Horrific. Where was this?

Looks like L.A.

Gotta like the militarization and zero tolerancing of everything in America, to go with our institutional racism. The Austin paper (remember: we're the shiny happy liberal town in Texas) had a feature this weekend which showed how a black motorist went from traffic stop to being tasered in 45 minutes... without leaving his car!

See also: kids suspended for having an aspirin, the rabble-rouser at the Kerry speech tasered, the use of Homeland Security-funded SWAT teams for routine drug busts and other minor offenses, the grossly disproportionate use of force at protests. We're a lovely, scared, thuggish country right now.

What the hell?? A piece of cake? And her mother was arrested and fired? What the hell is going ON??

Nappy head? That is horrible. This poor young woman. That guard should be fired and arrested for assault.

Talk about power going to your head.

yes, it was in LA. my bad. added in.

Y'know, even before I read the article, I thought that the student with the camera was pretty brave because they were going to be the next target. Of course, the kid was attacked next (and his sister was expelled as well? For simply being a witness? Because privacy is easy to attain in a lunch room!)

This is absolutely sick and disgusting. I'm glad the students are planning a protest (is this student protest week? Because there's the kids protesting the lack of bags for tampons/pads and I just heard on NPR that a University is planning a walk out today as a protest about Jena).

That security guard should be fired, and every administrator at that school should be checked out. This most likely isn't the first time something like this happened.

And Stephen Colbert should send the girl a WristStrong bracelet.

A broken wrist over a FUCKING piece of cake?! I am with FEMily! - these idiots at the administration level of the school have some serious explaining to do for backing that asshole.

This is what my school was turning into right before I graduated, too. The admins were jumpy about everything and were trying to figure out how to secure the very open campus. On the other hand, my school had the highest mortality rate in Los Angeles Unified.

The security guard is going to be placed on leave. Trust.

And I totally love the Colbert idea.

I hope to high heaven that this girl's mother is suing the school district.

what the shit?

(for the record this was in palmdale, which is a good 40 miles outside of LA.)

What. The fuck. Is wrong. With people?

I think this is a case where you might want to wait and see how the story plays out before you make up your mind about what happened. I've been reading the coverage and I'm not sure about any of the details in the story above. A deeper investigation seems warranted.

Sgzax: If this was a rape case, or a WHITE girl , would you be so quick to dismiss it?

For fuck sakes. It looks like America's schools are turning into gulags.

That piece of shit should lose his job (and his gnads!) along with everyone else who defended them.

I also hope that girl and her mom get a nice chunk of change for their troubles.

This sounds horrible as reported, but we have only heard one side of the story so far. I doubt given the reaction of so many witnesses, however, that there is a reasonable explanation for this violence.

Uh, yeah. When a 16 year-old ends up with a broken wrist from a grown man, I know all I need to. Add in a little institutional racism and his lovely comment, and ding ding ding!

All I'm saying is that I'm looking forward to a thorough investigation. It's good when these stories get attention and people in positions of authority are reminded that they need to be responsible and just.

I hate it though, when we jump on a story based upon preliminary reports that sometimes turn out to have been unsubstantiated. We should all be calling for an investigation right now. Calling for anything more (firings, lawsuits, protests) can come when all the facts are laid out.

...and I'd like to thank the Bush family for helping to make naked fascism fashionable again.

All I need to know it's that it's an LA public school and I'll believe it. Palmdale may be a bit geographically removed from LA (it's up in the high desert, 30-40 miles from the San Fernando Valley), but is part of LA County.

That area (the Antelope Valley) is having a lot of race-related turmoil right now. A lot of minorities have moved to the area from South LA and other poor areas of the county because of the (relatively) lower housing prices, safer streets, better schools, etc. Residents of the AV have not been thrilled by this influx, and LA Sheriff Baca is organizing deputies to target this population to make the AV less attractive. Tons of Section 8 recipients are having their housing vouchers terminated for trumped up charges based on warrantless searches and crap like this story - if this family has a Sec 8 voucher, I bet you $20 it gets terminated because of the student's 'violent criminal behavior.'

