By the Editors
By noon on Friday morning, there were 40 new comments on the arrest of a 13-year-old boy in connection with an alleged anti-Semitic incident near 86th Street and West End Avenue, on April 2nd. This is in addition to the numerous racist comments we did not post that were submitted prior to the release of the photos.
The three articles posted by the Rag reported only information supplied by the police with respect to the alleged incident. The first article was a report from the police, the second a request by the police for the public’s assistance in finding the alleged perpetrators, and the third article reported the arrest. The police reports, as well as the articles, unambiguously stated only that the incident was alleged to have happened. Now that there has been an arrest, it is up to the judicial system to ascertain the facts.
The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution states, in part, that “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury…” This would require jurors to consider only the evidence presented at trial without preconceived opinions about the guilt or innocence of the accused. To date there has been no evidence presented to the public upon which to base an opinion of guilt or innocence with respect to this young boy.
We have decided not to post any additional comments. You may, however comment on our decision.
Thank you for your intelligent, sane decision to stop hate here.
Fair enough. I think that all of the posts suggesting harsh penalties were assumed to be preceded by “if it is found that they got the right person and they did what they are reported to have done.”
Contrary to the beliefs of some, those who want better enforcement of the law are not evil monsters who want random citizens thrown in jail – we just want those who commit offenses, particularly significant ones like the ones alleged in this situation, to face consequences for their actions and not be right back on the street with no penalty.
I respect this decision and find it just and civilized.
No need for hatred. We need accountability of course but as everyone knows, there are lots of people ready to show their hate, condemnation and outrage at any opportunity solely for self-validation and not because of compassion for the victims.
Unfortunately, it’s human nature to react harshly when the police have apprehended someone they say committed the offense. And it’s unrealistic to expect people to always take a neutral stand based on “innocent until proven guilty.” Of course, we should all recall how we reacted to the arrest of the “Central Park Five” and how that played out.
Cowardice on the part of WSR.
I’m sorry….it’s cowardly to say “alleged”? Or that WSR omits racist comments?
But the WSR “neglects” to post all sorts of comments, which aren’t racist, or advocating violence, but go against received “wisdom” on some subject.
How is this decision different? It’s not like the WSR hasn’t posted comments advocating lock ’em up sans trial in the past.
No, I did not comment on the arrest, accusation, or photos. And I barely read the comments. Can imagine there was all sorts of extremist positions in some of the posted comments.
If the Rag wants to curate the comments that’s fine. It’s part of the charm.
Cue the battle of comments about the comment on the comments deemed too unsavory to comment on.
The WSR comment section is so often emotionally draining, but it’s comments like this that make enduring the others worthwhile. This will have me chuckling for the rest of the day. Thank you, Peter.
Thank you for your comment Peter
Juvenile proceeding in NY are determined by a judge, not a jury.
That is correct, of course, but it is also not the point.
Oh please leave the kids alone. This is all blown out of proportion, take a deep breath and get a life! As always with these people it’s all overdramatized. Relax and take a pill chill. We all have better things to do with our lives then getting strung out, smile enjoy life you only live once.
Just like hate crimes do not belong in our society, racist comments do not belong in publication as long as it is not an infringement on the 1st amendment. As a privately owned blog, no one has a first amendment right to post anything they want here and WSR has every right, without violating the 1st, to curate/censor/omit/delete/refuse to post any comment submitted.
The comments WSR deemed racist did not convict the accused, did not deprive the accused of his legal/constitutional rights, did not falsely accuse him of a crime, did not deprive him of fair trial.
People have the right to feel emotional about a hate crime committed in their community. This is a weird & counterproductive decision by WSR.
Indeed, Soldier, the possible consequences you refer to that did not happen because of racist comments submitted are precisely why the WSR chose NOT to publish racist comments— to help protect against those outcomes. And yes, we all have the right to feel whatever we feel and express those views to each other. We do not, however, necessarily have the right to publish those views. Good move, WSR.
And you know this is actually a HATE crime how exactly? Perhaps you shouldn’t comment until you know the truth here
Your approach to this distressing matter is wise and just.
While the WSR’s approach would apply equally to all accused of a crime, I am particularly heartened by it when it concerns a 13 year old child. Taking nothing away from the incredibly serious nature of the offense, I hope both for a fully fair adjudication, and the possibility that the accused if indeed guilty could learn from it. Heaven knows I would not want to be judged for the rest of my life based on what I did at that age.
good for you
I think we’re going a little overboard seeing ‘anti-semitism’ everywhere . It’s going to lead to an overload, and eventually a numbness which will no longer be sensitive to true anti-semitism. Then what? Let’s get things foward to cognitive control instead of dangerous over emotion. In this case a 13 year olds future life is at stake over a perceived incident yet to go to jury.
