Cycling Forums - View Single Post - Two cyclists attacked and beaten in Portland

01-16-2007, 07:29 PM

Gooserider wrote:
:: "Roger Zoul" <rogerzoul2@hotmail.com> wrote in message
:: news:12qq3816lc08fa7@news.supernews.com...
::: Gooserider wrote:
::::: "Roger Zoul" <rogerzoul2@hotmail.com> wrote in message
::::: news:12qp184jj457i66@news.supernews.com...
:::::: Gooserider wrote:
:::::::: "Roger Zoul" <rogerzoul2@hotmail.com> wrote in message
:::::::: news:12qnr8i94qr3qe1@news.supernews.com...
::::::::: Ken C. M. wrote:
::::::::::: Gooserider wrote:
:::::::::::: Wow. And that's a bike friendly city. I hope the assailants
:::::::::::: are caught and sent to prison.
::::::::::::
:::::::::::: http://www.katu.com/news/5184291.html
::::::::::::
:::::::::::: PORTLAND, Ore. - Two cyclists said they were attacked by
:::::::::::: three teenagers near a north Portland bus stop on
:::::::::::: Wednesday.
::::::::::::
:::::::::::: The women, Ashley Gorman and her co-worker Heather Moles,
:::::::::::: were riding their bikes home from work when the attack
:::::::::::: occurred near Legacy Emanuel Hospital.
::::::::::::
:::::::::::: The cyclists said the teen girls were standing in the bike
:::::::::::: lane waiting for the bus and they had to steer their bikes
:::::::::::: around the group. The teens may have thought the cyclists
:::::::::::: rode too closely.
::::::::::::
:::::::::::: The next thing she knew, one of the teens kicked out Moles'
:::::::::::: tire, causing her to fall.
::::::::::::
:::::::::::: "I felt the thud, and then the tire went, and I went
:::::::::::: skidding into the road," Moles said.
::::::::::::
:::::::::::: That's when the beating began. Three teens punched both
:::::::::::: cyclists in the head and dislocated Moles' shoulder.
::::::::::::
:::::::::::: Jonathan Corey was passing by and helped break up the
:::::::::::: fight, pulling the teens off the cyclists.
::::::::::::
:::::::::::: "It became obvious who was the aggressor in the whole
:::::::::::: equation," he said.
::::::::::::
:::::::::::: Corey added that the assailants were ruthless.
::::::::::::
:::::::::::: "I felt like I almost didn't use enough force in retrospect
:::::::::::: as I might have wanted to to make the thing stop," he said.
::::::::::::
:::::::::::: One witness heard a racial slur aimed at the cyclists, who
:::::::::::: said they didn't hear it. The teens were black while the
:::::::::::: cyclists were white.
::::::::::::
:::::::::::: The cyclists wonder whether race had anything to do with
:::::::::::: the attack. They can't understand what caused it.
::::::::::::
:::::::::::: "I could imagine if we had said something but nothing was
:::::::::::: said," Gorman said.
::::::::::::
:::::::::::: Gorman suffered the worst beating. She went to the
:::::::::::: emergency room but has no insurance to pay for it.
::::::::::::
:::::::::::: "I got bruised up pretty good," Gorman said. "I got my
:::::::::::: behind handed to me."
::::::::::::
:::::::::::: A fourth teenager with the group apparently stood by during
:::::::::::: the attack but then apologized afterward just before
:::::::::::: everybody scattered and police arrived.
::::::::::::
::::::::::::
:::::::::::
::::::::::: And I thought Portland was generally regarded as very
::::::::::: cyclist friendly! If thats friendly I would hate to see
::::::::::: hostile.
:::::::::
::::::::: Surely you don't judge an entire city by the acts of a few
::::::::: stupid teens....
:::::::::
::::::::: Strange (or
::::::::::: maybe not) that race was mentioned in the article. I wonder
::::::::::: if it was a predominately black (African American or
::::::::::: whatever) part of town.
:::::::::
::::::::: Maybe it was just a random occurence. Who knows. Geez,
::::::::: people.
:::::::::
:::::::::
::::::::
:::::::: And MAYBE the black girls attacked two white women because they
:::::::: were white, and did so while calling them racial slurs. Geez,
:::::::: Roger.
::::::
:::::: Given that you nor I were there, we'll never know. For all you
:::::: know, one of the women on bike could have said something to
:::::: incite them.
:::::
::::: Nothing they could have said(and they insist they said nothing)
::::: justifies a BEATING. What kind of bull is that, Roger? Even if the
::::: two cyclists were n-word spouting skinheads, no words justify a
::::: beating. Why are you so unwilling to believe this is what it
::::: obviously is---a racial attack? Unbelievable.
:::
::: Who said anything at all about the attack being justified? Are you
::: truly this stupid? I don't think it was justified in any manner
::: whatsoever. However, I'm not so willing to believe as you are, that
::: it was racially motivated. Perhaps that's the "easy" answer, but so
::: what? That doesn't make it so.
:::
::: Obviously, you have some issues.
::
:: Once you said---"For all you know, one of the women on bike could
:: have said something to incite them."--you were looking for
:: justification. You have some issues, I think. A witness said that
:: racial slurs were said during the attack, the victims and attackers
:: were of different races---what do you THINK? Unreal. I seriously
:: doubt you would be so easy going if the races in this case were
:: reversed. It's a racist attack, even if it didn't START that way it
:: became one.

