Teen 'sport killings' of homeless on the rise

[133724]

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin (CNN) -- All Nathan Moore says he wanted to do was smoke pot and get drunk with his friends.

Killing Rex Baum was never part of the plan that day in 2004.

"It all started off as a game," Moore said.

The 15-year-old and his friends were taunting the homeless man -- throwing sticks and leaves -- after having a couple of beers with him.

No big deal, Moore says, but he's sorry for what came next.

<snip>

They hurled anything they could find -- rocks, bricks, even Baum's barbecue grill -- and pounded the 49-year-old with a pipe and with the baseball bat he kept at his campsite for protection.

Ihrcke smeared his own feces on Baum's face before cutting him with a knife "to see if he was alive," Moore said.

After destroying Baum's camp, the boys left the homeless man -- head wedged in his own grill -- under a piece of plastic where they hoped the "animals would eat" him.

Then, Moore says, they took off to grab a bite at McDonald's.

Baum's murder was indicative of a disturbing trend.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/02/19/homeless.attacks/index.html?eref=rss_latest

[Divine Discontent]

1. as you treat the least of these.......

someone mentioned on youtube the other day, that a lot of people, given the opportunity, are pretty crappy individuals. I've been given the opportunity, and thank God I'm not that crappy. I am the one who, either through being taught, or that and being "me", is the one to say, "hey guys, cut it out!"

I'm so sorry for all the poor and homeless who get beaten daily by those who have been given so much more. :(

www.cafepress.com/warisprofitable <<-- antibush prodem stickers/shirts

[Forkboy]

2. This bothers me on so many levels

The homeless problem in this country is one of the saddest comments on our society.Land of milk of honey....

:(

[Judi Lynn]

3. So why have we NEVER heard of police departments going after these demons?

They've got all the time in the world to send female cops out trolling the streets as hookers, even making sure they get taped where America gets a good long look at them on shows like "Cops," etc., and watch as they come rushing out of the bathrooms in the motels to grab the "johns," when they actually COULD BE WORKING AS DECOYS to catch these idle, empty, ugly young men who are preying upon helpless, homeless, friendless, powerless men who have no where to hide.

What the hell does it take to protect these lost men, or is it possible they are using the homeless as stern lessons to everyone to do everything possible to find a job, keep a job, keep a family, in a country with rapidly receding job openings, and a nation-wide tide of walking wounded war veterans?

Is it possible there will ever be neighborhood watch groups who will start watching and waiting for these walking, mom and dad-dependent tumors to strike their next victims?

Will help EVER come for the hopeless? It doesn't look good from here.

[GreenZoneLT]

4. Squeaky wheel gets the grease

Homeless men are at the very least annoying as a group -- unwashed, often intoxicated and/or mentally deranged. Almost universally they panhandle, and a minority expose their genitals, either to heed nature's call or as a sexual thing. Nobody's going to complain to the cops about them being mistreated, and their own complaints are likely to get little attention, because cops (often correctly) see them as the problem. I've got considerable experience as a journalist talking to homeless guys; they're diverse people with different reasons for being on the street, but a lot of them are drunks or on the ragged edge mentally.

You don't have to be judgmental against guys on the street to acknowledge that they're living a dangerous and damaging lifestyle, mainly caused by their mental problems and the lack of a family or government support network. They're being neglected because nobody cares enough to spend the money necessary to help them, and the courts in the '60s and '70s ruled that you can't lock them up in mental institutions unless they're a direct danger to themselves or others. And with most help networks being local, helping them means you get more of them, because they'll move from places that don't have help networks.

Cops go after street hookers because they piss people off possibly more than homeless men. Cops respond to taxpayer complaints. Taxpayers complain about street walkers, so they go after the street walkers and johns. It's the same reason that black street dealers get busted, and white club dealers don't. Few complain about people dealing dope in dorms and nightclub bathrooms, but lots of people complain about guys dealing dope on the street.

[PLF]

6. I am good friends with a homeless guy.

I don't find him annoying at all.

Frat boys on the other hand...

[GreenZoneLT]

7. As a group, I said.

Individually, anybody can be OK. Even the occasional frat boy.

[The Magistrate]

13. Still, Sir, Murder Is Murder

No one is so low as to be outside the protection of the law.

None of this provides the slightest degree of right or propriety to assault and worse directed against these individuals.

[GreenZoneLT]

26. Well, duh, no kidding.

I was just answering the question of why cops don't protect homeless guys better. Certainly they SHOULD, but that doesn't mean they will without some motivation other than "it's the moral thing to do."

[bobbolink]

20. Next, I suppose you'll trot out your condemnations of blacks, gays, etc.

Oh, that's right... those groups have SUPPORT here on DU.

[GreenZoneLT]

24. People are born gay, people are born black

People become homeless. It's not necessarily their "fault," but it's not like they're out there camping because they like it or because they're short on the rent money that month (long-term homeless men, I mean; there are plenty of people who are short-term homeless simply for economic reasons).

Hey, I'm all for homeless guys getting some decent help. Partly out of compassion, and partly out of a desire to be able to use a public park without some human shipwreck being passed out on the bench or panhandling change. The scumbags who beat them up deserve any punishment they can get; I'm just answering the question WHY it's not a societal priority.

[Oak2004]

27. People are born into poverty

and a lot of those "short-term homeless" you speak of are "short on rent money" for years.

How do I know? I spent a couple of years as a member of the working homeless. Yep, the *working* homeless: low paying jobs don't pay enough to cover rent almost anywhere in the US without a housing subsidy, and if you've ever tried to get a better paying job while homeless, well, forget it, no matter how qualified you are you're not going to get the job.

