This time it’s racial. Even New York’s usually left-leaning Daily News says so in its report on the assault, which occurred on Monday near the Kings Plaza Shopping Center in Mill Basin, Brooklyn:
A group of 10 black youths — one of them a 12-year-old girl — surrounded a white couple’s car in Brooklyn, viciously beating the husband and yanking the wife to the pavement by her hair as they peppered the two with racial slurs, authorities said.
‘Get those crackers!’ some of them screamed, according to court papers. ‘Get that white whore!’
[…]
In the midst of the attack, there was a steady chorus of epithets. ‘White motherf***er!’ screamed the attackers, who ranged in age from 12 to 18.
OK, racism was a factor: That much is settled. So are the details of the injuries to the couple. Ronald Russo, 30, suffered a fractured nose, a broken septum, a blood clot, and abrasions to the shoulder. His wife, Alanna, also 30, received a black eye.
The whereabouts of four of the twelve suspects is also known. They are in police custody, and the NYPD reports having leads on the others.
What remains unresolved is the reason for the attack. The News writes that the confrontation began when Ronald Russo, the driver, honked at the group, who stood blocking the intersection after the light turned green. The “rowdy kids” (the News’s description) began kicking the car. Russo emerged from the driver’s seat presumably to check the damage to his vehicle.
Some readers of the News account believe Ronald Russo was the provocateur. Commenter Jemal Laventure writes:
I’m sorry but there is more to this story. He honks the horn, they kick his car, then he gets out to ONLY check the damages to his cars [sic]??
YEAH RIGHT. He got out to confront those kids. Not saying they were right to beat him up. But I’m sure he contributed more to this than just being a babe in the woods.
Other commenters bring the de rigueur topic of slavery into the conversation, while others inject their own ugly racist tendencies. A reader who self-identifies as “klmalay” claims to have “found a video the kids posted on facebook of themselves” and offers a link to rollicking monkeys.
Bottom line? There isn’t one. The nation remains as bitterly divided on race as it has ever been.
