Poking the fire some more

[notsofarawaydawg]

Commercial Dispatch Editorial

Link (http://www.cdispatch.com/opinions/article.asp?aid=31273)

[FISHDAWG]

the rug is getting smaller & smaller

[Saltydog]

http://www.wtva.com/content/news/breaking/story/FBI-to-investigate-statue-vandalism/czNB63_b10qlotKI7OBMPg.cspx

[Jack Lambert]

FBI, Why?

[RossDawg82]

FBI, Why?

Because it is now being looked at as a hate crime which is federal law

[TheRef]

FBI, Why?

High profile case and UPD might have requested assistance. If FBI is involved, then MBI is most likely involved also.

[Bert Stare]

It could get a lot hotter. I just submitted the news story to Fark.com with the headline "Ole Miss students decorate campus for Black History month"

**fingers crossed that it goes on the main page**

2 can play this social media game that they think they own.

[AlSwearengen]

I was seeing what nafoom had to say about it and in a long thread, the vast majority of them seemed pretty convinced that it was some type of fraternity prank/hazing/initiation type of thing. I tend to agree with that line of thinking.

[AlSwearengen]

Because it is now being looked at as a hate crime which is federal law

Not that I am condoning this shit, but I don't see how this could be labeled a hate crime. If they did this to a living, breathing, black student, of course.

[Political Hack]

It could get a lot hotter. I just submitted the news story to Fark.com with the headline "Ole Miss students decorate campus for Black History month"

**fingers crossed that it goes on the main page**

2 can play this social media game that they think they own.

ouch.

[Bert Stare]

Not that I am condoning this shit, but I don't see how this could be labeled a hate crime. If they did this to a living, breathing, black student, of course.

Actually, because James Meredith is a living, breathing person (lives in jackson now i believe) this could easily be construed as a threat to him personally. I know its a stretch, but if this was done to a statue of Obama, it would also be considered a threat.

[LC Dawg]

I was seeing what nafoom had to say about it and in a long thread, the vast majority of them seemed pretty convinced that it was some type of fraternity prank/hazing/initiation type of thing. I tend to agree with that line of thinking.

Who dropped a whole truckload of fizzies into the varsity swim meet? Who delivered the medical school cadavers to the alumni dinner? Every Halloween, the trees are filled with underwear. Every spring the toilets explode.

You're talking about Delta, sir.

Of course I'm talking about Delta, you twerp!

[BeardoMSU]

http://www.michaelbransonsmith.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/TogaShort.gif

[codeDawg]

Actually, because James Meredith is a living, breathing person (lives in jackson now i believe) this could easily be construed as a threat to him personally. I know its a stretch, but if this was done to a statue of Obama, it would also be considered a threat.

Not only that, but it's also a message of a threat to African Americans in general. It was not uncommon for living breathing Americans to have a real noose put around their necks not too far in Mississippi's past. The KKK held a rally on the UM campus recently. Racism and hate are still alive and real in North Mississippi, even if it isn't the predominant viewpoint.

...and hate crimes are felonies.

[BeardoMSU]

Well said, code.

[starkvegasdawg]

Ole Miss - Tonight they're gonna party likes it's 1959.

[messageboardsuperhero]

The FBI, eh? Could the UM "Bias Incident Response Team" not handle this one?

Seriously though, I hope the FBI catches the little brats that did this and makes an example out of them. There's no room for this shit in 2014.

[scottycameron]

Actually, because James Meredith is a living, breathing person (lives in jackson now i believe) this could easily be construed as a threat to him personally. I know its a stretch, but if this was done to a statue of Obama, it would also be considered a threat.

What if it was done to George Bush?

[Jack Lambert]

Because it is now being looked at as a hate crime which is federal law

It's a dang statue not a person. This is a little out of hand. What if a black person did it?

[Saltydog]

Nt

[War Machine Dawg]

Because it is now being looked at as a hate crime which is federal law

Ah, the "hate crime" laws. Such utter bullshit.

