This week I saw that there was yet another murderous attack
on homeless people, this time in Corpus Christi Texas. It
reminded me of an attack in Salinas California back in May
of last year.
I never saw anything more about that attack in Salinas. I
suspected that the murderer would get away with it since the
police had no suspects. It's just so easy to douse a
sleeping man on the street in the middle of the night with
gasoline and light him up.
Who's going to see it?
If someone did see a homeless man get torched, would they
want to "get involved"?
After all, the victim is a "bum".
What really shocked me though is when I went searching on
the Internet to try and find out about what happened to the
man. I thought it would be relatively simple to find
articles about this case, being that the media is so
"liberal". A case like this would send "liberals" into a
frothing rage right? At least that's what we're told.
What I discovered was that it was nearly impossible to find
out that this murderous event had even occurred, forget
about any follow up by the -so we're told- "liberal media".
I not only discovered that it was hard to find out that this
gruesome murder had taken place in Salinas California as I
remembered, but since I had forgotten the victims name I
could not find this information on the Web. To my surprise I
had to search the archives of Usenet to come up with a post
about this disgusting murder which contained the mans name
-Charles Thomas, 57 years old, a former school teacher.
To my utter disgust I must report to you that even with the
name "Charles Thomas" in hand along with his age and the
city and state in which he was murdered, I still could not
find any articles which even recounted his flaming demise.
It turns out that this is quite common. It seems that the
murders of homeless people are just not reported by the
"liberal" media. When they are reported the murders just
disappear from the Web and from library databases which
catalog newspapers, and disappear without any further
follow up.
The result is that anyone depending upon Internet search
engines to keep track of homeless people being murdered is
[censored] out of luck. Such an archive is apparently considered a
danger to national security.
I would really like to know more about the life of school
teacher Charles Thomas and how he went from teaching
children to being burned alive on the streets of Salinas
California at the age of 57. I'd like to know, but the
"liberals" seem to have made an effort to make Charles
Thomas disappear from history, and I know damn well that the
"conservatives" aren't going to resurrect him.
When the Presidential "debates" occur this fall -minus Ralph
Nader- ask yourself why there are no questions to the
candidates from the members of the "liberal media" about the
homeless. Ask yourself why there were no such questions in
the last election, or the election "debates" before that.
homeless, then who does?
I wonder if Ralph Nader does? Well, he won't be at the
"debates" and if he did care he would have to ask himself
the question since none of the "liberals" would.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
5:48 a.m. May 29, 2004
LOMPOC CA- Police searched Saturday for three teenagers who
allegedly threw a flammable substance on a sleeping homeless
man who suffered third-degree burns.
Francis Berkheimer, 53, was listed in stable condition at
Lompoc Hospital, with burns to his arms and back, said
police Sgt. Harry Heidt.
The attack occurred Wednesday night while Berkheimer
slept in a brushy area behind a commercial building. A
passer-by found the burned man Thursday morning when he
heard him moaning.
Berkheimer told investigators his assailants appeared to be
boys between 15 and 18. They could face charges of assault
with a deadly weapon, Heidt said.
------
June 17, 2004
"The Rev. Robert Trache, director of Metro Ministries, said
the incident was at least the third against homeless people
in a 24-hour period. He said one person was dragged along
the street, another person was beaten with a belt buckle. He
said both incidents involved 'groups of young people.'"
Police seek leads in torching of homeless man
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Police searching for leads turned
to local news stations for help Thursday, asking them to
air a videotaped torching of a homeless man who was
sleeping on a bench.
The videotape of the Tuesday night attack is of poor quality
but shows six to eight people get out of cars, approach the
sleeping man, then flee after flames appear.
"Then you see our victim kind of running around in a circle,
flailing his arms and trying to put himself out," Corpus
Christi Police Lt. Rocky Vipond said.
Lucas Adama Wiser, 21, remained in an intensive care
Thursday with third-degree burns.
"We're hoping someone might recognize that vehicle and
possibly the group of guys," Vipond said. "I don't know if
this was a joke that they thought they were playing on
somebody or what their mind-set was, but it was a pretty
sick joke."
Police could not read the license plates or determine the
approximate ages or ethnicities of the attackers.
Investigators said they had not yet questioned Wiser because
he was on heavy painkillers.
The attack was caught by a video camera outside Corpus
Christi Metro Ministries, a private charity.
The Rev. Robert Trache, director of Metro Ministries, said
the incident was at least the third against homeless people
in a 24-hour period. He said one person was dragged along
the street, another person was beaten with a belt buckle. He
said both incidents involved "groups of young people."
He said it prompted an emergency meeting Wednesday of
caregivers around the city.
He said there were an estimated 5,000 homeless in the city
of about 300,000.
