Beating of white teen becomes 'community issue' in Rifle

[AlturaCt]

By Ellen Miller, Special to the News
March 8, 2007

The beating of a white 14-year- old Rifle High School girl, allegedly by several female Hispanic students, is the latest indication of rising ethnic tensions in this fast-changing community, school officials said Wednesday.

The friction in this working- class town, which is becoming increasingly Hispanic, has drawn interest from the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, and Garfield County School District Re-2 has asked for help from the Colorado Mediation Coalition, Superintendent Gary Pack said.

"It's a community issue," Pack said. "Rifle is changing from predominantly Anglo to predominantly Hispanic. Whether it's bullying or ethnic harassment is what we're looking at.' "

He said one of the alleged attackers has been suspended pending an expulsion hearing and others could be disciplined, depending on the results of the school's investigation.

Rifle police said a summons for assault was issued to a juvenile, but they declined to discuss the case further because juveniles are involved.

The girl who was attacked suffered multiple injuries, including a broken nose, two black eyes, separation between two of her vertebrae, a bruised collarbone and scratches over her face in the Feb. 23 incident, said her father, John Kuersten. He said his daughter is recovering after surgery but will not return to the school.

"My daughter was attacked by a big girl and several other girls. She wasn't fighting," he said. "We are outraged."

Rifle Mayor Keith Lambert said he had received a call from the U.S. Department of Justice, inquiring about the incident.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/l ... 25,00.html

[MW]

Hmmm..........could this be a hate crime?

I would go absolutely bonkers if this happened to my 13 year old daughter!

[sippy]

You and me both MW. I've been teaching my two girls some police training self defense, etc. just in case.

[CCUSA]

I would call it a hate crime. This was a gang assault!!! This is intolerable.

[31scout]

Are they illegals??? Deport them and the rest of their family!

[Jean]

Rifle Mayor Keith Lambert said he had received a call from the U.S. Department of Justice, inquiring about the incident.

Now that's interesting.

[dlm1968]

If it were white kids beating up on a kid of any other ethnicity you bet your bippy it would be classified as a "hate crime", but because the kid beat up was white.....

[moosetracks]

It's begun! This is just the start of worse things to come, I'm afraid.

[nittygritty]

Hmmm..........could this be a hate crime?

I would go absolutely bonkers if this happened to my 13 year old daughter!

Oh No MW, the victim was white, don't you know, the whites deserve this kind of action, nothing can be deemed a hate crime that is perpetrated on a white person, they are fair game!

[Rockfish]

Politcally Correct--something that we must change. It is said that diversity unites people. This is incorrect because different languages and cultures cause 'pockets' of people and these pockets tend to fight over their differnces. It is not freedom that binds us, its culture and language. The proponents of the NAU will insist that diversity is the only way to go. This is simply wrong. If everyone can understand one language, they would better communicate thus they would unite. As long as people are separated by language and culture, you can expect this kind of thing to continue.

I agree, this story is biased and this is a hate crime. If it had been a latin that was beat up, hate crime would have been all over the news.