D ; Now I'm not sure what sort of cross section of leadership this New York leadership Alliance consist of, but it includes among others radio personality Bob Law and a guy named Charles Barron. I'm not sure if other community leaders like Congressman Charles Rengle, Jessie Jackson, Minister Conrad Muhammad, Rev Al Sharpton or others involved are with this. I know I was on a conference call this past Monday with Rev Sharpton, Russell Simmons and Martin Luther King III, there was no mention about them launching any sort of campaign to attack gangsta rap?
Magazine publisher Jorge Cano-Moreno said, “I think when you go into the whole censorship issue, you run a really thin line. You censor one thing, but who’s to say you can’t censor the other thing?” YO!


Charles Barron (African American community leader calling The New York Leadership Alliance,they have launched a campaign which they are calling SOS [Save Our Sons] (and the daughters ?)
"Look at the president; look what he did, and what signal that sends to young men of this nation," Barron said. "Something's wrong with a society where a president can do that and then get a 70 [percent] or 80 percent approval rating in spite of it."
Why blame Clinton? His relationship with Lewinsky was one between two consenting adults ! OK, this relationship is "boy is boy" but NOT the Central park wilding ! (good luck for the sons)



- Latino and black community leaders joined a chorus of condemnation of the mob attacks on women .Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer -- were quick to condemn the attacks, and to call on all New Yorkers, but especially Hispanic New Yorkers, to cooperate with the police to help bring the perpetrators to justice.

But some leaders spent most of their time excoriating the police, rather than the criminals, for the rampage. Are the police responsible for flagrantly refusing to protect and serve these victims? Hell Yes! Are the police also to be blamed for the men who behaved like rabid packs of dogs in heat? HELL NO!!!

They put guns to those young men's heads, and forced them to attack all those women ?

Rev. Al Sharpton ( black activist )(Central parl wilding in1989 when black hoodlums raped and beat a white woman until she was permanently brain-damaged , Sharpton defended the rapists ,now he denounce the attacks but ...)
"We must continue to hold police responsible, but we must handle this problem internally,"
Mr. Sharpton has scheduled a series of men-only (!) rallies meant to discourage ...misogyny.

National Congress for Puerto Rican Rights
Anyone who adds to the fear and instability of the community is an enemy. Just as we fight racist politicians, greedy slum landlords,
uncaring educators and brutal cops whose actions terrorize and hurt our people, so too must we must denounce those among us who perpetuate these actions and frighten us into accepting second-class citizenship.
We are also clear that condemning the behavior of a group of sexist men in no way implies that all men in our community are criminals. Given the NYPD's history of racial profiling and indiscriminate "sweeps" of young men of color, We should remain vigilant against innocent men being railroaded in this case and against the Mayor using this to justify increased police harrassment of young men of color.
Men should be punished for abusing women. This is another critical aspect of our overall fight for justice and advancement. When it comes to sex crimes against women, don't expect justice from the NYPD. Just as the NYPD tolerates racism and discrimination within its ranks, so does it tolerate and cover up sexual discrimination and harassment within its ranks. This is part of the police culture. (!)

Richie Perez :a lead organizer of the National Congress for Puerto Rican.
"Would it have been as much of a story if the British women, a French couple, and a white woman hadn't come forward?" (!)
While the early emergence of white women victims shaped a different perception of the attacks, he says, the day's reality overwhelmingly involved Latinos and other men of color perpetrating acts of violence on their female counterparts.

The National Congress for Puerto Rican Rights has endorsed and will participate in a rally called by the National Organization of Women-NYC Chapter on Sunday, June 18, 2000, at 6 pm
LAST SUNDAY, OVER 20 WOMEN WERE HARASSED, ATTACKED AND SEXUALLY ASSAULTED IN CENTRAL PARK IN BROAD DAYLIGHT BY A GANG OF 15-20 MEN(only 15-20!)
ACCORDING TO SOME OF THE VICTIMS, THE COPS REFUSED TO INTERVENE.IF POLICE HAD RESPONDED APPROPRIATELY AFTER THE FIRST ATTACK, FURTHER ASSAULTS COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED.
A new multinational group of women, BASTA (Bringing All Sisters To Action) was formed in response to the June 11 attacks on over 45 women by groups of men in New York's Central Park. Police stood by and watched (!)the women being attacked and
did nothing to help them. Later they held a massive dragnet (!)to round up Latino and African American men--regardless of whether the men were involved.

