An Australian rugby player accused in a violent altercation with two women and a family on the Upper West Side in October had most charges dropped and is likely to get off with a sentence of community service, which he’ll be able to serve in Australia.
Matthew Lodge had initially faced between five and 25 years in prison, but pleaded guilty to one count of misdemeanor reckless assault, and the Manhattan D.A.’s office will allow him to pay his debt to society by working at a soup kitchen back in Australia, according to the Daily Mail.
Prosecutors noted “Lodge’s high level of intoxication and remorse,” the Daily Mail reported.
The victims, who are now suing Lodge, say he harassed two women in the street, “violently grabbing” one of them and yelling “This is the night you die!”, followed them into an apartment building, assaulted a neighbor who tried to help them, pushed his way into the neighbor’s house where the neighbor’s wife and 9-year-old son were sleeping, and trashed the place.
“He actually threw a bottle at the police during a home invasion, so I’m surprised,” that the DA approved a misdemeanor plea and agreed to drop the two felony charges against Lodge, said the lawyer for the Cartrights and Dekeyser [2 of the victims], Douglas Wigdor.
Photo via wikipedia.
He’s white. Case closed.
Crocodile Dumbass
I am disgusted that he can avoid jail for this behavior.
White privilege is a beautiful thing.
Money for good legal representation is even better, not to belittle your point.
The police and society awayd have double stabards. Homeless people are fine in other areas, too many white people walking by them, the city is in “chaos”. Eric Garner is murdered by the NYPD over a cigarette and Daniel Pantaleo walks free. A drunken white rugby player assaults women on the Upper West Side, he walks home still alive without any jail time. But Giuliani cleaned up the streets right? So murdering a few unarmed black citizens like Patrick Dorismond and criminalizing people living out on the street is how we maintain order right? If you complain about the homeless, you advocate for an unjust system of law and are complicit with the unarmed murder of black New Yorkers. Oh dear, sounds like your dinner party is starting, which society is it going to be?
Give the D.A. a break, they are just trying to be culturally sensitive to the violent roots of contemporary Australian society. Rugby hooligans are a central part of the Australian tradition, just like Paul Hogan and the Outback Steakhouse.
The right lawyer with connections can get you off for everything.
You KNOW what the police would have done if this guy had been black or Latino!
Does anyone even care that he was only 20 and intoxicated? It seems his sentence is a little light. He must come from money. I wonder if Trump thinks we should ban all Australians from entering the US?
He should be barred from re entry into the US. The idea tha a many like this just gets a tap on the writs for engaging in such violent behavior is appalling.
With few exceptions both white and non-white, amateur and professional athletes tend to get a slap on the wrist for behavior that others would get jail time for. What is the big deal about being an athlete?
The “big deal” is that we live in a pathological, sports-obsessed culture. The sick mentality of “boys will be boys” (and therefore it’s fine that they attack women and girls) is especially extended to male athletes. It’s awful that this guy got off so easily.
And while all I’ve just written is too often true for African American male athletes, it’s even more true for White male athletes.