Thread: TX Teenager Attacked by Latino Students Over History Project

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=61128

Schoolgirl pummeled for anti-illegals sign
Claims Hispanic attackers threatened rape, death in response to class project

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Posted: April 09, 2008
11:45 am Eastern

© 2008 WorldNetDaily


Melanie Bowers with the 'protest sign' she says prompted an attack
A 13-year-old East Texas girl claims 21 classmates attacked and beat her in response to a sign she made for a history class calling for an end to illegal immigration.

Melanie Bowers was among the eighth graders at Athens Middle School asked by history teacher Janet Skelton to make "protest signs" that dealt with a past issue and a current one, the Athens Daily Review reported.

Bowers' sign read: "If you love your nation, stop illegal immigration."

Friday, according to her father, J.R. Bowers, a group of students attacked her in a school hallway, slamming her head into a brick wall and scraping her face down the side of the wall, the Athens paper said.

The students then attempted to drag the girl into a restroom and threatened to "rape and kill" her, said her grandmother, Layne Wilhoite. The sign was torn up, according to her mother, Shera Bowers.

The 13-year-old later told Dallas/Fort Worth Fox TV affiliate KDFW she was not sexually assaulted but was punched, scratched and stabbed with a pen.

"They picked me up, and they tried to put me in the boys' bathroom, and they said they were about to rape me," she said. "And I just started screaming and yelling, and I was, like, 'Leave me alone! Leave me alone! Leave me alone!'"

KDFW reported three Hispanic students are serving "in-school suspensions," and school officials are considering punishing two other students. The case is now in the hands of the school district's police department to determine whether criminal charges will be filed.

(Story continues below)




J.R. Bowers said Melanie suffered scrapes and bruises and sought medical attention. He plans to keep his daughter out of school until the situation is resolved.

Melanie Bowers told KDFW flyers titled "brown pride," with her face crossed out, were passed out at school.

Her parents have contacted the FBI and want to open a federal hate crimes investigation, the TV station said.

"She's upset, first and foremost, because she didn't feel like she had any reason to be attacked," J.R. Bowers told the Associated Press. "She loves going to school. We're having to keep her out because we're scared for her."


Superintendent Fred Hayes

Meanwhile, police are reviewing security video, and Superintendent Fred Hayes said the investigation continues. But he already has concluded the class project was not a good idea.

"Should we deal with illegal immigration? Absolutely," he told KDFW. "But not at a 13- and 14-year student level."

After the attack, said J.R. Bowers, his daughter tried to use the school office to call him, but Assistant Principal Mark Castleberry would not allow it, arguing it would "mess up the investigation."

Hayes acknowledged Castleberry should have let Bowers make the phone call, but he said the assistant principal looked over Melanie Bowers and "did not see anything wrong with her," the Athens Daily Review reported.

Shera Bowers, however, said her daughter was checked out by a paramedic Saturday, suffering a swollen face, various scratches and bruises.

"I'm upset that this happened to my daughter, and that she wasn't allowed to call us," she said.

J.R. Bowers said his daughter identified 21 students involved in the attack – 17 boys and four girls – by using a yearbook, the Athens paper reported.

Principal Louis DeRosa and Hayes acknowledge there was an incident, but they stopped short of saying the girl was assaulted. DeRosa says only a few students were involved.

"There was an incident in the hallway after lunch on Friday, April 4, between two or three students," DeRosa said in a statement. "We have a camera system in the building. We are collecting information and statements from witnesses. This is all the information we have at this time."

The "brown power" flyer is racist. What purpose does it serve?

ALIPAC'rs, I am VERY serious about this incident. This should be the fuse that lights a national explosion over illegal immigration and it's effect on our country and citizens.

PLEASE SOMEONE! HOW DO WE KEEP THIS INCIDENT FRONT AND CENTER? HOW CAN WE AID THIS FAMILY IN THEIR CAUSE AGAINST THIS SCHOOL AND AGAINST THOSE THAT ASSAULTED THIS BRAVE GIRL???

Originally Posted by TexasBorn

ALIPAC'rs, I am VERY serious about this incident. This should be the fuse that lights a national explosion over illegal immigration and it's effect on our country and citizens.

PLEASE SOMEONE! HOW DO WE KEEP THIS INCIDENT FRONT AND CENTER? HOW CAN WE AID THIS FAMILY IN THEIR CAUSE AGAINST THIS SCHOOL AND AGAINST THOSE THAT ASSAULTED THIS BRAVE GIRL???

If you can get the fathers address or a bank deposit, I well gladly send him some money to go get the best lawyer he can find.
This is a hate crime and needs to be addressed properly!

Originally Posted by miguelina

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5685125.html

The attackers got a 3 day in school suspension!!! WTH?!?!

