The Death of Islan Nettles

For more than a year we have heard how Trayvon Martin was gunned down by a white racists who turned out to be Hispanic. He is being compared to Emmett Till, which was a case of true racism and no doubt a race crime. We watched as the Sharptons and Jacksons paraded before the cameras to shout about racial injustice.

We then hear the other side turn around point to possible race crimes against white people, which have some merit. Everyone is screaming my crime is more unjust than your crime. Emotions over crimes are too often divided along ideological lines.

Then there are crimes about which neither ideology talks unless it can further a cause. There is black on white crime, white on black, black on black, and white on white crime. Take your pick, there are a lot of crimes about which we can talk. Today I am going to introduce you to one that's rarely heard about on television as we are told how safe it is in New York City because of Stop and Frisk.

The city wasn't so safe for Islan Nettles, a fashion design student at the Harlem Children’s Zone Community Center, who was walking down the street on the night of Aug. 16 with some friends when she was attacked, knocked to the ground, and beaten until she lost consciousness, police said. She was called vile derogatory names as she was beaten to a state of unconsciousness that led to eventual death.

Paris Wilson, Nettles' attacker, was booked on a misdemeanor assault charge and freed on $2,000 bail. On Friday, Nettles’ death was ruled a murder, but Mr. Wilson has not yet been arraigned on any murder charges. In this case we have a clear case of murder and the assailant walks free without a murder charge.

This is one of the many crimes in New York City about which no one cares. When the victim is of an unpopular class, no one cares. In the past year crime has doubled against gays and transgendered people in the big apple.

If we are going to be constitutionalists we must insure there is liberty and justice for all, not just the classes of citizens we like best. We might not agree with people based on sexuality, gender identity, or political beliefs, but we must all agree that the law be applied equally. You and I might not believe in hate crimes laws, because I see dead as dead, no matter the intent. But as long as we do have hate crime laws, they need to also be applied equally in all cases. Where is the DOJ? Where is Holder and Obama? Where are the democrats, republicans, and conservatives? I can tell you where they are—they are silent. Today the silence is almost deafening for Islan Nettles.

Where are you?

(By Jessica Chasmar The Washington Times) A 21-year-old transgender student died Thursday after being savagely beaten by a group of young men in front of a police precinct in the Harlem neighborhood in the Manhattan borough of New York.

Islan Nettles, a fashion design student at the Harlem Children’s Zone Community Center, was walking down the street on the night of Aug. 16 with some friends when she was attacked, knocked to the ground and beaten until she lost consciousness, police said.
“They were called [expletive], they were called he-she’s, she males, things of that nature,” Nettles’ mother told a local ABC affiliate.

Nettles, who was born Vaughn, fell into a coma and died Thursday after being taken off life support.
Nettles’ alleged assailant, Paris Wilson, was booked on a misdemeanor assault charge and freed on $2,000 bail. On Friday, Nettles’ death was ruled a murder, but Mr. Wilson has not yet been arraigned on any murder charges, Yahoo News reported. The case is being investigated by the Manhattan district attorney’s hate-crimes unit.

According to the NYPD, anti-LGBT “bias crimes” have nearly doubled since this time last year in New York City, the report said. Read the rest...