___
--------------
Wednesday, June 02, 2004 Homeless man beaten in April dies;
murder charge possible By JASON RILEY The Courier-Journal
A homeless man who was beaten, stabbed and sodomized near
the Salvation Army shelter in downtown Louisville in April
died Saturday, apparently due to complications from the
assault, a spokesman with the Jefferson County
Commonwealth's Attorney's Office said.
Clifton Agnew, 54, died at a nursing home in Springfield,
Ky., less than two months after two men were accused of
beating him with a crockpot, then stabbing and sodomizing
him with sticks, boards and bottles.
Derek R. Edmonds and Tyreese D. Hall were indicted by a
Jefferson County grand jury in April on charges of robbery,
assault and sodomy.
Steve Tedder, a spokesman for the commonwealth's attorney,
said a preliminary autopsy report indicated Agnew died as a
result of the injuries from the April 6 attack.
Tedder said prosecutors are waiting for the final report
before asking a grand jury to charge Edmonds and Hall with
murder. That could happen later this week, Tedder said.
Hall is in jail in lieu of a $500,000 cash bond. Edmonds is
in jail under an $80,000 cash bond. Both men are due back in
court July 7.
The two found Agnew sleeping in the alley near Brook and
College streets, according to police citations. The alley
runs between the Salvation Army's shelter and dining room.
The men are accused of kicking Agnew in the ribs and chest
with their feet and hitting him with their hands and the
crockpot. Agnew's injuries included severe head trauma and
broken ribs.
John Doyle, a public defender assigned to Hall and Edmonds,
did not return a call seeking comment.
courier-journal.comB1Open ↗
homeless0602-3104.html
-------
SALINAS
Homeless man dies after being set on fire
The homeless man who was set on fire in Salinas last weekend
died early Friday, police said.
Charles Thomas, 57, died at 11:19 a.m., the Monterey County
Coroner's Office told police. The coroner scheduled an
autopsy for Monday.
Thomas was doused with a flammable liquid and set ablaze
last Saturday while he was sleeping, police said. He woke up
to find himself in flames.
Police were treating the death as a homicide.
``We don't have a lot we're working with right now,'' said
Salinas police
Lt. Henry Yoneyama. ``We don't have a motive. We're just
trying to recreate what happened in the victim's life in
the day or two before the incident to find a possible
suspect.''
-----------------------
Police say insurance defrauders broke limbs of homeless to
fake accidents
June 7, 2003 (CHICAGO) - Police say the ringleaders of an
insurance fraud ring recruited desperately poor homeless
people to pose as accident victims and then broke their arms
or legs with a crude ax handle.
In announcing charges Friday against three of the alleged
ringleaders and three drivers who reportedly took part in
the scheme, detectives said the ring took in hundreds of
thousands of dollars in insurance settlements.
Detective Ken Bigg said the homeless "victims," who were
often recruited from shelters, rarely saw much of that
money, receiving "anything from nothing to $1,500" on
settlements that ranged from $10,000 to $100,000 apiece.
Investigators said they have documented six cases of the
fraud -- all since last November -- but think it may have
been going on for a number of years.
Bigg said members of the ring would scour homeless shelters
to find people desperate enough to volunteer for the scam
and pose as auto accident victims.
"On the appointed day they would take them to a garage and
put their arm on a stone block," he said. "And they would
smash the arm."
Bigg said the implement used to break the bones was usually
a heavy homemade ax handle.
"You should have seen it," he said. "It looked like
something Fred Flintstone would make."
Bigg said police only learned of the scam when authorities
at various homeless shelters began calling to report unusual
numbers of residents showing up with broken arms or legs.
------
"But they're scared the deaths will continue, maybe just
for sport."
Homeless feel betrayed by verdict 'The message that jury is
giving society is: If you're homeless, you're worthless'
By Joe Garner Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer
Many of Denver's homeless felt they took another kick
Wednesday.
A jury verdict means two to six years for the kid who helped
stomp Melvin Washington to death Sept. 3 as he slept on a
steam grate.
"Homeless isn't worthless," said Leonard Bonner, 33, who has
sought food and shelter at the Denver Rescue Mission since
he arrived in town Friday.
"There was a life that was not garbage, but the message that
jury is giving society is: If you're homeless, you're
worthless."
Bonner warned: "Every one of those jurors is going to have
to pay to God."
Clustered on the cold street waiting for the mission to open
for the night, other men read the jury like this: They went
easy on Christopher Ball, convicting him of manslaughter
instead of first-degree murder because he was only 16.
"He's only a kid, but when I was in jail once, I knew a kid
who was never going to get out for killing someone," said
Bruce Brown, 37, who has come to Denver from Biloxi, Miss.,
by way of Salt Lake City to find work. "You can get two to
six for stealing something."
Washington was a fellow traveler on the streets, whose death
cuts deep into the men's already gaping sense of
worthlessness. They feel as if the jury laughed at them,
tipping the scales of life further against them and toward
the street-toughened teen-ager.