Eric Adams, the head of 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement,
He said he was "outraged" by the mob behavior - ( mostly of middle-class ) but also blasted the Giuliani administration for cutting the budget for after-school programs and summer jobs for young people ( June 11 ! )
"Just to point to one issue and to say that this took place in a vacuum is a mistake," (a vacuum !: thank you for the Parade)
Each person who participated should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. This statement should not be interpreted as an arrest “free for all” where the police department arrest any and all men of color who were in Central Park. We as law enforcement officers know that historically when men of color commit crimes the police agencies are not satisfied until everyone present is arrested. In other cases they settle for a symbolic arrest to appease the public.
Many of the city’s inner youth have been criminalized and treated as outcasts. The administration has implemented many draconian cuts to youth services. It only leads one to believe that when you treat people like animals they act like animals.
We must all remember that the reflection of a society can be interpreted in the behavior of its youth. The action of these young adults sends a sad message (the rape! a message?) of New York City’s society. (more) (also see my new hall of shame)


Jason Johnson;columnist (black male flesh) :. For days we were inundated with pictures of white female victims like Ann Peyton Bryant, whose pain is no less sincere, but who's constant media access helped frame the violence as savage coloreds fevered with hunger for white female flesh.The crime of these young thugs in central park was heinous and they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, but the greater crime of police indifference is hardly being touched upon Now there are 44 names of broken hearted, violated and scared women, mothers daughter's, wives and friends, laid at the feet of the NYPD(!). We already know what kind of police forces there are in certain urban environments, we already know that good cops live in fear of crooked cops; are we willing to step forward as citizens and not just re-take the streets but re-take the police? (more)

Lloyd Williams Referring to the incident as "wilding," the first night’s news stories featured traumatized white women: a French newlywed, a jogger and others. Only after Reverend Al Sharpton called a news conference did the non-white victims of the mob get access to the mass media.When women of all races are being molested by men of all races(!) in broad daylight in plain view(!) of police officers, it is evil to explain the cops’ failure to act in terms of race-based fallout from a distinctly different matter. (more)

Annette Robinson Councilwoman(!) -(black activist)"NY Cops No Better Than Central Park Wilders","We recognize there are problems within the Police Department and we look at the officers that were on duty and wonder if - were they not in uniform - would they be the ones who participate in the kind of behavior that was existent in Central Park," Robinson said.
When a reporter asked how she could make such a harsh statement "there is a "culture" within the city that devalues women. Sometimes officers who are not on duty, not only here in the City of New York but outside the city, participate in behavior that is inappropriate," she said. "I think we've had enough examples of behavior that would warrant for me to make that kind of statement." (she apologized after but it's dreadful)

Rebeca Toledo Workers world So it's unfortunate to hear some community leaders calling for cooperation with the NYPD in rounding up young Latino and African American men. Women's groups are rightfully outraged by police inaction during the attacks. But to call on the police to take violence against women seriously by taking more action in the communities is not the answer.

NOW-NYC :The police mishandling of women’s complaints of abuse in Central Park is only the most recent in a string of highly visible cases of police misconduct and brutality(!). In communities of color, there are thousands of incidents of police brutality occurring for every highly publicized case. With more than 1,000 officers assigned to Central Park for the parade June 11, the NYPD has disciplined just 14, but none were suspended or dismissed, said Nancy Millar, president of the New York City chapter of NOW.Three of the 14 were 911 operators who were "made scapegoats" for the rest. (Yes, and the NYPD were not made scapegoats for the race relation ?)