So yeah, this seems just about right for what I know of the area, the climate there for non-whites, and the law enforcement response.

What surprises me is the Fox News bug in the corner of the picture.

Oh wait, it's a local Fox station, not the cable network. Never mind...

Palmdale is in the LA area, but it not part of, "LA". It's becoming a bit of a bedroom community (well, it has been for about 15 years) but it's geographically isolated, and far more "C"onservative than the city area proper.

Like Simi Valley a large portion of the population moved there in white flight.

They have a different School District from the LAUSD.

The reason for the influx of people in the past 10-15 years is housing prices, which is why AV (and not SV) has seen more people who aren't white move that way despite the hideous commutes, and not great job situation.

Which has led to some conflict; most of which doesn't get much airplay in LA itself, because it's seen as far away.

This story is so disturbing, especially in the wake of the Jena 6. I wanted to also point out something just lovely about none other than Fox. The newscaster described the racially motivated beating as a "scuffle"!!!???!! A beefy adult male security guard breaking the wrist of a 16 year old girl is hardly a "scuffle." Also not to mention all of the emphasis on repeating over and over again that this is only one side of the story. I mean I understand a journalist wants to equally cover both sides of a story, but for fucks sake, the number of times they emphasize that point seriously encourages viewers not to beleive the mother and daughter. If they were white and it was not a story about racially motivated beatings, arrests, and removals from school/job, would lovely Fox really give so much emphasis to the fact that the interviewees are just giving one side of the story?!

soooo...explain to me the rationale behind a huge, trained in self defense security guard, using brute force on a tiny girl? why is there any questions as to whether or not he is wrong? over CAKE?!? holy crap...i am the clumsiest person i know...and my five year old not far b/h me...guess we better watch out!!!
thorough investigation or not...the administration at this school had best do some explaining...a total of HOW many students were beated b/c of this guy's self inflated big head power trip?
bravo, school district, for fucking it up.

MirandaJay, I think it's completely unfair of you to respond to Sgzax's comment with a "you're just saying that because she's black" answer. If Sgzax has been bombarded by Fox's reporting all day, in which Fox is belittling the conflict, then a better answer would be, "The MSM seems to be distorting the story and saying there are more facts, when really, all the facts we need are right here." I don't think you should be so quick to slap a "RACIST!!" label on her forehead.

This guy seriously overreacted. My high school was always littered with trash, ALWAYS. Asking her to clean up the cake was quite sufficient; calling her "nappy head", breaking her wrist, having her arrested, and then having her expelled is clearly an act of racist douchebaggery if I ever did see any. I hope that the girl's mom decides to press charges, and more than anything, I hope that this douchebag gets fired.

Life sentence: How prison is reshaping the U.S.

This article is long, but it is worth the time to read.

DRK: Perhaps you are unaware of the feministing.com trend of commenters who immediately dismiss anything that is dealing with racism.

I asked him/her a question and that is "If this was a white girl, would you be so quick to dismiss it?" and I think that it's a valid question for people who ARE quick to dismiss it to ask themselves.

Oh... question to me then? The question is faulty in its premises. I do not want to dismiss this case at all. I want to know whether the student's wrist is broken. I want to know why school guards are doing takedowns on students rather than quietly escorting them to the office. I want to know if there was a racial slur. If there was a cake-slinging melee I want to know why the administration of this school seems to have given up on helping their students have a calm and professional learning environment. I want the school board to start an immediate investigation and get to the bottom of all of these questions.

I don't want to jump to conclusions though, and this comes from having been burned on several stories in recent memory. I'm one of the many who happily assumed the Jon Benet Ramsey case was settled after that psycho confessed. The facts came out and... um... no. I also remember the Atlanta bombing case years ago, when the security guard who discovered the bomb was announced as a prime suspect and his life was subsequently destroyed. That was awful.

I also remember the case in recent memory when an African American woman was probably raped in a frat house and the case was scuttled by an incompetent prosecutor misleading and inflaming the news media, subsequently exposing many right-headed people to wrong-headed criticism.

