Here comes Al Sharpton
Posted by BrianA black school teacher in Baltimore was attacked on a city bus by nine white teenagers.
As Sarah Kreager, 26, tried to sit down on a Baltimore City bus Tuesday, police say, a middle-schooler told her she couldn’t. When she attempted to take another seat, a middle-schooler wouldn’t let her. Finally, according to police, Kreager just sat down.
She was “immediately attacked” by nine students — three females and six males — from Robert Poole Middle School. They punched and kicked her at 2:59 p.m. at the intersection of 33rd Street and Chestnut Avenue, according to Maryland Transit Administration police.
Kreager was dragged off the bus and her boyfriend, Troy Ennis, attempted to get her back on, police said.
She sustained “serious injuries” and had to be transported to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center, according to a police report.
Kreager suffered two broken bones in her left eye socket, police said.
“She had eye muscles that were damaged,” a police report states. “She had deep lacerations on the top of her head and another above her neck.”
Two seats and the bus’ rear glass were destroyed during the attack, police said.
The article includes a picture of Ms. Kreager’s battered face. We’ve come a long way from the days of Rosa Parks, but its hard to fathom why a group of people would attack a woman for sitting in the wrong seat on a bus.
Oops, did I say the teacher was black and the kids were white? Strike that, reverse it. I wonder if the good reverend will still speak out?
Related content:
December 7th, 2007 at 10:10 am
The Reverend will speak out as soon as those poor children are charged with a crime.
December 7th, 2007 at 12:04 pm
well written blog - had me going. straight out of closing arguments for “A time to kill”. i concur that the good rev shall only appear IF charges are brought on the BALT 9…
December 7th, 2007 at 1:42 pm
Ah, but they were justified:
BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Students disputed the police version of Tuesday’s brutal assault of a 26-year-old woman on a Baltimore City bus and claimed the “victim” started the fight and used the “N” word.
Robert Poole Middle School students who were on the No. 27 bus around 3 p.m. Tuesday say Sarah Kreager and her boyfriend provoked nine students in an attack that left her with broken bones in the left eye socket and other head injuries.
Riding home from school Thursday, Kevin Johnson, 14, said the adults started the fight.
“We all ride the bus together and nothing happens,” he told The Examiner.
Examiner.com Related Articles:
Attack of white woman by 9 black kids a possible hate crime
Mayor condemns ‘deplorable’ violence
Woman beaten on bus
Lake Zurich defeats Wheaton Warrenville South 7-3 to win 7A championship
All give thanks for something
Another student, a 13-year-old girl who would not give her name, said she heard Kreager use the “N” word, instigating the fight.
“She punched my friend, and my friend fell back in her seat,” the girl said.
The students’ stories contradict the version provided by Kreager and her boyfriend to Maryland Transit Administration police. Kreager and her boyfriend said the middle schoolers refused to let the couple sit down — and then attacked them, police said.
After twice being denied an open seat by the middle schoolers — all ages 14 and 15 — Kreager was “immediately attacked,” police said. The six boys and three girls punched and kicked her at 2:59 p.m. at the intersection of 33rd Street and Chestnut Avenue, according to police.
Kreager was dragged off the bus, and her boyfriend, Troy Ennis, attempted to get her back on, police said.
“She had eye muscles that were damaged,” a police report states. “She had deep lacerations on the top of her head and another above her neck.”
Two seats and the bus’s rear glass were destroyed during the attack, police said.
The bus driver quickly called police, who responded and arrested the nine juveniles. They were charged with aggravated assault, said Jawauna Greene, an MTA police spokeswoman.
Security was tight Thursday on the special No. 27 bus that normally picks up students on school grounds, as two armed MTA police officers rode with a dozen or so students. Officers riding the bus said it is generally filled, which may have factored into the dispute over seats.
Riders of the No. 27 bus said students could be rowdy.
“When they come into the store, they don’t listen,” said Pat Thompson, 58, who worked at the 7-Eleven down the street. “I try to get on the bus before they do.”
Kreager could not be reached for comment. Court records show Kreager is awaiting trial on drug-related charges.
Schools officials declined to comment on punishment for the students, citing the conflicting accounts.
“School officials have to interview the students who were arrested before deciding whether to punish them,” said Vanessa Pyatt, a Baltimore City schools spokeswoman.
“We have not made a determination yet because we are getting conflicting reports,” she added.
December 7th, 2007 at 2:18 pm
i believe that the “teenagers” account of the events is most likely (although not definitively) out of fear of punishment, and coming up with a “story”, as teenagers tend to do, to cover up wrongdoing. Also, seems as if the crime has been determined it was “unprovoked”…see below
MTA looks at racial role in city bus attack
Inquiry finds no evidence victims provoked beating
By Michael Dresser | Sun reporter
December 7, 2007
Article tools
Maryland Transit Administration Police said last night that they have found no evidence that the severe beating of a 26-year-old woman on a city bus this week was provoked and that they are investigating the attack as a possible racially motivated hate crime.
December 7th, 2007 at 6:52 pm
The pot stirrers are probably awaiting 1st class air fare and speaking fees paid in advance before showing up.
December 7th, 2007 at 8:04 pm
Dear Wayne - all I can hope is that you are kidding about the kids being justified. Nothing justifies such violence, and condemning such behavior - “justified” or not is what has turned this world into the sad state I’m afraid it has become. If only those who feel offended would “turn the other cheek” and be the bigger person then maybe each person who saw such behavior could try it just once themselves.
Unfortunately, too many people in this world are quick to turn to anger when they feel they have been wronged.
Before I go on and on, I will turn once again to my opening statement and hope you are simply being sarcastic.
December 8th, 2007 at 4:17 pm
The students are lieing; we see a lot of this kind of group violence. I say shoot all 9 of them in the face. Even if she used the N work or any other word it does NOT give anyone the right to assult another person. If she infact did spit on one of them, then she needed to get her ass beat !
December 9th, 2007 at 12:48 am
I say we shoot Ic in the face for not only mispelling “N wok” but also for trying to write “N word” without using quotes. That’s racist.
December 9th, 2007 at 6:08 am
Maybe lc meant the other N-word.
What I would prefer is that the nine kids are charged in accordance with whatever applicable laws are on the books for attacking another person. I don’t believe in “hate crimes” and I don’t want to see such foolishness applied here. You shouldn’t enhance punishment because of a person’s thoughts.
December 10th, 2007 at 8:47 am
Karli, yes I was sarcastic.
December 10th, 2007 at 5:39 pm
FYI “A time to Kill ” is really a rip off of Henry Denker’s “Outrage” except the races are reversed and it is in Miss and not NY.
December 10th, 2007 at 5:56 pm
interesting Wayne - i guess when denker published “outrage”(1982), Grisham thought it was so great he begain “ripping it off” for publication in 1987? See below excerpt detailing the inspiration for A Time to Kill. (Note: not intended to begin a debate, as i am by no means a book scholar, just curious as to your logic that’s all. Pretty big accusation to assert that a revered author such as Grisham “ripped off” someone else’s book, though)
“In 1984 at the De Soto County courthouse in Hernando, Grisham witnessed the harrowing testimony of a 12-year-old rape victim. In his spare time Grisham began work on his first novel, which explored what would have happened if the girl’s father had murdered her assailants.”
**sorry to get off topic, none of this matters to the folks who were beat up!
March 29th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
Animals.