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| Deandre Harris being attacked by the protesters. |
On August 12th, Deandre Harris, a black counterprotester, was attacked by a group of six white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia. The attack came after a "Unite the Right" rally, when Klan members and Neo-Nazis confronted counterprotesters; the conflicts left even left one counterprotester dead. Harris was pummeled by a metal pipe and wooden boards, eventually suffering a spinal injury and a head laceration.
On Monday, October 9th, a local magistrate issued an arrest warrant for Deandre Harris on account of a felony. Charged with the same offenses as his attackers, Harris was labeled the instigator and was accused of wounding one of the men. Harris, an aide in special education classes, was forced to quit his job and move from Charlottesville due to fear. He plans to turn himself in to authorities soon.
Do you think Harris should be arrested? What do you think of this situation?
5 comments:
It truly is terrifying to see the justice system completely backwards like this. The horrid irony of being charged with the crime perpetrated against you only further reveals how terrible some current systems are; according to the article, an arrest warrant can be based solely on a supposed victim's testimony. There is no denying that the local magistrate was heavily biased or influenced by outside groups. I can only pray that this culture of violent white supremacy becomes extinct in the near future.
I think that anyone can see that this is a terrible mistake. It seems like it is very likely that he will be considered guilty due to the false testimonies that can be given in court and I don't doubt that the court would be quick to convict him. I wouldn't like to believe that a group of white supremacists is actually being protected by the police, but it really isn't that unbelievable.
I do not think that Harris should be arrested, or that they should even have a warrant out for his arrest. If anything, he should just go into the police department and tell his side of the story in order to ensure that he does not get in trouble for anything he may or may not have done. Even if he was the “instigator,” Harris ended up being the one that was injured and he was the one who was outnumbered six to one. It is ridiculous that Harris would even have to report to authorities as he was beat up by racists, while Harris was just trying to voice his opinion that the Ku Klux Klan and Neo-Nazis message is not okay to have in our country. I agree with Chris that it is ironic that a person who was injured, ends up getting charged with crimes that he had done to him. Especially in the South, historically a white man’s word is taken as the truth opposed to a black man’s word. If this continues, it will make it hard for Harris to be treated how he should be treated equally to the whites who beat him up.
I do not believe that Harris should be arrested or should have to turn himself in to the authorities, but he is likely to be punished due to his mere presence at the scene. Even if he went to the authorities and reported his side of the story like Bela suggested, his words are likely to fall upon deaf ears when placed in conjunction with the words of his white attackers. Events such as this point to the idea that the justice system needs to undergo a review of its policies, such as the idea that a mere testimony without concrete evidence can lead to an arrest even when concrete evidence stating otherwise is provided.
I find it absolutely disgusting and repugnant that the victim of such a nasty assault is being treated as the assaulter. Needless to say, it is representative of the corrupt system that invades our country against POC's. In a system created by whites for the benefit of whites, it is sad to say that as a POC, Harris is in many ways powerless. Whether you agree with this or not, past legal events involving minority groups have proven that no matter the situation, they are always at a disadvantage as opposed to whites. If Harris had been a white man attacked by a group of African-Americans, the outcome would have been COMPLETELY different and that's no secret.
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