Two men accused of beating Indian pizza delivery man they thought was Muslim

[Grojlach]

Two men accused of beating Indian pizza delivery man they thought was Muslim

By MARK PRATT
Associated Press Writer
BOSTON (AP): Two men face hate crime and other criminal charges for gagging, beating and stabbing an Indian pizza delivery man they thought was Muslim, a police chief said Wednesday.
Saurabh Bhalerao, 24, a graduate student at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, was beaten, burned with cigarettes, hogtied, gagged and stabbed after delivering a pizza to a New Bedford address late Sunday night, Chief Gary F. Souza of Fairhaven said.
The men originally intended to rob Bhalerao, but intensified their assault thinking he was Muslim, continuing to beat him even as he tried to explain that he was Hindu, Souza said.
"He pleaded with his attackers,'' he said. "They were ... telling him he should go back to Iraq.''
The men put Bhalerao into the trunk of his own car and drove to nearby Fairhaven. Bhalerao managed to loosen his ropes during the drive.
When the car stopped, he came out of the trunk and hit one of the men with a hammer, Souza said. One man stabbed Bhalerao before fleeing, police said.
Bhalerao, who suffered a broken jaw, was listed in fair condition at Rhode Island Hospital Wednesday night, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Tyrell Tavarez and Ryan Marsh, both 17, of New Bedford, have pleaded innocent to a variety of crimes including hate crimes, civil rights violations, kidnapping and armed robbery.
Christopher Pereira, 20, of New Bedford, was charged with kidnapping and other charges.Two other men could also face charges of civil rights violations, Souza said.
Souza said he was baffled by the viciousness of the attack.
"I have been in law enforcement 20 years and when I see stuff like this I still get outraged,'' he said.

Source: The Star

Note: Before this is turned into yet another "let's criticise the US!"-topic, keep in mind that xenophobia/stupidity is unfortunately a global problem, and this could have just as easily have happened in any European country, including my own. So if you wish to criticise the American media and the Government for playing a (partial) role in the encouragement of xenophobia in particular, you can extend your criticism to Europe as well (unless you're going to play the Iraq-card in specific, of course ). But unfairly negative portrayal of minorities is not a US-only issue.

[Faceman]

Being half-Indian myself and having a lot of friends from Asian and Arab countries I know part of the problem personally. Here in Austria it's mainly police brutality that concentrates on immigrants, nazi gangs or other racist bullies are seldom.

We had a case a year ago where the police got an anonymus tip that at (certain place, certain time) there would be a car full of illegal immigrants. They stopped that car with no additional evidence and proceeded to arrest everybody with extreme force (breaking one guys arm and some ribs). After they had brought them back to the station and locked them up they looked at their IDs for the first time and realized that these people were Austrian citizens immigrated a long time ago.

The point I'm trying to make is that everytime something like that happens people concentrate on the fact "because they thought he was a Moslem when he really was Hindu" instead of "they almost beat him dead"
If he had been from Iraq would that have made things right?
Even if he was a Al Quaeda suicide bomber there is no law or justification to torture this man. If he is a criminal turn him in if you just don't like his face leave him alone.
I'm sick of people thinking they're Wyatt Earp and justice is their task.

[Timber Loftis]

Would it have been okay if he was Muslim? Would it have been okay for the police to do what they did if they had gotten real FOBies?

[Melusine]

I don't think Groj was trying to say it would have been alright if the victim truly were a Muslim - quite the opposite!! I think what he's saying is that it's sad that people can be so fanatical in their racist fixations, they don't even stop to check whether the person they're beating up is actually of the religious persuasion they have convinced themselves they have a problem with. And I agree - how ****** stupid is that?? I shouldn't be so surprised really... if you're moronic enough to want to beat up a fellow countryman just because he's a muslim, you're probably also dumb enough to mistake anyone with a slightly different colour than yours for one.
I can't speak for Grojlach of course but I do have some idea of his opinions on such things and I believe he's definitely not saying it would have been OK if the victim was a Muslim.

I think the guys who did the beating need to be removed from the gene pool.
HOWEVER, I think it highly racist and bigoted to charge them with "Hate Crimes" Charge them with crimes and be done with it. Get rid of this special protections crap for one group or another.