[BeardoMSU]

Uh, George bush and his ancestors were not subjected to this type of violence and vitriol, so it doesn't translate as equivalent.

For example: threatening a non-Jewish person with swastikas and Hitler quotes, doesn't entice the same emotions, pain, and fear as when done to an actual Jew.

The same applies with Prez Bush and Jim Crow era racism: he and his ancestors have no reference for the fear of police, dogs, water hoses, kkk, etc. Not a hard concept.

Just what is your motivation with that question, Scotty?

[BeardoMSU]

I'm not saying that this particular incident is a "hate crime", since it involves a statue and not an actual person, but if you are one of those people who don't think "hate crimes" exist, I present you with this:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/white-teens-run-black-man-surveillance-video/story?id=14273579

[RougeDawg]

What? Over? Did you say "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!

[Coach34]

They need to embarrass the people that did it and make them clean toilets in an old folks home for a month or so...they dont need to be charged with some silly hate crime

[codeDawg]

It's a dang statue not a person. This is a little out of hand. What if a black person did it?

What if someone put a fake suicide vest on a statue of George Bush. Would you consider it terrorism? Would it matter if it was a fraternity prank or done by someone in the military?

I must have to spell this out to you. The James Meredith statue is a representation of African Americans at The University of Mississippi. You might not be aware of this, but there was a time when white people in Mississippi didn't want black people hanging around them. Occasionally some of those white people would murder black people by hanging them from a noose.

There were riots on the campus of UM because James Meredith wanted to go to school with white people. The President of the United States had to tell the governor of MS that he had to allow him to enter school. This was 1962. This is not ancient history. My parents were alive and attending segregated schools at this time. It wasn't until 1970 that public schools in MS were desegregated. That's 8 years before I was born, and I am not yet an old man. I have preschool aged children. I have friends whose parents were not allowed to go to white schools.

By placing a noose on the statue of James Meredith the clear message is a threat of death to African Americans at the University of Mississippi. The noose is a weapon used to murder the type of person it was hung on. There is a group of people in MS that have used that weapon to kill people that still operates in MS and recently held a rally on the UM campus. The people who did it may never follow through with the threat, but the threat is real and should be taken seriously. Something like this should NEVER be tolerated in any context.

If it was a black person who did it, I would be interested in seeing what their motivation was, but until the perpetrator is found by the appropriate government authority (the FBI in this case), it should be considered a real threat.

[FISHDAWG]

distasteful - yes ..... Ignorance-yes .... stupid and probably not students... but certainly not a "threat"

[codeDawg]

distasteful - yes ..... Ignorance-yes .... stupid and probably not students... but certainly not a "threat"

If someone put a gas mask and a swastika on a Jewish monument, what do you think that would mean?

[Bert Stare]

It could get a lot hotter. I just submitted the news story to Fark.com with the headline "Ole Miss students decorate campus for Black History month"

**fingers crossed that it goes on the main page**

2 can play this social media game that they think they own.

update! just got an email from fark.com that my link and headline are approved for the main page and will be posted shortly. **** Ole Miss.
I will post a screenshot when it is up. We really need to capitalize with the publicity on this sort of stupid shit when Ole Miss puts it on a tee like this.

[BeardoMSU]

This, to me, is like that time DeAndre Jordan dunked on Brandon Knight***

[Johnson85]

If someone put a gas mask and a swastika on a Jewish monument, what do you think that would mean?

That an ignorant and probably anti-semitic douchebag committed what I guess is vandalism. There's a reason we don't have thought crime (or at least traditionally haven't). Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to have thought crime in this situation or in your example, but it doesn't really work to only prosecute thought crime when the gov't thinks people deserve it.

