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New sport is on the rise with US teens

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Here's hoping the next target is 'harder'.

HARD-TARGET_88__P-278.366_20.jpg


http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/02/19/homeless.attacks/index.html?eref=rss_latest

All Nathan Moore says he wanted to do was smoke pot and get drunk with his friends.

Killing Rex Baum was never part of the plan that day in 2004.

"It all started off as a game," Moore said.

The 15-year-old and his friends were taunting the homeless man -- throwing sticks and leaves -- after having a couple of beers with him.

No big deal, Moore says, but he's sorry for what came next.

It was a mistake, he said, a sudden primal surge that made him and his friends Luis Oyola, 16, and 17-year-old Andrew Ihrcke begin punching and kicking Baum.

"Luis says 'I'm gonna go hit him,' We're all laughing, thought he was joking around,'" but he wasn't, Moore concedes. "We just all started hitting him."

They hurled anything they could find -- rocks, bricks, even Baum's barbecue grill -- and pounded the 49-year-old with a pipe and with the baseball bat he kept at his campsite for protection.

Ihrcke smeared his own feces on Baum's face before cutting him with a knife "to see if he was alive," Moore said.

After destroying Baum's camp, the boys left the homeless man -- head wedged in his own grill -- under a piece of plastic where they hoped the "animals would eat" him.


Then, Moore says, they took off to grab a bite at McDonald's.

Baum's murder was indicative of a disturbing trend.

A National Coalition for the Homeless report says last year, there were 122 attacks and 20 murders against the homeless, the most attacks in nearly a decade. (Coalition report on 2006 homeless attacks)

Police found Baum's body two days after the teens attacked him.

They bragged about it around town. Police picked them up and they described what happened.

Ihrcke told police that killing "the bum" reminded him of playing a violent video game, a police report shows.


All three teens pleaded no contest to first degree reckless homicide charges and went to prison.

Moore recently turned 18 at Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage, Wisconsin, where he is serving a 15 year sentence.

"When [the beating] stops, you say, 'What did we just do?'" he told CNN. "There's no rational explanation." (Watch teen explain how "game" became tragedy )

Teenage 'amusement'
"It's disturbing to know that young people would literally kick someone when they're already down on their luck," said Michael Stoops, the executive director of the Washington-based National Coalition for the Homeless. "We recognize that this isn't every teenager, but for some this passes as amusement."

Criminologists call these wilding sprees "sport killing," -- largely middle-class teens, with no criminal records, assaulting the homeless with bats, golf clubs, paintball guns. (Watch how nights are cold, fearful for Milwaukee homeless )

Some teens have even taped themselves in the act. Others have said they were inspired by "Bumfights," a video series created in 2002 and sold on the Web that features homeless people pummeling each other for the promise of a few bucks.

A segment called "Bum Hunter," hosted by a Crocodile Hunter-like actor wearing a safari outfit, shows him "tagging" homeless people by pouncing on them and binding their wrists.

The distributors of "Bumfights" have claimed they've sold hundreds of thousands of copies.

But the company has had to deal with a couple of legal issues unrelated to the Baum case.

Last year, three former homeless stars of "Bumfights" won a civil suit against filmmakers. Santa Monica attorney Mark Quigley, who represented Rufus Hannah, known as "Rufus the Stunt Bum" to series' fans, said he is unable to disclose the amount of the settlement.

Also, in July 2006, a California judge ordered "Bumfights'" producers Ryan McPherson and Zachary Bubeck to spend 180 days in jail for failing to perform community service related to guilty pleas they previously entered to charges of staging illegal street fights.

"Bumfights" directors did not answer CNN's request for an interview.

Attacks across the nation
Incidents of teen-on-homeless violence dotted the map last year. Florida racked up at least six such attacks in 2006. (Homeless attack across U.S.)

In Lauderhill, four teens were arrested after they allegedly videotaped themselves beating, dragging, and stealing from a homeless man.

The victim has not been found, but the four face one charge each of strong-armed robbery.

Earlier this month, teens in Corpus Christi, Texas, videotaped themselves attacking a homeless man.