Howard, do you feel the same about racism, anti-Asian bias, transphobia, etc?
Everyone is assuming. Assuming the kids committed a crime. Assuming the alleged victims were Jewish. Assuming the alleged wrong-doers were not Jewish. Assuming everything they read here is the truth. You don’t know anything. But you don’t hesitate to comment about all sorts of things. Where you think they are from, what race you think they are, what you think they did. You know NOTHING and these are kids and I am sickened that this was posted in the first place, let alone that anyone was allowed to comment. We have a justice system in this country. People are innocent until proven guilty. Crime Stoppers exists to find wanted people. Once those people are found or turn themselves in, there is never a reason to post about a child who is innocent until proven guilty. Makes me sick to think it could be my child or any of your kids tomorrow. You weren’t there. You haven’t seen any evidence and you don’t know anything. WSR, it’s too late to undo the damage but good on you for stopping it here. Everyone worry about yourselves until there’s actually something PROVEN to worry about. If a judge or a jury says there was a hate crime, then we can talk but for now, tend to your own affairs and step away from the keyboard.
I am all for innocent until proven guilty. They are entitled to a fair trial. Most everyone else here also feels this way.
Your attitude of not believing anything you read is not healthy. If you don’t believe WSR’s reporting, stop reading it, and stop commenting.
All of the people who are outraged are feeling that way based on what they know. There are plenty of high profile cases where the alleged criminal was not really guilty (see the Duke lacrosse case, Central Park 5, etc.). So we all have some healthy skepticism.
But your contrarian, blame the victim, everything is fake news attitude is scary. WSR is being kind of hypocritical in that they have a 100 word limit yet published your hateful diatribe. I am glad that they censor other truly hateful posts, but their editorial policies are incredibly inconsistent. As a moderate, common sense Democrat (which might as well be a Trump-loving Republican on the woke UWS), I find that the censorship is usually in favor of the woke.
Since you got to write a short novel, hopefully WSR will publish mine. And hopefully they will eventually post the article on their censorship policy they keep promising.
Wait for the investigation to complete. As many, many people from the area who are reading this know, all 9 boys involved are local, Jewish boys. There are obviously good reasons the WSR posted this and removed photos of the boys and it’s time to leave these families alone. We should all be concerned bout hate crimes but the word antisemitism has become valuable click bait. This was a misunderstanding involving young boys. Leave it be.
While I am 120% against racist comments or cyber bullying. I don’t necessarily agree with the decision to close comments on that article. But hey it’s your private blog so you do what you think is best.
Thank you, WSR, for acknowledging the vile racism in many of the comments on your site.
Thank you for not posting racist comments.
Correct.
I’ve been there. I was arrested for serious vandalism when I was 14 in a jurisdiction long ago and far away, taken before a justice of the peace, well known locally as an old drunk. He intended to send me to the county juvenile jail. The arresting officer threw his hat and badge on the table and said, “If you send this boy to juvie for this, I quit.” His moral action and courage changed my life in ways I could never have imagined. Thank you, Officer Odata.
The alleged 3 perpetrators were all allegedly white and allegedly young teenagers.
The alleged 6 victims were allegedly young teenagers and allegedly Jewish.
This was allegedly an anti-Semitic incident.
Racism allegedly exists in the USA.
Alleged racist comments do not belong in an alleged democratic community.
If we want to know the alleged truth we need to face the alleged consequences of denying alleged facts.
Alleged anti-Semitism is on the alleged uprise. We are all allegedly opposed to alleged anti-Semitism and alleged racism.
What next? The allegedly safe and allegedly caring juvenile justice system?
https://www.westsiderag.com/2022/04/09/not-a-hate-crime-police-captain-says
It’s no longer alleged. It’s now false.
And the three white children were also Jewish.
These are children. Please stop.
It’s not fake. The kids in yarmulkes were still threatened by other kids with a sword and a crowbar, and they were still told “oh, you’re Jewish, we know how to deal with you.” The kids were still terrified and ran.
Not a hate crime means that it can’t be classified as one. Not that it didn’t happen, or that it wasn’t targeted at kids specifically because they were identifiably Jewish.
I’m glad the photos were taken down and that the perpetrators are going to (I hope) be dealt with in a reasonable way – they’re all kids. But it was still reprehensible.
West Side Rag: Please remove the photos of these children from your website. The NYPD has taken these photos down from the Crime Watchers system. If your purpose was to help find these minors, that purpose is no longer relevant. If these were your kids you would not want their pictures being spread on social media.
Done.
Thank you!
Good for the RAG. This is why it is my favorite