"I don't want to see the young man's life destroyed, but I'm
deeply concerned about the message this verdict sends to
others who can't control their behavior," said the Rev. Del
Maxfield, executive director of the mission. "It seems,
certainly, the punishment doesn't seem to fit the crime."
As the weather warms, some of the homeless may feel tempted
to leave the city's packed shelters to sleep outdoors again.
But they're scared the deaths will continue, maybe just
for sport.
"There's nothing I can do about it, but it makes me mad,"
said "Bones",
30. "The person that did it, he'll be killing again when he
gets out. He could be killing you and me next."
-------------------
Homeless attacks compared Denver, Springs officials explore
any similarities
By Hector Gutierrez Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer
Colorado Springs police and Denver detectives are trying to
determine whether the assaults and slayings of homeless men
in both cities are connected.
"It's just a shot in the dark to see if there's any
similarities or not," Colorado Springs Lt. Skip Arms said
Wednesday.
Colorado Springs detectives will continue to contact assault
investigators in Denver to share notes.
Colorado Springs police said they think a group of teen-
agers or young adults armed with knives and rocks attacked
and beat one man earlier this month. Another transient was
beaten in August, and witnesses told police that several
young people were involved.
The body of another transient was found under a bridge more
than a week ago. Arms said detectives also were
investigating an unsolved homicide of a homeless person
earlier this year.
Last year the bodies of seven transients were found in lower
downtown Denver. Several other homeless men were beaten.
Only one Denver homicide case has been solved; a 19-year-old
man and 16-year-old boy were convicted. A 20-year-old man is
awaiting trial in the case.
-----------------------
Police kill homeless man after he allegedly attacked them
________________________________________________
By Staff Writer - Saratoga Herald Tribune - May 14, 2003
St. Petersburg, FL - Police shot and killed a homeless
man after he allegedly used a makeshift spear to threaten
a worker of a nearby business, then turned the weapon on
an officer.
The homeless man's name was not released. Police said he
slept in an abandoned water tank in an industrial park,
defending himself with a crowbar and a crude spear, composed
of a 5-inch knife taped to the end of an aluminum pole.
Police said they were searching for the man Thursday
afternoon when he attacked one of the officers with the
spear. The two officers who responded to the scene, Charles
Barnes, 54, and Wesley Callahan, 42, both fired at the man.
It was not immediately clear how many shots were fired or
whether both officers shot the man.
"He physically assaulted an officer. They were in fear for
their safety," said St. Petersburg police spokesman Bill
Doniel. "His knife was certainly large enough to kill a
police officer."
Barnes and Callahan were placed on leave with pay pending
the outcome of an internal investigation.
---------
And from just north of the border:
Homeless man beaten by police, witnesses say , Toronto Star
(Canada), 03190781, Jun 25, 2002
Officers alleged to have shoved man down stairs
Witnesses have accused two Toronto police officers of
beating a homeless man and throwing him down a narrow
stairwell outside a downtown pub late last Friday night.
"It was so surreal," said Sabine Schaefer, who was sitting
outside on the patio at Kilgour's pub, next to the spot
where the police officers stopped their cruiser.
Schaefer said the officers got out of their car around 11
p.m., put on gloves and started pushing the man toward a
stairwell on the corner of Bloor and Borden Sts., just west
of Spadina Ave.
She recalled seeing the man fall down the concrete stairs,
but said she could not see what happened after his fall.
A police spokesperson said yesterday the case is being
"vigorously investigated." The man was identified as
"Ramsey," said Schaefer, who has worked with homeless people
for more than 12 years with Toronto's Street Health.
Witnesses said the man was slightly inebriated, but did not
appear to have provoked the police officers, although he may
have stumbled in front of their cruiser.
Two customers who were inside Seekers Bookstore, located at
the bottom of the Bloor St. stairwell, said they saw the
officers kick the man repeatedly.
Cora Marinoff and her friend Kevin Huang described the two
officers as being young men, possibly in their 20s.
"At first I thought maybe they were trying to arrest him and
he was resisting, but it was quite obvious that they were
just beating up on the one guy," Marinoff said. "He wasn't
doing anything at all."
Witnesses said the officers left the scene with their lights
flashing and horn honking as they drove north on Borden St..
Schaefer said she ran down the stairs and found the man
bleeding from the head.
"He just kept saying, 'I didn't do anything, I didn't do
anything,'" Schaefer said. "He alternated between anger at
what had happened to him and a bit of crying."
Witnesses called 911 from the bookstore. Paramedics arrived
about 20 minutes later, at about the same time as Sergeant
Robert Stewart, the first officer to arrive at the scene to
investigate.
The man refused to go the hospital, witnesses said, because
he was afraid of people in uniform.
What followed was a four-hour incident that lasted until
about 3 a.m.