There's no down side to having all of the ducks in a row, gathering all of the information, and proceeding in an orderly fashion. It seems as though many other paths lead to chaos and injustice and the wrong people feeling justified in drawing the wrong conclusions. I'd rather be careful and not let that happen again.

I can't really even say anything because honestly this is shocking to me. I hope they win a fuckload of money from that school district and that that scumbag loses his job and is publicly humiliated. Hopefully they win a large settlement and the girl won't have to pay for college.

It's just so, so wrong. I thought this was 2007. I know that sounds like a naive statement..but first Jena 6 and now this. I wouldn't have said it's racially motivated but he called her "nappy head". How is that not racist?

"I also remember the case in recent memory when an African American woman was probably raped in a frat house and the case was scuttled by an incompetent prosecutor misleading and inflaming the news media, subsequently exposing many right-headed people to wrong-headed criticism. "

Okay, I respect you a little more just for taking that perspective on the other case (much more reasonable than a lot of people's).

BUT, if her wrist is actually broken and he actually called her "nappy-headed" then there isn't much she could have done to justify it. (I mean what? She talked back to him? She insulted him She hit him first? None of that even would have justified what he did...)

Okay..

other side of the story?

So, lets say maybe the young girl talked back to the security guy, gave him lip, refused to clean up the cake, maybe pushed him...

HE. BROKE. HER. ARM.

He called the girl "nappy head".

And then she was arrested and expelled. Her mother was arrested. A witness was arrested.

Slight touch of overkill there, even if there are a few little things we haven't been told. I find it hard to see how any "extenuating circumstances" can excuse this man's behaviour.

If it was his daughter, in his own home, and she dropped cake... and he broke her arm... not one person. Not ONE. Would be saying that we should wait for the other side of the story.

Because what it really comes down to is, even if a child misbehaves, causes trouble, even goes so far as to assault an adult, it is wrong to assault them. It is wrong to hit children, to injure them. Under ANY circumstances.

And that is even if we even accept that the young girl in this case was anything other than a normal girl who just happened to spill a little birthday cake.

"BUT, if her wrist is actually broken and he actually called her "nappy-headed" then there isn't much she could have done to justify it."

You are right. Absolutely nothing would justify it.

Bunny: "HE. BROKE. HER. ARM.
He called the girl "nappy head"."

That is what has been alleged and that is what I would like to be thoroughly investigated.

I want the school board to appoint an independent body to examine any available documentation. I want them to interview all of the teenagers you can see in the background of the cell phone footage. I want the police to conduct an official investigation. I want all parties to work with representatives of the parents from that school. I want there to be a full public accounting, and a plan put in place to avoid any such situation in the future (because no matter what, there is a huge problem in any school in which a security force subdues a student as appears to be shown in the available video). If the student's hand is broken I want the family to take any possible legal action.

And more than everything else I want the assembled peanut gallery to shut the hell up about the situation for now because we don't actually know anything yet. When a thorough investigation supports the allegations I will be first on the line to agitate for justice, but until the facts are laid out there is no way to know what justice is in this case.

Jumping to a conclusion at this point puts everyone on the same moral plane as the news and radio stations who are devoting programming to bashing/debunking this story. You are reacting to allegations... not facts.

I think taking the high ground in this case could undermine the arguments of the reactionary community. I think it is more important now than ever to be rational and absolutely justified when making something into a major political event.

I am very passionate about my belief in justice and equality, and it seems clear to me that the only way to make progress in a ridiculously polarized and anti-intellectual political climate is to be calm and be absolutely right.

"I want the school board to appoint an independent body to examine any available documentation. I want them to interview all of the teenagers you can see in the background of the cell phone footage. I want the police to conduct an official investigation. I want all parties to work with representatives of the parents from that school. I want there to be a full public accounting, and a plan put in place to avoid any such situation in the future (because no matter what, there is a huge problem in any school in which a security force subdues a student as appears to be shown in the available video). If the student's hand is broken I want the family to take any possible legal action."

