As we commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the March on Washington, it is worth noting that many American cities have honored the memory of Martin Luther King, Jr., by naming a street after him. In one of those cities, black teens clad in hoodies no less have dishonored that memory by committing acts of violence against innocent cyclists on a street named for the civil rights leader. KGW in Portland, Ore., notes:
Police were warning bicyclists in Northeast Portland to be on the lookout after two men were injured during separate attacks along Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
On Saturday night, 20-year-old Andy Sweeney said he was riding his bike near the intersection of Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Northeast Fargo Street when three teenagers threw a traffic cone at him, hitting him in the face.
Sweeney suffered a concussion and two of his front teeth were shattered from the attack.
Last week, a 64-year-old man reported that he was also attacked by teens while riding his bike on Northeast Going Street near Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, according to Sgt. Pete Simpson of the Portland Police Bureau.
‘One of [the teens] punched him in the shoulder, which knocked him off his bike and he hit the ground,’ Simpson said.
The teen who lost his teeth will need two root canal surgeries. But he will have some financial help thanks to Tim Oberlander, a KGW news editor, who saw Sweeney’s story on Reddit and decided to set up a fund to help him pay for his dental work. “I want to live in a city where people do good things for other people,” Oberlander is quoted as saying.
It’s unfortunate that hoodlums like the ones who got their kicks injuring Andy Sweeney are determined to make it a city where people do bad things to other people.