Commander David Torres said police arrested a 15-year-old and are looking for at least one more teenager and a 22-year-old who described on tape what they were about to do before they jumped on the man. (Read full story)

On the other side of the nation, former Oregon State University student Joshua Grimes stands accused of shooting and injuring a homeless man from his perch in a fraternity house window.

He has not yet entered a plea, but, according to a police report, he cried to detectives after the October shooting, telling them, "I didn't mean to shoot him."

At least three homeless people in Kalamazoo, Michigan, reported being attacked by teens on bicycles during a 10-day span in October, according to the homeless coalition.

In Huntsville, Alabama, six teens -- one of them 13 -- beat a homeless man with golf clubs, the coalition reported. But perhaps the most shocking of these examples was 2006's first recorded case of teen-on-homeless violence.

On January 12 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, a surveillance camera captured two teens beating a homeless man with bats.

Prosecutors say 17-year-old skateboarder Tom Daugherty, 18-year-old Brian Hooks, a popular hockey team captain, and a third unseen teen, Billy Ammons, a high school dropout, assaulted two more homeless men that night.

One of them was 45-year-old Norris Gaynor. A witness, Anthony Clarke, told police and CNN last year that he saw the three teens approach Gaynor as he slept on a park bench. Daugherty began whacking Gaynor with a bat, Clarke said. (Watch two teenagers beat a cowering homeless man with bats )

As Gaynor lay dying, Ammons shot him with yellow paintballs, later remarking that the beating felt like "teeing off," police said.

Gaynor was beaten so badly his own father didn't recognize him. Facing life in prison, the teens face trial for murder later this year. They have each pleaded not guilty to one count of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder. (Read full story)

Lingering questions
Stoops and Brian Levin, a California State University hate crimes expert, say common themes run through teen-on-homeless violence. The attackers are almost always boys, peer pressure and mob mentality sweep away caution, and parents don't suspect their children could be capable of such actions.

Laura Simpson didn't. Her son, Justin Brumfield, is serving an 11-year prison stretch in California.

In August 2005, Brumfield and William Orantes, both 19, beat 56-year-old Ernest Adams with bats. Adams emerged from a coma three weeks later with dents in his skull, permanent scars and no vision in one eye, the Los Angeles Times reported. Orantes is serving a three-year sentence.

Simpson, a sixth-grade teacher, says she is still tormented by her son's actions and wonders if her son's irritability was more than typical teenage moodiness.

She has other questions: Was her son, a natural follower, just succumbing to peer pressure? Was he that into "Bumfights"? Did he see the fear in Adams' eyes when he raised the bat to strike him?

In a sad irony, she had adopted him; his mother was a homeless drug addict, a revelation he had learned not long before the beating and which his attorney used to explain his rage.

Her son has told her he is sorry for what happened, but her questions remain unanswered.

"As a parent, of course you're going to question yourself," she said. "It was just hard to comprehend. The first thing was, 'Not Justin. There has to be a mistake,'" she said. "You think you know everything that's going on and you don't."

When the mob mentality takes over, even the perpetrators may not comprehend what's going on.

Back at the prison in Wisconsin, Nathan Moore seems baffled by his own actions. Killing Rex Baum now registers like a "blur" or "dream," he says.

Moore and his friends knew Baum from around town. Life had been painful for the homeless man from the start; alcohol eased it. As a kid growing up in Milwaukee, when his home life became too rocky, a neighboring family took him in. He drifted through school and a brief stint in the military, his friends say, a wanderer, a loner. (Audio Slide Show: Remembering Rex Baum)

Homeless for years, he defied Wisconsin winters by constantly walking around the city, bundled in a coat patched with duct tape. For a few dollars, he pumped gas, shoveled snow off driveways, and walked neighborhood dogs.

More than 100 people came to Baum's funeral. Someone sent a newspaper clip of the story to Moore in prison.

"Every day I wish I could take it back," he said. "I seen [the] repercussions among everyone. I didn't think about any of this when [the beating] was going on."
 
"American teens" Yeah okay where is the part where I'm supposed to be surprsed? Aren't these the same people who turning 16 is a ZOMG end of the world deal? And getting something must be specifically how they wanted it? I could be less shcoked but I won't.

