Teenagers charged with stun gun attacks on homeless

[Grojlach]

Teenagers charged with stun gun attacks on homeless

CLEVELAND, Ohio (AP) -- Four teenagers were charged Saturday with attacking homeless people with a stun gun as they slept and videotaping the assaults.

Police said the teenagers carried out attacks on at least six homeless people sleeping on park benches or in doorways.

"I've never seen anything like it in 18 years, except on TV," said Sgt. Ray Burner. "Did you ever see the movie "Jackass?' Well, that's essentially what we're talking about."

Joshuah Langenheim, 19, was charged with assault. Three other teenagers, all juveniles, were released to their parents and will face delinquency assault charges.

Police said they were arrested after their car broke down on a downtown street and another motorist stopped to help at about 3:30 a.m. The teenagers ran, and the motorist talked to a nearby homeless man who told him about the attacks.

The motorist, 35-year-old Joseph Wright, flagged down a motorcycle police officer and told him what had happened.

"Talk about America's dumbest criminals," Wright said. "Their car was broken down in front of the Justice Center, and the camera and videocassettes were inside it."

Source: CNN

[Timber Loftis]

Rather than Jackass, it sounds to me like a scene taken straight out of American Psycho. The moral depravity needed to do this to homeless people is most severe. The dark side has taken their souls for sure.

[Chewbacca]

I hope they throw the book at these punks.

[Faceman]

Rather than an effect of the movie jackass this is an effect of the general attitude affluent people in Western societies have towards homeless people. Every now and then there's some politician talking about removing "human garbage" from the street and this is basically what these youngsters adopted.

It's the world's oldest form of discrimination - violently oppressing the poor.

[Grendal]

Originally posted by Faceman: Rather than an effect of the movie jackass this is an effect of the general attitude affluent people in Western societies have towards homeless people. Every now and then there's some politician talking about removing "human garbage" from the street and this is basically what these youngsters adopted. It's the world's oldest form of discrimination - violently oppressing the poor.

What is your problem????? Ive never heard a bigger crock o crap in my life! Anyone who pulls this kind of crap is an asshole plain and simple. Any one caught doin this should be strung up and have the weapon used on themselves, once for every victim. What really pisses me off is that todays kids really do think this behavior is not only acceptable but funny as well.

[johnny]

Originally posted by Faceman: Rather than an effect of the movie jackass this is an effect of the general attitude affluent people in Western societies have towards homeless people. Every now and then there's some politician talking about removing "human garbage" from the street and this is basically what these youngsters adopted. It's the world's oldest form of discrimination - violently oppressing the poor.

I think they don't mean the homeless with human garbage, but crime, junkies, and gangwars. How on earth could someone blame the homeless for living in the streets ? It's not that they have any other choice.

[True_Moose]

That's sick. These kids need to spend some serious time in jail, counseling, and with their parents. How much do you want to bet that these kids' parents were never home, and never found out where their kids were?

[Faceman]

Grendal, johnny I think you misunderstood the basic point of my post.

1.) Everybody who does that kind of thing to a defenseless person is a major jerk.
2.) Why did they do it to homeless people? Because THEY considered them "human garbage".

Almost nobody in our society cares about the homeless. That's why they are
the perfect target for a crime because they are unlikely to be trusted by the police and unlikely to be missed by anyone and unlikely to be able to afford a lawyer.
AND
the society's attitude toward homeless persons leads crooks like these teenage punks to the conclusion that "you can do anything to them because they are lesser human beings" just like Klan-members think of African-Americans or Nazis thought of Jews.

My point was that this behaviour is not just a teenage prank but in some way a form of fascism.

[ 08-12-2003, 11:48 AM: Message edited by: Faceman ]

[The Hierophant]

Sounds like they've been watching the video series 'Bum Fights'. Similar to Jackass in that it involves amateur footage of base idiocy. Basically, young, morally bankrupt Californian middle-class kids give homeless people cheap liquor and a few bucks to fight each other on camera. They also videotape attacks on 'bums'. One such attack was an imitation of Steve 'crocodile hunter' Irwin, where they dressed up as Steve Irwin and 'hunted' homeless poople at night, wrestling them to the ground and 'marking' them with felt pens and duct-tape. Sickening stuff... One of my friends whom I previously thought was a reasonably decent guy showed me a tape of this saying 'man, you've gotta see this. It's better than Jackass!'. I had to turn it off 15 minutes into it it was so repulsive...

So, if 'Bum Fights' can be successful enough to make it's way onto the New Zealand market, imagine how many sadistic young American lads are getting their jollies from watching this shit...

[Timber Loftis]

I think you make good points about society's view of the homeless, Faceman.