You only label it this way because for you race is the only issue here of
importance. I'm not saying the attack wasn't racially motivated, I'm saying
that you don't know that it was. I'm also not looking for any
justification, because there isn't any. However, something did set them off,
and we'll never know since we weren't there. The easy thing to do is to
claim, with so little real proof, that this had anything to do with race.
Frankly, I'm surprised those two cyclist let them get so close.

If they weren't attacked merely because they were white, then it's simply
not a racist attack, no matter what you say.

01-16-2007, 07:29 PM	#53 (permalink)
Roger Zoul Guest Posts: n/a	Re: Two cyclists attacked and beaten in Portland Gooserider wrote: :: "Roger Zoul" <rogerzoul2@hotmail.com> wrote in message :: news:12qq3816lc08fa7@news.supernews.com... ::: Gooserider wrote: ::::: "Roger Zoul" <rogerzoul2@hotmail.com> wrote in message ::::: news:12qp184jj457i66@news.supernews.com... :::::: Gooserider wrote: :::::::: "Roger Zoul" <rogerzoul2@hotmail.com> wrote in message :::::::: news:12qnr8i94qr3qe1@news.supernews.com... ::::::::: Ken C. M. wrote: ::::::::::: Gooserider wrote: :::::::::::: Wow. And that's a bike friendly city. I hope the assailants :::::::::::: are caught and sent to prison. :::::::::::: :::::::::::: http://www.katu.com/news/5184291.html :::::::::::: :::::::::::: PORTLAND, Ore. - Two cyclists said they were attacked by :::::::::::: three teenagers near a north Portland bus stop on :::::::::::: Wednesday. :::::::::::: :::::::::::: The women, Ashley Gorman and her co-worker Heather Moles, :::::::::::: were riding their bikes home from work when the attack :::::::::::: occurred near Legacy Emanuel Hospital. :::::::::::: :::::::::::: The cyclists said the teen girls were standing in the bike :::::::::::: lane waiting for the bus and they had to steer their bikes :::::::::::: around the group. The teens may have thought the cyclists :::::::::::: rode too closely. :::::::::::: :::::::::::: The next thing she knew, one of the teens kicked out Moles' :::::::::::: tire, causing her to fall. :::::::::::: :::::::::::: "I felt the thud, and then the tire went, and I went :::::::::::: skidding into the road," Moles said. :::::::::::: :::::::::::: That's when the beating began. Three teens punched both :::::::::::: cyclists in the head and dislocated Moles' shoulder. :::::::::::: :::::::::::: Jonathan Corey was passing by and helped break up the :::::::::::: fight, pulling the teens off the cyclists. :::::::::::: :::::::::::: "It became obvious who was the aggressor in the whole :::::::::::: equation," he said. :::::::::::: :::::::::::: Corey added that the assailants were ruthless. :::::::::::: :::::::::::: "I felt like I almost didn't use enough force in retrospect :::::::::::: as I might have wanted to to make the thing stop," he said. :::::::::::: :::::::::::: One witness heard a racial slur aimed at the cyclists, who :::::::::::: said they didn't hear it. The teens were black while the :::::::::::: cyclists were white. :::::::::::: :::::::::::: The cyclists wonder whether race had anything to do with :::::::::::: the attack. They can't understand what caused it. :::::::::::: :::::::::::: "I could imagine if we had said