I saw something similar on ABC crazy stuff in America I teel you. Wheres parents these days? Oh yeah...cheating on their spouses duh.
 

Mama Smurf

My penis is still intact.
Cut off their limbs, deny them any disability support and leave them on the street.

If only they'd put me in charge.
 

Wellington

BAAAALLLINNN'
CrushDance said:
"American teens" Yeah okay where is the part where I'm supposed to be surprsed? Aren't these the same people who turning 16 is a ZOMG end of the world deal? And getting something must be specifically how they wanted it? I could be less shcoked but I won't.

I saw something similar on ABC crazy stuff in America I teel you. Wheres parents these days? Oh yeah...cheating on their spouses duh.

Generalize much?
 
Wellington said:
Generalize much?
Haha it was a joke post. Except the last part.:lol The only thing that bothers me about that is the one i watched where the kids did this and the mother was all like "*cry* its all my fault" and then they later found out she'd been cheating while the kid was home(he was like 12-14) and he eventually took out the anger on a homeless guy.
 

aoi tsuki

Member
i'm not even going to comment on the teens involved because i'm too pissed and disturbed at their actions, but i applaud the writer of the article to include the mention of Baum's life. Granted, not every homeless person is well-known, but it put a face on what these ****s obviously thought was someone who nobody cared for.
 

Ranger X

Member
Society going too fast. Crazy capitalism over everything else. Government not focusing on Education. Law system not focusing on children enough. Parents not having time to raise said children because all is going too fast. Children becoming more and more deranged and violent. Another day another sad news. Things may get worse.
 

Javaman

Member
Those little jacka$$es probably don't realize how much damage getting clobbered by a baseball bat can do. What a bunch of sick idiots.
 

Archer

Member
I went from the hot Russian creative writing teacher thread into this... What a downer. Back to blondie with big tits.
 
I always wanted to catch a group of young teenage punks messing with someone just so I could go up and be the hero by smashing in their faces, but I never had that chance yet.
 
As someone that was homeless for a year and a half in chicago thanks to my parents drug problems (long story, but it involves me being 17 and being kicked out and having to drop out of high school and strugling and wishing I was dead but being too afraid of death to do anything about it), I would like to say that these teenagers that think abusing someone that is already as low as they can get is fun should be castrated with a rusty knife so they can never spread their vile seed.
 

emomoonbase

I'm free 2night after my LARPing guild meets.
How did they go from drinking beer with him to killing him? What a bunch of worthless little fvcks.
 

GSG Flash

Nobody ruins my family vacation but me...and maybe the boy!
Seriously, what the **** is wrong with those assholes? I know this may seem like a tired thing to say, but I do put the blame on the parents. They should have more control over their kids, people are getting too liberal nowadays.
 

Flynn

Member
Penny Arcade just posted a letter from one of the parents.

I hope to God they got confirmation that this person is who they say they are.

Gabe,

Your news post about the kids and the homeless man yesterday made me sick to my stomach, before I even read the CNN article. I knew what it was going to be about before even reading the article. It was not the article itself, or even your post that made me sick, it was the fact that I know this boy. Or, rather that I could be considered one of the “parents” of this boy.

The boy’s father and I have been together for almost seven years, and I had what I guess could be called a “stepmother” relationship with the kid. To say that living with this kid was hell would be a complete understatement.

I don’t think I have ever actively hated anyone in my entire life, but this kid just makes my blood boil.

As I write this, my teeth are clenched, my hands are shaking, and my whole body is seething with the hatred I feel for this kid and what he has done. Seeing the article brings back all the horrible memories from when he lived with us.

He was constantly in trouble in school, with the cops, with us, with his mother, and with anyone else who was an authority figure. Not a week went by that the school or the cops wouldn’t call us for something. His attitude was basically “**** you, I don’t have to listen to you” said with a shrug.