Around 2 a.m., police interviewed about 10 of the witnesses
who had remained at the scene.
Stewart said the reason witnesses were not interviewed
sooner was a lack of manpower. When a complaint involves
police officers, he said, regular constables are not
permitted to take statements; only supervising sergeants are
allowed to do so.
"It has nothing to do with the fact he was homeless or that
we weren't interested," Stewart said.
Paul Lepage, who was inside Kilgour's that night, claimed
some officers were intimidating witnesses before
interviewing them.
Lepage said was told he would be charged with "obstructing
justice" if he approached the homeless man.
Lepage says he also overheard a sergeant telling the
bookstore employee to keep quiet about what he had seen,
otherwise he would be charged as well.
Police said the man filed a complaint that morning at
Toronto police 14 Division headquarters, near Dovercourt Rd.
and Dundas St. W. He left the station at about 5 a.m., but
nobody seems to know where the man went.
Native shelters say they are keeping an eye out for
him. Some witnesses also gave the man their e-mail
addresses before they left the scene in case he wanted
to contact them.
At the time of the attack, the man was wearing a pair of calf-
length green khakis with a big pocket on the side, and a
flannel shirt, which may have been his only set of clothes.
Copyright (c) 2002 Toronto Star, All Rights Reserved.
----------------
Homeless Man Dies in Beating; Police Arrest 2 Teenagers By
CAMPBELL ROBERTSON
Published: June 18, 2004
A homeless man who slept in the back seats of abandoned
vehicles in Brooklyn was pulled out of a car by two teenage
boys and beaten to death yesterday with a milk crate,
garbage cans and bricks, the police said.
Two 15-year-old Brooklyn boys were arrested last night and
charged with second-degree murder in the attack, the police
said. They were identified as Dashorn Washington and Jamel
Robinson, both of East New York.
The vicious and apparently unprovoked attack, which took
place over four blocks despite the efforts of another man to
stop it, ended in the darkened courtyard of St. Gabriel's
Roman Catholic Church in East New York, where the bloodied
victim collapsed and died as a priest called 911.
Witnesses said the two attackers had previously beaten other
homeless people in the neighborhood.
Almost everyone along a four-block stretch of New Lots
Avenue said they knew the victim.
Billy, as Mr. Pearson was known, was a regular at a nearby
medical clinic, at bodegas and grocery stores, and at St.
Gabriel's, the site of the killing, where he was given meals
in the church mission most afternoons.
The police said the attack began early yesterday morning
at a gas station at the corner of Warwick Street and New
Lots Avenue.
A man who identified himself only as Bobby, who was standing
with friends outside a liquor store where he said the victim
used to spend his afternoons, said that he had been with Mr.
Pearson on Wednesday night, just before the attack began.
Bobby said he had been with several friends at the gas
station, where Mr. Pearson often spent the nights in the
back seats of abandoned cars. Sometime around midnight,
Bobby said, two teenagers approached the car and pulled
Lu. Pearson out of the back seat.
"I was sitting there, and up and come two guys," said Bobby,
in a story that matched police accounts of the events. "They
pull him out of the car and start beating him."
According to Bobby, the two men began kicking and punching
Mr. Pearson, and one began hitting him with a milk crate
that was near the car.
Bobby added: "I ask them, 'What's going on here?' They
didn't say anything. They just left."
A few minutes later, Bobby said, the victim began walking
down New Lots Avenue in the direction of the church, and
that was the last time Bobby saw
Lv. Pearson, he said.
The teenagers continued attacking Mr. Pearson after that,
the police said, and judging from bloodstains on the
sidewalk there were more scuffles at several points along
the avenue.
At the corner of New Lots Avenue and Linwood Street, the
site of the church, a witness saw the two men hitting Mr.
Pearson with garbage cans, the police said. The two men
followed the victim into the churchyard and, picking up
bricks from the walkway along the path to the rectory,
attacked him until he collapsed.
Lw. Pearson managed to crawl along the front of the church
and turn the corner, where he was seen by a priest, who
called the authorities about 3:15 a.m.
"It's senseless," said Dr. Heusent James, who works at a
clinic that Mr. Pearson used to visit daily. "Sometimes we
see him sleeping out here on the street. He was harmless."
A police official said the department had investigated
similar beatings in the neighborhood, and Bobby said he was
attacked last summer by one of the same young men he had
seen on Wednesday night.
Bobby recalled that Mr. Pearson had lived with his mother
until her death several years ago, and had been living on
the street since then.
Raheime Pinchback, 40, a former chef who lives in the
neighborhood, remembered Mr. Pearson as a quiet and
unobtrusive regular of the doorways on New Lots Avenue.
"Just think," he said.
"Last Saturday, that's the same guy who asked me for
change."
-=- This message was posted via two or more anonymous
remailing services.