I’ve gotten this story from a couple different sources. The first time I heard about it was from the primary source, that is to say the man who was beaten. His name is Edward White and he was interviewed on a morning radio show here in Chicago. He states that himself and his wife were in Emmerson Park enjoying the warm weather when they observed a mob of 30 or so gang bangers attacking a teenage girl. They attempted to break up the fight and ended up getting attacked themselves.

The Chicago Tribune, on the other hand, reports that the mob was “three males and a female” and that Mr. White was struck (in his own words) about “30 times in the head.”It follows that I have no idea how many people attacked Mr. White and his wife. Is he exaggerating because he’s angry and he wants action to be taken? Is the newspaper underestimating the number to make the police look good? I find it hard to believe that the police arrested everyone who was involved in the attack (the police arrested the three males and the female.) The article clearly states that the weather was warm on that day. If that’s the case, why aren’t there more eyewitnesses? Surely Mr. White and his wife weren’t the only law-abiding people in the park that evening.

Suddenly I’m remembering why I haven’t purchased a newspaper since October 27th 2005.

This incident has turned into a complete shit storm in my neighborhood. Following the beating, Edward White met with Alderman Stone to express his outrage at the gang problem in the area. Meanwhile, the local ABC television affiliate has quoted Alderman Stone as saying that “there are no particular gang problems in this particular area.” Naisy Dolar, Stone’s opponent in the upcoming election, is already smearing him over this incident as if she has some magical power to get rid of gang activity.

If Alderman Stone actually believes that gangs aren’t a big problem then he has no fucking business on the Chicago city council. The building I live in has fresh gang signs sprayed on the back of it. In my old neighborhood (a couple blocks away) my girlfriend and I often had to walk around groups of drug-dealing gang bangers who blocked the entire sidewalk. The level of gang violence may be relatively low but the activity seems high enough. These things may not add up to serious problems in police reports and council meetings but to someone who lives and owns property in the area it’s a HUGE problem.