We tried absolutely everything we could think of to get him to behave like a normal human being… we tried groundings, negative reinforcement / punishment, positive reinforcement, counseling, and anything and everything the counselors suggested. We tried to get him interested and involved in extracurricular activities, like hockey, drama, music, art, anything, but he got himself kicked out of every group he was in with his “make me” attitude. When we would ground him, we took away everything. No TV, no computer, no phone, no leaving the house, no snacks or junk food…. Everything. When he was grounded, he was only allowed to sit in his room and read or draw. He was actually a pretty good artist, and we tried to encourage him to spend his time working with his talent. He would just sit there and take it… the groundings had absolutely no affect on him at all. Most of the time, he didn’t even remember why he was being grounded. At the end of it, we would ask him if it was worth it to have everything taken away in exchange for what he did… he usually just shrugged. He could be grounded for weeks, or a month at a time, and then the very next day would do something to get back in trouble again. Most kids get grounded or punished a couple of times, and then they want to avoid having to go through it again… not this kid, nothing seemed to phase him.

And we’re not talking the usual teenager stuff, like coming home late, or refusing to do the dishes. We’re talking stealing cars, setting fires, drinking, getting picked up for drugs, beating up handicapped kids at school (yes, really) stealing things out of our house… all with this “I’ll do whatever the **** I want” attitude.

We had absolutely no idea what else we could do. We already had him in counseling, and we did everything the counselors suggested. We tried rewarding his good behavior (what little there was) to try to get him to see that when he behaves like a normal human being, things are good and people enjoy being around him. Nothing phased him at all.

Then, things took an even worse turn when he decided that whenever he didn’t get his way, or we did something he didn’t like, he told his counselors and teachers that we were abusing him. (Never happened.) And for some inexplicable reason, everybody believed him. I understand that child abuse is a very serious situation, and that they have to take every possible case seriously, but this was clearly a case of him manipulating people to get what he wanted. We had people from the school, cops, and social services over at our house or calling us on a weekly basis stating some new abuse that he had made up. At 14, the boy was already 6’3” and over 200 pounds. Of course, there was never a mark on him, because no such abuse ever took place.

One particular night (cops involved, as always) he decided that he didn’t have to listen to anything we said, and that he wasn’t coming home. He went to live with his mother, where things got worse by the day. He stole everything out of her home and sold it. He invited gang-bangers and drug dealers to her home, and she feared for her safety constantly. She called the cops numerous times because she feared for her safety, but again, the boy said that she abused him, and the cops always took his side. (For reference, the mother is about 5’3” and barely clocks in at 115.) He planted a loaded gun in her room, called the cops and told them that it belonged to the mother’s boyfriend. The boyfriend actually ended up serving time because of this ****ing bastard kid. She had two other young children in the house, and the gun and the abuse charges were an intentional plot to get the other two kids taken away from her. She tried restraining orders against the kid, but since he was a minor, they wouldn’t allow it. Every time he got picked up, she pleaded with the cops to take him to jail, maybe that would finally get though to him, but they just kept bringing him home to her. I don’t understand why everyone who was involved with this kid just blindly took this juvenile delinquent’s word over all else!

The night that he and his friends murdered that poor homeless man, the mother said that he was acting particularly cocky. Then he threatened to kill her. We had absolutely no idea of what he had done until they found the man’s body. He was immediately waived into adult court (at 15) and sentenced to 15 years. We were all absolutely sick with grief for this man.

We were also sick with guilt… “What could we have done differently?” was a constant question in all of our heads. After the kid was sentenced, all the cops, counselors, social workers, and people at the school that had been dealing with him contacted us and his mother and apologized for not taking us seriously. They are all trained to take all accusations of child abuse seriously, and as a part of that they blindly took the kid’s side for everything, and dismissed us as “the lying abusers”. Many of them told us that they wished they would have taken our pleas for help seriously. Everyone thought we were exaggerating about how ****ed up this kid was.

I completely agree with your statement of “These kids were twelve kinds of nuts and that’s a fact.” But the reason I am writing this to you is that, after reading your news post yesterday, I felt that I needed to defend the boy’s parents. His mother and father and I did absolutely everything we could think of to try to keep this kid in line. Even the kinds of things that normal teenagers get in trouble for would have been a blessing compared to what we’ve been through with him.

What I gave you today is a very small sampling of the kinds of things we were dealing with every single ****ing day with this kid. When people hear about what he’s done, I can always sense the “I’m sure there was something you could have done” comment coming up. What would you have done? How do you deal with a kid like this? Like I said, we did everything the counselors suggested, and nothing seemed to matter.