Also see "The other preocupation"

"BLAME THE VICTIM" or "the delicate question"
``Women should be able to go out and have a good time, especially at a parade,'' said victim Josina Lawrence.

What has been even more shocking is the response by some media who incredibly blamed the women for the assaults against themselves,some said that it's the result of womin wearing shorts or looking sexy.
Unbelievable! Should women where trench coats in 90 degree weather? Should they remain locked up at home? Is a public park no place for a womon? If women are to be blamed for every attack against them then there is no place in this society were women are safe.

What happened in New York does not happen on the beaches of Europe .The woman who chooses to go topless or completely nude on a beach in France is completely safe, she will be respected and will not be insulted or attacked. Playboy playmates are never sexually assaulted at the Playboy mansion. These kinds of assaults are extremely rare at spring break, Mardi Gras or carnival .

NBC "Everything was hot.The women are hot.The food is hot"

ACCUSED "F- that, they bitches anyway."

The Truth Establishment Institute ;(more) We do consider it questionable judgment to roller blade or jog in skimpy clothes directly into a drunken mob of men. While many of the women probably could have exercised better common sense and awareness of their surroundings, we do not believe that they deserved to be stripped naked, groped and fondled without their consent.(thank you !)
Our researchers have visited a couple of web sites, specifically the one run by David Duke’s organization. Of course, they emphasize strongly the fact that white women were groped and fondled.What of the white policemen who stood idly by watching their precious white women (!)being fondled and groped? (cretin!)


NBC went on to raise the "delicate question" of whether the victims should be blamed for the assaults on them: "What responsibility(!), if any, did the women have for what happened that day in the park?" McKeown asked.
He cited the videos in claiming that the assaults started out as "almost consensual sexual play and roughhousing and exhibitionism."

(and what responsibility did the media have for these)

Amy Holmes : member of the anti-feminist Independent Women's Forum.
Public commentary and official reaction have paid little attention to what actually was tolerated that day by many of the young women in the park. A close look at the amateur videotapes of the melee reveals a sexually charged crowd of young men and women with no shared rules of conduct and no shared notions of boundaries-a personal and cultural disaster.
The videotapes confirm that some women did laugh when sprayed by leering male strangers.
When pack members pulled away a woman's tank top to expose her breast, she casually readjusted her top, turned and smiled. To be sure, some women cursed their harassers and fled. Others were pushed down, stripped bare, assaulted and utterly terrorized.
But it is unclear (!), at least initially, which lines were not to be crossed with which women-until they were.

Carl Taylor, a criminologist(black) specializing in youth and violence (!) :
TED KOPPEL What are the messages that need to be conveyed? I mean both to YOUNG MEN by AUTORITY figures and also by WOMEN to MEN.(!)
Carl Taylor :I think is very important, that young women have to be CONSISTENT. If the guys many times look OK, then it’s like, ‘Oh, you’re naughty.’ ‘Oh, you know, you’re kind of fooling around too much.’ If they look like pigs, then, of course, then, ‘It’s
grossing me out and don’t touch me.’ They have to be CONSISTENT (!)and understand clearly that this is not child’s play, this is not just boys having fun.
And I think that really we talk about law enforcement. At that point, it has to begin in the community and better yet it begins at home with parents having a dialog with their sons AND DAUGHTERS (!) about sexual harassment. (more)

Elizabeth A. Gudrais
You see, the generally agreed-upon turning point in the incident ; the point (!)at which the attacks escalated from lighthearted water-splashing into violence and sexual assault — was when a young woman who'd just been splashed playfully lifted her shirt and flashed the crowd.
This girl was to blame. In that brief, careless act — or so the train of thought goes — she single-handedly tipped (!)the balance of the male spectators' conception of women. Well, of course this woman was not to blame for any part of the attacks, and of course she was not "asking for it" in any way.
As many have noted, there is a big difference between asking to be looked at and asking to be raped. But that said, just as each one of those attackers should have thought about consequences before acting, women, too, must use a little common sense.
Until it is safe for us to roam the streets in whatever state of dress or undress we desire, we need to fight our battle wisely.
(more)