That's cute and all... but that's highly unlikely to happen in a situation where the schools are crowded and underfunded, and the parents are low-income or lower middle-class (as I sense may be the case in this school system). That's how people fall through the cracks in our system all the time -shortage of resources and money, people without money don't get as much attention, don't know all of their legal rights, and fall through the cracks. I bet you the school board doesn't care that much about this case either, if the principal didn't. A lot of school boards are very corrupt.

I think sgzax is right. We need to learn all the facts before jumping to conclusions. We know what the guard did was wrong, and excessive force was used. However everything else is conjecture and hearsay: It's possible that her mother DID assault the principal and that there are more facts we don't know.

The guard is obviously in the wrong but there may be no completely "innocent victims" in this story.

A grown man trained as a security guard broke the wrist of a young girl who was unarmed. That's all I need to know. She is absolutely an innocent victim, because nothing she could have done or said could have justified that (as others here have mentioned). To claim otherwise is either scary, disgusting, or sad, I'm not sure which.

If it's racially motivated that's even more disgusting, but the fact remains that he broke her wrist (unless you're claiming that she's faking it). What she might have done or said, what her mother might have done or said, all of that is immaterial. There's no "other side of the story" for that. The man should be punished for assaulting and injuring a child. Period.

Kimmy--

Have you ever worked in a school? The violence perpetrated against teachers, security guards and the administration by "children" can be shocking, and it's no surprise that a guard might snap and respond in a way that is, unquestionably, unacceptable and dangerous.

I haven't seen proof anywhere that her wrist WAS broken. We haven't heard medical reports, doctor's testimony or anything else yet.

In my mind it's still very much one person's word against another's.

The student's stories have shifted depending on the interview, so I think it is entirely possible she's faking it. My mother and sister are both teachers and have seen students inflict injuries and then accuse teachers of hurting them as a way to get revenge. I'm not saying that is what happened here, just that until we know everything, it is a definite possibility.

My perspective here is definitely informed by my experiences and those of my loved ones but I am scared of an increasing tendency to judge (and report) first and ask important questions later.

I currently work at a school. And my father and uncle are cops, my grandfather is retired highway patrol. I think I know a little bit about both students and those who are charged with keeping the peace.

You know what? It's still completely unacceptable, and he should be punished for assault. These are children (sarcastic quotation marks aside, she is a child). He is an adult. It is up to him to be the responsible one. It is up to him to behave appropriately in response to anything these children say or do.

My family members have dealt with all kinds of crap from all kinds of different people, and none of them have ever broken a young girl's wrist in response. And I find it very telling that you automatically assume there's something iffy about her having a broken wrist.

As far as the student's stories varying...if you knew anything at all about eye-witness statements you'd know that's perfectly normal and to be expected. I'd be more concerned if their stories all matched up in the details. That would indicate collusion. Differing stories indicates real life.

Kimmy--

I'm just saying I don't know the whole truth. You don't either. I don't think outrage should be used as stand-in for facts.

When I say stories changed, by the way, I meant the same student's stories were inconsistent. Was there a food fight or did the cake just drop?

Pleajhai seemed to be receiving extensive coaching in the press conference. This could be because she was nervous or it could be because she was lying. We don't know.

Well, but since we're not the ones conducting an investigation, and since, as someone completely uninvolved in what will happen now, and as someone who's job isn't to be objective, I think it's perfectly acceptable for me,and anyone else here fitting the above descriptions, to be outraged and horrified without waiting for any more information.

Did she have a gun? A knife? Any weapon of any sort? No? Then he had no right to so much as grab her arm. None. So, I'm outraged.

Besides, wasn't this all caught on tape?

The tape starts in the middle of the incident. We don't know what happened before or what happened after. I doubt there was a weapon, but we don't even know that. All we saw was a thirty second, hard-to-watch attack by the guard.

I'm just saying we shouldn't get out the torches before we know everything that happened.

sgzax - Strange that you want to know all the facts of this case, but are willing to ignore them in another. Anyway, no need to travel down this path again, so I'll leave it at that.