If you want to add another element to the “nature vs. nurture” idea, this boy has a brother. Both boys were raised in the same house, with the same values. The brother has developed into a kind, considerate, responsible, and independent young man. He is currently working his butt off right now to save up money to go to school for architecture. The only thing I regret is that we spent so much time and energy dealing with the bad kid that this boy missed out on having a normal family life with a normal sibling relationship.

I am sorry this got so long. I have been reading PA since the very beginning, and I feel that both of you are very much like me. I think we are the same age (29) and I have been a lifelong gamer like the two of you. I can’t stand hearing about the so-called correlation between games and real-life violence. Video games DID NOT make this kid who he was, and it’s unfortunate that the correlation is there.

The thing that really gets me with this whole thing is that the kid knows full well that by equating what he’s done to a video game, that he will generate controversy and media coverage. It makes me sick that the media is jumping all over this, because that is exactly the result that he wants.

The only good thing (if there is such a thing) that has come out of this whole ordeal is that the kid is behind bars. That is exactly where he needs to be.

Again, I’m sorry about the length of this. Thanks for allowing me to “tell my side” of the story.
 

GSG Flash

Nobody ruins my family vacation but me...and maybe the boy!
Flynn said:
Penny Arcade just posted a letter from one of the parents.

I hope to God they got confirmation that this person is who they say they are.

I'm against disciplining a child physically, but this is one of those cases where physical discipline would be perfectly acceptable.
 

Slurpy

*drowns in jizz*
GSG Flash said:
I'm against disciplining a child physically, but this is one of those cases where physical discipline would be perfectly acceptable.

Physical discipline? How about execution? I dont give a shit what 'primal urges' they had, or their age. Having the ability to do something like that to someone, nevermind being a complete piece of shit and harming so many, needs to have severe consequences. These 'teens' will probably get a ****ing slap on the wrist, then continue their havoc with little or no consequences. I wish I could have just 5 min with these kinds of people.
 
Slurpy said:
Physical discipline? How about execution? I dont give a shit what 'primal urges' they had, or their age. Having the ability to do something like that to someone, nevermind being a complete piece of shit and harming so many, needs to have severe consequences. These 'teens' will probably get a ****ing slap on the wrist, then continue their havoc with little or no consequences. I wish I could have just 5 min with these kinds of people.
:lol
 

Slurpy

*drowns in jizz*
CrushDance said:

Whats so funny? How many crimes must someone commit and how many people must they harm so that its clear all they will ever be is a shit-stain on society?
 
Slurpy said:
Whats so funny? How many crimes must someone commit and how many people must they harm so that its clear all they will ever be is a shit-stain on society?
No. I am laughing hard because its so true yet so sudden I never thought anyone would post that lmao.
 

dark_chris

Member
Slurpy said:
Physical discipline? How about execution? I dont give a shit what 'primal urges' they had, or their age. Having the ability to do something like that to someone, nevermind being a complete piece of shit and harming so many, needs to have severe consequences. These 'teens' will probably get a ****ing slap on the wrist, then continue their havoc with little or no consequences. I wish I could have just 5 min with these kinds of people.

I agree.
Inciting fear works.
That soft shit is not good.

Fear works. :)
 

Flynn

Member
Can't we make a special thread where people can go to post their posturings of outrage and moral indignity every time something terrible happens?

The "I'd love five minutes with this guy" posts are predictable in the most boring way imaginable.

If you've got so much damn fortitude why do you get out there and stop this kind of shit from happening, Batman?
 
CrushDance said:
No. I am laughing hard because its so true yet so sudden I never thought anyone would post that lmao.

Come on, that Slurpy out of the thousands of GAFFERS would be the first to volunteer for executing those kids is a bit funny in itself.

No offense, Slurpy. :)
 

way more

Member
I was going to post this but as a finger wagging to CNN for saying "homeless slaying," is "on the rise."

C'mon.


The letter posted on Penny Arcade is a intimate look at the owners of these kids and I'm glad I checked in here.
 