[Bert Stare]

This, to me, is like that time DeAndre Jordan dunked on Brandon Knight***

getting a link approved for Fark.com main page is not a simple task. They get about 2000 links/headlines daily, and approve about 30 of them for the main board. Thank you Ole Miss! It is going mainstream. I submitted the headline with a Washington post article. Fark says the headline will go green at 3:21 p.m.

[Interpolation_Dawg_EX]

I'm not saying that this particular incident is a "hate crime", since it involves a statue and not an actual person, but if you are one of those people who don't think "hate crimes" exist, I present you with this:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/white-teens-run-black-man-surveillance-video/story?id=14273579

http://www.wafb.com/story/22240991/family-attacked-for-being-in-wrong-neighborhood

[Bert Stare]

This, to me, is like that time DeAndre Jordan dunked on Brandon Knight***

https://i.minus.com/ibfGACq50lur2k.gif

[codeDawg]

That an ignorant and probably anti-semitic douchebag committed what I guess is vandalism. There's a reason we don't have thought crime (or at least traditionally haven't). Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to have thought crime in this situation or in your example, but it doesn't really work to only prosecute thought crime when the gov't thinks people deserve it.

So first of all, it's not a thought if you carry out a threat, which was done in this case. In the real world if one person makes a threat to physically harm another person, it is called assault. In the case that you can prove that someone is trying to do more than frighten the victim, it's called aggravated assault. Threats are not though crimes. They are real crimes.

Nobody can prove intent yet, so it has to be assumed that this falls under a federal jurisdiction until proven otherwise.

Let's go at this from a different direction. Assume that you are the parent of an African American student at UM. In that case, you are somewhere in the range of 40-60 years old. That's old enough that you or your parents attended segregated schools in MS and were very close to the events at UM in 1962.

With the KKK on campus, that photo on Twitter yesterday, and now this, would you consider this a threat to the physical wellbeing of your child. I would.

How would you feel if someone put a fake bomb with a copy of the Koran on top in your kid's dorm? Would you feel like your family is safe, or would you feel threatened?

[Johnson85]

So first of all, it's not a thought if you carry out a threat, which was done in this case.

Some threats are crimes, some threats aren't. It's possible this was a threat against Meredith, but since there were allegedly comments made about black people in general, and not Meredith in particular, it's probably not a threat against Meredith. If it had been a threat against Meredith, that likely would be a crime. It's specific and credible that they could attack and hang the one person they identified.

It's not a criminal threat (or traditionally would not have been) because there is no specificity or credibility to the threat. Under your definition, basically the KKK's is committing a crime just be existing. Not many people would shed a tear for the KKK, but there are good reasons we don't criminalize thoughts like that, even ones that are abhorrent.

IN your example regarding the dorm, it could be a crime because they are making a specific and credible threat (not sure what you mean by fake bomb). I'm going to blow up this dorm using the fertilizer and diesel bomb I made is a lot different from I hate infidels, I'm going to blow them all up.

[codeDawg]

Some threats are crimes, some threats aren't. It's possible this was a threat against Meredith, but since there were allegedly comments made about black people in general, and not Meredith in particular, it's probably not a threat against Meredith. If it had been a threat against Meredith, that likely would be a crime. It's specific and credible that they could attack and hang the one person they identified.

It's not a criminal threat (or traditionally would not have been) because there is no specificity or credibility to the threat. Under your definition, basically the KKK's is committing a crime just be existing. Not many people would shed a tear for the KKK, but there are good reasons we don't criminalize thoughts like that, even ones that are abhorrent.

IN your example regarding the dorm, it could be a crime because they are making a specific and credible threat (not sure what you mean by fake bomb). I'm going to blow up this dorm using the fertilizer and diesel bomb I made is a lot different from I hate infidels, I'm going to blow them all up.

I honestly can't believe I am having to argue with someone why hanging a noose from the neck of a statue of the first African American student at Ole Miss is worse than any other campus prank. I'm either being trolled really hard, or I'm talking to people with some serious racial issues.