Linda Bowles
"Don't put on a tube top and shorty shorts and parade around in a New York park in front of a herd of hot-blooded, beer-guzzling, overheated Puerto Rican men carrying water pistols and expect to be treated like Mother Teresa(!)."..." (more)


ALICIA COLON :What I am about to say will anger many women but I’ve never let that stop me before so here goes. I couldn’t help but notice how scantily clad many of the victims of the central Park attacks were. Yes, I know what some will say. There you go, blaming the victim (oh,no!)but I am not saying that these women asked or deserved to be mauled and assaulted. What I was noticing was that there was a time when such clothing was inappropriate for the city streets. Many of these women were wearing beach attire which unfortunately has become the uniform of the day for young women.

Stanley Crouch (New York Daily News) No, this is not about blaming the inarguable victims... But it should also be obvious that there are young women who can't tell the difference between a potentially dangerous situation and one that is absolutely safe.(this parade is dangerous ? thank you for the PuertoRican!) Some of the women in the park that day went along with things, laughing, joking, even doing some teasing moves that they assumed would mean nothing other than a playful exchange between the sexes on a jubilant day.(more)

A.S. Abdullah (http://www.islamicgarden.com/page1004.html) While there is no justification for any man to rip off a woman's clothes, we must take an objective look at the tapes to see that a number of the women in the park that day were just as intoxicated as the men and that they were laughing, flirting and even encouraging the men to touch them. One amateur photographer witnessed a woman who flashed her breasts to the crowd at it's request. These women must share in the responsibility for whipping the crowd into a frenzy and setting the stage for what happened to other women who did not want to be involved in the chaos. (Islam have the solution : the Hijab: the Muslim Woman's Dress)  (TALIBAN way of live)

BAD STATE :
"a mob of young, lust-crazed males armed with water pistols and a video camera can assault and film women..."

June 17, 2000
Parade board members "The water guns, they have to be eliminated,it is not fun anymore. Now it is getting out of hand. These are little things."

June 10 2001 One parade official said last year's incident kept away "possible" sponsors, and other organizers said it dissuaded at least one, Toys "R" Us, from participating again this year. A spokeswoman for the toymaker said no decision had yet been made.

Try with this sponsors : Smith & Wesson !

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Original Message >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>From: Sasha Burgos-Conde <sashab@images.com>
>To: general@indymedia.org
>Subject: Footage Needed

Hello,My name is Michelle and I belong to a New York based women's group called the Street Harassment Project. We create projects to fight against the
constant sexual terrorism that women experience everyday in public spaces. We formed shortly after the attackes that occured on 56 women in
Central Park after the Puerto Rican Parade.Which brings me to my point. We would love to get our hands on the video footage that was shot
by "bystanders" who were present when the Central Park attacks occured. It was all over the television and press and I was hoping that prehaps a
copy landed at IndyMedia. If not, perhaps you have access to some stills from the video footage? Please let me know. We would be willing to pay
for any copying fees. If you don't have access to the footage could you give me some leads on how to get it?
You can reach me at mimiphoto@yahoo.com or you can call the Street Harassment Project voicemail at (212)713-5743.
Thank you very much.
-Michelle
Hmmm, It's Street Harrassment,not Video Harrassment ! "The road to hell: Paved with amateur videocasettes. "

Betsy Hart Attention feminists: How to really keep our daughters safe It's still true that, as federal statistics show, married women living with their husbands are far less likely to be victims of violent crime, including rape, than their single or separated sisters. The feminists don't like it, but it remains true that having the protection of an honorable man makes a woman physically safer. Fair game ; the principal victim (the french woman) was maried and her husband was this her.
I cannot conceive of this same attack happening 40 years ago without the good men in the crowd stopping the assaults before they even began.Click here ,that makes you think.