I think the problem with these situations is that there will never be a point where we, the public, "know everything that happened." As people have pointed out, the only video recording is hard to watch, starts partway through, and doesn't show everything. As others have pointed out, the liklihood of the school district undertaking a full and comprehensive investigation that will uncover "the whole truth" and make it available to the public is approximately nil. Ditto for "the whole truth" coming out of any judicial proceedings.

Any further facts that come out about this will largely be colored by the conclusions that people have already drawn. I daresay that neither m d nor sgzax is going to drive to Palmdale and interview the individuals directly. Instead, facts will come out through the media, through reporting - and all of that will inherently be shaded and less than "the whole truth."

So, by what m d and sgzax are saying, I can't see when we would ever be allowed to draw any conclusions about what happened. The "was it a food fight or was the food dropped" question will likely never be clarified objectively. The "was she being coached or was she just nervous" questions sill likely never be clarified.

So while I commend the instinct to wait until all the facts are in, to make an objective as an assessment as possible, that simply seems unrealistic and unobtainable in this situation. What are we supposed to do?

thatabbygrrl--

I totally agree with you. I just don't know what to do. I've felt that way a lot lately, where I'll see an inflammatory video and be outraged and then I learn more details and see that everyone is in the wrong to some degree or another.

It's making me alternate between anger, apathy, and alienation.

I don't know if I'm having a more nuanced appreciation of truth as I grow older or I'm just becoming more supportive of authority in my old age. It's terrifying.

You might have a point, noname, but not if you're talking about the breastfeeding issue. The bf issue is abstract. Breastfeeding in public is not illegal. I don't care about the particulars of that case. This case is particular.

I don't want to negate people's right to outrage though. I suppose there is a use for uninformed public outrage, in that it keeps issues from being swept under the rug and makes it more likely that a community will form that can agitate for change, if change is necessary.

There are still all of the downsides that I pointed out earlier though.

I want the question of the student's wrist/hand/arm to be answered. Is it broken? Once that is demonstrated I'll be a lot more confident in my response.

This incident has made me think back to my own public school days, and the many instances I can remember of random assertion of authority by people who should have been able to act more mature than me. It reminds me of the girl who was recently grilled by a security guard about her period too. I wonder -in this case -why the girl wasn't escorted to the office where the situation could have been handled calmly. I wonder about her having been ordered to clean up the cake, whether it was dropped or thrown. Doesn't that seem humiliating? Especially if she had made an effort to get most of it. I don't know why the Security Guard's actions went beyond, 'Hey, pick that up... now go to the office.' In the absence of a weapon any further response seems excessive. And if her wrist is broken? It seems like a crime. And if he used a racial slur? It seems like a hate crime.

Those are huge accusations to make against a person though, and I want to throw my opinion toward 'investigation' over 'witch hunt' for now. This guy is in fairly hot water, and I want to be sure that any possible offense is carefully outlined and prosecuted.

I'm in Los Angeles. I've seen some egregious miscarriages of justice when people let passion take precedence over fact.

Last comment, I swear. Returning to noname's observation on my inconsistency:

The big difference to me, is that nobody's life will be destroyed if they come out on the wrong side of the breastfeeding debate. In this case, this man's life could be destroyed. That's a huge consequence, and I want to be the people who decide these things to be absolutely sure about it before it happens. I'm just not a big fan of mob justice.

I think it does not look good for the school or the security guard. There were several stories in major newspapers in LA area and some TV channels, and the only "other side" point of view was that:

Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies said the guard told them he felt threatened by Mervin (the girl).

"There was resistance by her," Sgt. Darrel Brown said. "He went to control her."

I think that this philosophy is well known and very troublesome. Not that "control" should not be exercised, but brutality should be avoided. So far, the school district did not dispute injuries of the students, it just viewed them as a reason to expell them. I suspect that a school district lawyer imposed a in internal gag order, but he/she does not have anything nice to release to the press.

As far as "shifting stories" are concerned, I did not see anything suspicious. An uncouched person will not be totally consistent while recalling a chaotic incident.

So it turns out her wrist WASN'T broken:

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=local&id=5703026