something but nothing was :::::::::::: said," Gorman said. :::::::::::: :::::::::::: Gorman suffered the worst beating. She went to the :::::::::::: emergency room but has no insurance to pay for it. :::::::::::: :::::::::::: "I got bruised up pretty good," Gorman said. "I got my :::::::::::: behind handed to me." :::::::::::: :::::::::::: A fourth teenager with the group apparently stood by during :::::::::::: the attack but then apologized afterward just before :::::::::::: everybody scattered and police arrived. :::::::::::: :::::::::::: ::::::::::: ::::::::::: And I thought Portland was generally regarded as very ::::::::::: cyclist friendly! If thats friendly I would hate to see ::::::::::: hostile. ::::::::: ::::::::: Surely you don't judge an entire city by the acts of a few ::::::::: stupid teens.... ::::::::: ::::::::: Strange (or ::::::::::: maybe not) that race was mentioned in the article. I wonder ::::::::::: if it was a predominately black (African American or ::::::::::: whatever) part of town. ::::::::: ::::::::: Maybe it was just a random occurence. Who knows. Geez, ::::::::: people. ::::::::: ::::::::: :::::::: :::::::: And MAYBE the black girls attacked two white women because they :::::::: were white, and did so while calling them racial slurs. Geez, :::::::: Roger. :::::: :::::: Given that you nor I were there, we'll never know. For all you :::::: know, one of the women on bike could have said something to :::::: incite them. ::::: ::::: Nothing they could have said(and they insist they said nothing) ::::: justifies a BEATING. What kind of bull is that, Roger? Even if the ::::: two cyclists were n-word spouting skinheads, no words justify a ::::: beating. Why are you so unwilling to believe this is what it ::::: obviously is---a racial attack? Unbelievable. ::: ::: Who said anything at all about the attack being justified? Are you ::: truly this stupid? I don't think it was justified in any manner ::: whatsoever. However, I'm not so willing to believe as you are, that ::: it was racially motivated. Perhaps that's the "easy" answer, but so ::: what? That doesn't make it so. ::: ::: Obviously, you have some issues. :: :: Once you said---"For all you know, one of the women on bike could :: have said something to incite them."--you were looking for :: justification. You have some issues, I think. A witness said that :: racial slurs were said during the attack, the victims and attackers :: were of different races---what do you THINK? Unreal. I seriously :: doubt you would be so easy going if the races in this case were :: reversed. It's a racist attack, even if it didn't START that way it :: became one. You only label it this way because for you race is the only issue here of importance. I'm not saying the attack wasn't racially motivated, I'm saying that you don't know that it was. I'm also not looking for any justification, because there isn't any. However, something did set them off, and we'll never know since we weren't there. The easy thing to do is to claim, with so little real proof, that this had anything to do with race. Frankly, I'm surprised those two cyclist let them get so close. If they weren't attacked merely because they were white, then it's simply not a racist attack, no matter what you say.