From reading that article it seems the blame for not preventing this lies with the cops who had been exposed to the past crimes of the kid and failed to notice that he is a sociopath and should be locked up, and getting fooled by that "abused child" bullshit. Society here has this persistent but completely wrong belief that children are somehow pure or innocent and victimization of adults by children is just not a problem. That attitude needs to be dropped FAST.
 

ronito

Member
GSG Flash said:
I'm against disciplining a child physically, but this is one of those cases where physical discipline would be perfectly acceptable.
Yeah, like ripping their arms out of their sockets then proceeding to beat them senseless with their own limbs. I think that's fitting.
 

Slurpy

*drowns in jizz*
Instigator said:
Come on, that Slurpy out of the thousands of GAFFERS would be the first to volunteer for executing those kids is a bit funny in itself.

No offense, Slurpy. :)

None taken. Its only funny/surprising if people fall into generalizations of my posting history thats Im a liberal/bleeding heart and that I automatically agree with all the policies etc. Extreme behavior merits extreme consequences. Ive always believed this- especially people like this who obviously have no concern for harming everyone around them, and who are inherently sadistic, malicious, and barbarous.
 

Az987

all good things
I would love to beat the shit out of some little shits like these.....

Whenever I see teenagers I usually stare them down in hopes one will start something.


Anyways, theres this book about a serial killer/hitman named Richard Kuklinski called like Confessions of a Mafia Hitman. In it, Richard tells about how when he was in his 20's, he would take the ferry from Jersey City to NYC and would literally practice and hone his uhm.... Murder Skills by killing random homeless people, or ones that rubbed him the wrong way. One occassion a bum asked him for spare change and when he didnt reply, called him a name and kept following him and harrasing him and finally the bum grabbed Richard from behind on the shoulder and as Richard turned to face him he instantly stabbed the dude in the chest. Basically he would pretty much always use a different type of weapon in each killing so the NYC police had no idea a serial killer was murdering all these homeless people in the 60's as opposed to random killings.
 
Giard said:
Made me think of this
9ba5615d.jpg


I can't understand them. Why would someone have fun with that?

Some people have fun hunting big animals, even pay big bucks for it, yet are somehow considered sane.
 

Giard

Member
Instigator said:
Some people have fun hunting big animals, even pay big bucks for it, yet are somehow considered sane.

Still, there's a difference between killing a human being and killing an animal. I'm pretty sure I would be much more affected by murdering someone than I do right now fishing.
 

Belfast

Member
"Ihrcke told police that killing "the bum" reminded him of playing a violent video game, a police report shows."

Oh **** him. Probably just said that so that he could lay the blame for his ****ed-up-ness on something else.
 

Brobzoid

how do I slip unnoticed out of a gloryhole booth?
barely worth the bullet. bat with a nail in it should suffice. There is no way in hell people like this should be anything but killed.
 

Xzior

Member
Brobzoid said:
barely worth the bullet. bat with a nail in it should suffice. There is no way in hell people like this should be anything but killed.
It's way cheaper to just throw 'em to the lions, saves a little money for the local zoo's that way.

If they make the feeding public they would probably increase ticket sales too...
 

vasuba

Banned
I saw this posted and it was kinda depressing how sick people are getting youknow games like Postal etc were made to kinda parody the world and say well shits not this bad. But The worlds turning into some of those parodies.

Seriously wtf are people thinking when beating someone with a baseball bat is a game
 

Ranger X

Member
BobLoblaw said:
Death Penalty. Fin.

Well no because people in this society do fear there may be some fraction of a percentage of justice error and that MAYBE an innocent could die.
Meanwhile, there's TONS of ex-prisonners commiting a second murder...
 

Mute

Banned
GSG Flash said:
Seriously, what the **** is wrong with those assholes? I know this may seem like a tired thing to say, but I do put the blame on the parents. They should have more control over their kids, people are getting too liberal nowadays.
This is not being liberal, this is being inept to raise a child. This article makes me sick to my stomach. What the hell?
 

Mau ®

Member
This is the third time Ive seen such similar news, all of them done by teens. Sickening.

I hope they do treat them like adults and give them like 10 years or so.
 
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