The city better buy them all an Xbox so they don’t get bored. Maybe the police ought to start monitoring the social media of everyone in town too. It’s a public forum after all, unless of course you block access to everyone, but selected friends and family. And everything you post on Facebook becomes the property of Facebook. Just like looking in someone’s front yard as you drive down the street. FYI the police already have search engine software that will allow them to search for fugitives and find things they post on social media like Facebook, My Space, Twitter and Instagram.
Ignoring the 600-pound gorilla in the room, the mayor of St. Matthews, Ky. says he knows why 2,000 "teens" ran riot through a shopping mall in his community.
Mayor Rick Tonini says social media and boredom are to blame, according to wdrb.com.
The mayhem began about 7 pm Saturday evening and continued for about one hour.
Local media failed to profile the teen rioters by race, but did profile them by age group. Most media also refused to publish photos or videos of the rioters, though such are accessible via the Internet. (see video below.)
Although reports say the teens were pounding each other, the mayor said they were just being noisy. The mayor was explaining why violent "teens" were not arrested. We suspect the mayor and police department feared being labeled "racist" if hundreds of black teens were arrested, causing us to wonder if the motto, To protect and the serve, applies to police in St. Matthews. Chances are a white person is more likely to be arrested for speeding than a black for rioting in St. Matthews.
• St. Matthews is a small city within Louisville. The population was listed as 15,852 of whom 4.95% — or about 783 — are black. That leads us to presume that most of the "teen" rioters made their way to the mall via mass transit. The riot may have been coordinated by social media. If true, we wonder why Louisville police didn't notice the uptick in social media traffic.
• Prior to the advent of social media, Jim Crow laws were enacted to control black violence in public places. Jim Crow segregation laws were dominant in the South from 1865 to 1965 when civil rights legislation forced integration. Some say Jim Crow laws were an expression of white racism while others insist they existed as an effective means to control black violence such as the riot at the mall in St. Matthews.
Jim Crow laws in Kentucky included racially separate-but-equal schools, transportation, and some entertainment. To our knowledge retail establishments in Kentucky were not forced to comply with racial segregation.
Mayor Rick Tonini says social media and boredom are to blame, according to wdrb.com.
The mayhem began about 7 pm Saturday evening and continued for about one hour.
Local media failed to profile the teen rioters by race, but did profile them by age group. Most media also refused to publish photos or videos of the rioters, though such are accessible via the Internet. (see video below.)
Although reports say the teens were pounding each other, the mayor said they were just being noisy. The mayor was explaining why violent "teens" were not arrested. We suspect the mayor and police department feared being labeled "racist" if hundreds of black teens were arrested, causing us to wonder if the motto, To protect and the serve, applies to police in St. Matthews. Chances are a white person is more likely to be arrested for speeding than a black for rioting in St. Matthews.
• St. Matthews is a small city within Louisville. The population was listed as 15,852 of whom 4.95% — or about 783 — are black. That leads us to presume that most of the "teen" rioters made their way to the mall via mass transit. The riot may have been coordinated by social media. If true, we wonder why Louisville police didn't notice the uptick in social media traffic.
• Prior to the advent of social media, Jim Crow laws were enacted to control black violence in public places. Jim Crow segregation laws were dominant in the South from 1865 to 1965 when civil rights legislation forced integration. Some say Jim Crow laws were an expression of white racism while others insist they existed as an effective means to control black violence such as the riot at the mall in St. Matthews.
Jim Crow laws in Kentucky included racially separate-but-equal schools, transportation, and some entertainment. To our knowledge retail establishments in Kentucky were not forced to comply with racial segregation.
The mayor of St. Matthews is speaking out after a chaotic holiday weekend at Mall St. Matthews.
Mayor Rick Tonini says social media and boredom are to blame.
The mall closed early Saturday evening after police say as many as 2,000 juveniles showed up, disturbing shoppers. Law enforcement from all over the area responded.
Mayor Tonini says it's likely that the teens didn't have anything better to do that night, and the mall became the hangout spot. He says he doesn't believe the kids meant any harm and supports police for not making any arrests.
"What are we going to arrest them for -- being noisy? There were some kids who were mouthy and a little bit belligerent towards the police," Tonini said. "I don't think, in this case arrests would have done anything but incite more panic."
Tonini is scheduled to meet with Mall St. Matthews management later today to discuss new policies that could help prevent this from happening again.
No comments:
Post a Comment