[Judi Lynn]

18. Maybe at some point, some citizens will stir themselves to complain to the police

about torturing and slaughtering these truly helpless homeless people, and inquire of them if it's likely someday they'll do anything to inhibit that practise.

[REP]

5. "...But They're Such Good Boys..."

Some shit-for-brains parent or relative almost always says this after their little precious has been caught comitting some atrocity such as this one. Where are the parents, for fuck's sake? Could they take a break from overindulging their childrens' every whim to discipline them and teach them right from wrong? I knew some messed-up kids when I was that age, but even the worst of them would not consider this sort of activity. For one thing, it's far too cowardly - three or four against one down-and-out man is not a 'fight' to be proud of - and for another, it seems as though yesterday's not-so-good parent was head and shoulders above many today, especially when it comes to teaching their children where the line is.

[Mandate My Ass]

8. those are some sick, angry kids

rubbing feces in the man's face? :wtf:

There was a crime here in suburban PA about 8-9 years ago where a bunch of kids from an upper-middle-class neighborhood broke into a newly constructed home before the owners had moved in. After partying all night, they totally trashed the place. I'm talking hundreds of thousands worth of damage inside the house and outside. There was also urine and feces everywhere. The parents asked the police for help with discipline, because they said they didn't know how to apply it. I think by the time they're teens, it's too late. :shrug:

[Fire Walk With Me]

9. Does negative behaviour of this sort drag a negative response from the universe?

The law of attraction and all.. If BushCo and friends are merely the manifestation of our collective negativity, then the country is fucked.

[AlienGirl]

21. No. The Universe does not mete out justice--that is up to us.

[Sapphire Blue]

10. I have read this OP, left it, come back & read it again. My God, how it hurts!

They dehumanized, tortured, and murdered another human for sport. That there isn't outrage from all over this country is unthinkable. My God! How it hurts!


May God / Goddess / Allah / Jehovah / YHWH / the Creator / Waheguru / the One have mercy on us, awaken our souls and restore humanity.

[Sapphire Blue]

11. Hate, Violence, and Death on Main Street USA

Hate, Violence, and Death on Main Street USA
A Report on Hate Crimes and Violence Against People Experiencing Homelessness 2005
February 2007


Violent Crimes against the Homeless on the Rise

Please click here to read the hate crimes report: http://www.nationalhomeless.org/getinvolved/projects/hatecrimes/index.html


Washington, DC – Reported incidents of attacks against homeless men and women have reached their highest level in years, according to a study by the National Coalition for the Homeless. NCH’s report, Hate, Violence, and Death on Main Street USA: A Report on Hate Crimes and Violence Against People Experiencing Homelessness 2006, details the 142 violent crimes, against homeless individuals in the past year, the highest number of incidents since NCH’s annual study began in 1999. Attacks have increased 65% from last year, and over 170% since five years ago. This year’s attacks, which include beatings, stabbings, burnings, and rape resulted in 20 fatalities

Even more disturbing than the violence of these attacks are the identities of the attackers and their motives. In a significant number of cases, the crimes were committed by teenagers and young adults, for no apparent reason other than boredom. This March in Orlando, FL, August Felix, age 54, was beaten to death by five teenagers. The youths, all between the ages of 13 and 16, attacked Felix and others “for sport,” according to local police. Later that same month, 21-year-old Braymond Harris of Detroit was shot and killed by a 15-year-old boy. In the words of one Detroit police officer, the boy and his friends “just wanted to beat up a bum.”

“It is NCH’s position that many of these acts should be considered hate crimes” said Michael Stoops, Executive Director of NCH. “Crimes against homeless people are motivated by the same intolerance as hate crimes against people of a certain religious, racial, or ethnic background.”

Currently, federal law does not list housing status as potential motivation for a hate crime, though NCH and others are gaining ground in their battle to add homelessness to new hate crimes legislation. Such bills have been introduced into five state legislatures: California, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, and Texas.

For the complete report, as well as those of past years, click here: http://www.nationalhomeless.org/publications/reports.html


http://www.nationalhomeless.org/getinvolved/projects/hatecrimes/pressrelease.html

[YOY]

12. "Bum Fights". Only able to be popular in a society that has stopped caring

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bum_Fights

[Ron Green]

14. Good God - Florida is the epicenter of this stuff.

They've had about as many lethal and non-lethal attacks as the other states combined. What the hell is going on there?

[WI_DEM]

15. What is wrong with these people? is it the way they are brought up? no values?

I don't know.

[wicket]

16. RIP Rex Baum

:cry:

My god, what monsters.

[fishwax]

17. nice how they work drugs and alcohol into the lead

I'm sure that this group of creeps were fine, upstanding citizens with nothing but good intentions, until those few beers they "shared" with the homeless man sent them toppling into insanity, and they could no longer control themselves.

Incidents like this are sickening :puke:

[B Calm]

19. This sickens me! Most all people living on the street just need a break.

[undergroundpanther]

22. The world's people are becoming more psychopathic

It's happening. Is it pollution the cumulative affect of abuse vs privileged entitled people, chronic us vs them have and have nots? Or is it something deeper.

I myself think our social reality in itself is changing.It could be reality itself changing or consiousness changing too I dunno ,It is separating tho. Or it appears that way to me .Maybe in 20 years there will be very few sensitive kind hearted people left who'll will make it to adulthood without one of the too many psychopaths driving them mad or murdering them.
The madness is terminal.

[1620rock]

23. Another reason to hate what this country has become.

:cry:

[Marie26]

29. I agree nt

[Colobo]

25. As a society

We're hitting rock bottom...

[Marie26]

28. They don't even seem to know

why they did it. How is that possible?