Did the attackers have to skip recess or something?? What the heck kind of punishment is a 3-day in-school suspension and is it commensurate with the crime?

Boys (plural) physically attacked a lone girl! Did you see the marks on her neck, face and arms? The school didn't let the girl call her parents so you know the photos and videos were taken some time later. Not only did they physically attack her, but they verbally assaulted her by threatening her with even more serious bodily harm! This calls for a much more aggressive response than the totally wimpy one she got from the school authorities!

Sorry if this had been posted before, video of the news coverage and comments.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiyieUFAaic

Originally Posted by sd_hog

Originally Posted by TexasBorn

ALIPAC'rs, I am VERY serious about this incident. This should be the fuse that lights a national explosion over illegal immigration and it's effect on our country and citizens.

PLEASE SOMEONE! HOW DO WE KEEP THIS INCIDENT FRONT AND CENTER? HOW CAN WE AID THIS FAMILY IN THEIR CAUSE AGAINST THIS SCHOOL AND AGAINST THOSE THAT ASSAULTED THIS BRAVE GIRL???

If you can get the fathers address or a bank deposit, I well gladly send him some money to go get the best lawyer he can find.
This is a hate crime and needs to be addressed properly!

I agree. I am so disgusted.

If it was an anchor kid that made a poster demanding amnesty and she was attacked, all hell would break loose. LaRaza would have DEMANDED AMNESTY FOR ALL ILLEGAL ANCHOR BABIES, AND WOULD HAVE SUED THE STATE OF TEXAS AND THEIR SCHOOL SYSTEM.

Its just unbelievable what illegal aliens and their anchor kids get away with, AND I AM SICK AND TIRED OF IT ALL.

Originally Posted by Reno_Raider

The crime here is that our lily-livered politicians are permitting these hate crimes to happen. If she had been my daughter, I would take the law into my own hands. Those scumbags need to be dealt with. Her father is a schmuck for saying the history project was a bad idea in the first place.

I was thinking the exact same thing! If this were to happen to my daughter or son, I'd be at that school kicking some major A$$!!!!!!!!

It's time for the parents to get lawyers and sue the school, the school district and the parents of these kids.


Even if it goes nowhere, they have to put out the money to defend themselves. Maybe some of you Texas Alipacers need to contact the family and give them

If they can get proof of their legal or illegal status they can contact this law organization:

http://www.irli.org/


This is part of the front page on the website:

# Students experience discrimination when illegal aliens take over their schools and colleges and demand special treatment.

# Ordinary Americans suffer life-threatening injury and pain when local police who refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities fail to detain drunk driver or criminal illegal aliens.

Can someone give me ideas on how to contact this family?
Would ALIPAC provide their OFFICIAL support in filing a lawsuit?
Not necessarily monetary but perhaps in other ways such as officially contacting the school or school district?

Originally Posted by butterbean

Originally Posted by sd_hog

Originally Posted by TexasBorn

ALIPAC'rs, I am VERY serious about this incident. This should be the fuse that lights a national explosion over illegal immigration and it's effect on our country and citizens.

PLEASE SOMEONE! HOW DO WE KEEP THIS INCIDENT FRONT AND CENTER? HOW CAN WE AID THIS FAMILY IN THEIR CAUSE AGAINST THIS SCHOOL AND AGAINST THOSE THAT ASSAULTED THIS BRAVE GIRL???

If you can get the fathers address or a bank deposit, I well gladly send him some money to go get the best lawyer he can find.
This is a hate crime and needs to be addressed properly!

I agree. I am so disgusted.

If it was an anchor kid that made a poster demanding amnesty and she was attacked, all hell would break loose. LaRaza would have DEMANDED AMNESTY FOR ALL ILLEGAL ANCHOR BABIES, AND WOULD HAVE SUED THE STATE OF TEXAS AND THEIR SCHOOL SYSTEM.

Its just unbelievable what illegal aliens and their anchor kids get away with, AND I AM SICK AND TIRED OF IT ALL.

Maybe you got this email from William, if not here is part of it:


This story is emerging from Athens Texas where 13 year old Melanie Bowers was choked and had her face slammed into a brick wall for bringing in a class assignment that read "If you love your nation, stop illegal immigration"

She was surrounded by a mob of Latino students that either were illegal aliens, in illegal alien families, or supportive of illegal immigration and attacked.

The attackers also threatened to drag her into the bathroom, rape her, and stab her to death.

If you are relying on the Associated Press out of Dallas, TX to feed this news to you across the nation, they describe the incident as a "scuffle" where "Verbal insults" were used.

ALIPAC will be demanding that the school suspends all students involved in this attack, that local police file charges against all involved in the attack, and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement determine the legal status of the assailants and their parental guardians in order to enforce immigration laws applicable to any involved.