[Grojlach]

Originally posted by Melusine: I don't think Groj was trying to say it would have been alright if the victim truly were a Muslim - quite the opposite!! I think what he's saying is that it's sad that people can be so fanatical in their racist fixations, they don't even stop to check whether the person they're beating up is actually of the religious persuasion they have convinced themselves they have a problem with. And I agree - how ****** stupid is that?? I shouldn't be so surprised really... if you're moronic enough to want to beat up a fellow countryman just because he's a muslim, you're probably also dumb enough to mistake anyone with a slightly different colour than yours for one. I can't speak for Grojlach of course but I do have some idea of his opinions on such things and I believe he's definitely not saying it would have been OK if the victim was a Muslim.

Thanks, Mel. [img]smile.gif[/img] But I suppose (hope?) they were criticising the situation sketched in the article and the things being focused upon, not me in particular. Else they've *cough* missed the point, to say it as diplomatic as possible.

I suppose the title may have given the wrong impression, but I've merely copy/pasted the original title of the article... So blame them. And keep in mind the meaning of the title is mostly reflected in this part of the article:

The men originally intended to rob Bhalerao, but intensified their assault thinking he was Muslim, continuing to beat him even as he tried to explain that he was Hindu, Souza said.

So the article emphasizes that the assault was *intensified* once the robbers thought they were dealing with someone's who's muslim, and instead of merely robbing him, they started to beat him - or at least that's what the victim seems to claim about their motivations. And that's pretty much the "reason" for the title; they don't imply in any way it's "okay" to beat someone if it *was* a muslim.
A case of misinterpretation, I suppose.

[Timber Loftis]

Originally posted by MagiK: I think the guys who did the beating need to be removed from the gene pool. HOWEVER, I think it highly racist and bigoted to charge them with "Hate Crimes" Charge them with crimes and be done with it. Get rid of this special protections crap for one group or another.

Amen. I usually have to be on the verge of "hate" before I'm willing to give someone a good trouncing anyway. Enforce the laws we have. Don't enact new ones.

Groljh, it wasn't aimed at you, just pointing out some pitfalls people should be wary of in their thinking -- including the article's authors. That's all.

BTW, have you noticed that I try to take the time to bastardize your sig name in my own special way all the time? My gift to you.

[Melusine]

I suppose they were criticising the situation sketched in the article and the things being focused upon, not me in particular. Else they've *cough* missed the point, to say it as diplomatic as possible.

Considering the fact that you got a "And your Point Is?" in the topic about Liberia, in which you merely copied and pasted some articles, I wouldn't be too sure about some people's ability to discern between your opinions and those of the authors of the articles you post.
Besides, it was neither your NOR the article's opinion that it would have been ok if the guy really was a muslim, right?

[Faceman]

I suppose they were criticising the situation sketched in the article and the things being focused upon, not me in particular. Else they've *cough* missed the point, to say it as diplomatic as possible.

I never assumed Grojlach to consider it ok for a muslim to be beaten. It also does not say that in the newspaper article.
What I was critizising is merely that the newspaper articles in these situations tend to put it that way rhetorically that people concentrate FIRST on the mixup (hindu mistaken for muslim) and SECOND on the really important fact (innocent person beaten up by some punks).
That way newspapers can ensure not to upset their xenophobic readers (who WILL think it would have been ok if he was muslim) while making an anti-racist statement to the liberal people.

[Timber Loftis]

Originally posted by Faceman: quote: I suppose they were criticising the situation sketched in the article and the things being focused upon, not me in particular. Else they've *cough* missed the point, to say it as diplomatic as possible.

I never assumed Grojlach to consider it ok for a muslim to be beaten. It also does not say that in the newspaper article.
What I was critizising is merely that the newspaper articles in these situations tend to put it that way rhetorically that people concentrate FIRST on the mixup (hindu mistaken for muslim) and SECOND on the really important fact (innocent person beaten up by some punks).
That way newspapers can ensure not to upset their xenophobic readers (who WILL think it would have been ok if he was muslim) while making an anti-racist statement to the liberal people. [/QUOTE]Yeah. What he said.