After participating in the beating of the Ramirez--Piekarsky and Donchak got lucky they ran into the police. Sounds like bad luck, huh? Not in this case.
Quoting the Associate Press report: "These were no ordinary officers. Patrolman Jason Hayes dated Piekarsky's mother, and Lt. William Moyer's son played with Piekarsky on the high school football team. Their commanding officer, Chief Matthew Nestor, was a friend of Piekarsky's mother and even vacationed with her. Rather than place the popular white football players under arrest, the officers let them go beginning a cover-up in their racially tense [Shenandoah, Pa.], federal prosecutors allege." Shenandoah is a town of 5,000, 80 miles northwest of Philadelphia.
If you aren't already confused, this is where it gets confusing; subsequently, and unrelated, the town police chief and his second and command were arrested following a federal investigation into an extortion racket; although, these commanders were in charge at the police station house at the time of this crime.
The teens were acquitted of all but "simple assault" charges in State court, but federal hate crime charges were just filed against the youths, and the cops.
Here, is the crux of my beef with law enforcement. Again and again, story after story, the police, the sheriffs, law enforcement views the world as "us versus them." In this case if the allegations are true, these police viewed the student athletes as part of "us" versus Ramirez, as "them." But it didn't have to be a Mexican immigrant, undocumented migrant--as law enforcement sees the world, the"them" can in an instant --> be you, and me. The view of law enforcement is often arbitrary and because the cops are armed--dangerous.
According to the Wednesday New York Times, Shenandoah's former Mayor, Thomas O'Neill resigned his position in reponse to the town council's refusal to reign in the police force which he believed to be out of control. It's time we begin to grapple with a noon-adversarial approach to law enforcement.
http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/62/2009/december/16/bail-hearing-for-pa-police-accused-of-cover-up.html
and
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gtcSK8qaGGVDikaEFhYD_pgjOLrwD9CKHPO80
and
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/us/16hate.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper
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