WTF?!?!?!!!The Smoking Gun has posted 6 criminal complaints detailing the the week-long torture endured by Charleston's Megan Williams. Williams' mother Carmen says they decided to release her name because they wanted people to know what she had endured. The Guardian Unlimited also reported this story.Okay, but why am I hearing about this through European news sources?? Googling Megan Williams proves that US news sources are slowly getting around to reporting this one. I think Roland Martin nails the point in his commentary on CNN.com:
Just look at the case of Megan Williams. The 20-year-old West Virginia woman, Megan Williams, was kidnapped by six sadistic individuals and held in a mobile home. They raped her, forced her to eat rat and dog feces, made her drink from a toilet, stabbed her multiple times, and called the black woman a "nigger" every time they beat her. Thank God she lived, and may be released from the hospital in a few days. But it still raises the question: What causes such outrage and fervor in one case involving dogs and not another?I've heard more about Michael Vick, O.J. Simpson and Britney Spears in the past few days than Megan Williams. That is absolutely ridiculous. I had to dig around to find any stories about this on CNN.com, no headlines in the New York Times, I've not heard anything here in Charlottesville. . . And I'm only a few hours away from Charleston.That BBC article I mentioned earlier stated prosecutors opted not to pursue race-hate charges, but are instead pursuing kidnapping charges which carry the maximum life term. This is understandably causing outrage -- this is perhaps a textbook hate crime -- but I'm a little confused. Why can't they be charged with both? And what about sexual assault and battery? She was tortured. I'd be content with charging them with "looking at a Twinkie incorrectly" if it meant the harshest punishment, but I don't know enough about our legal system to understand why it is they wouldn't pursue all of these allegations. [If anyone reading this wants to point me to some good legal resources, I'd be obliged.]So I'm outraged about the lack of attention this is getting just as much as I'm outraged at what happened to Megan Williams. My brain kind of shuts down when I try to fathom how any body could do those things to another person. Let alone 6 people standing around watching the others without even the slightest pang to stop it. I also can't imagine how frightening it must have been for Ms. Williams to be surrounded by 6 people who intend nothing but to harm her. For more than a week.[msq: Thanks for being a reliable news source.]
I found the CNN.com story on Megan Williams's plight from your link to Martin's commentary. I can't say I'm particularly proud of bringing such horrible news to the attention of people I care about, but I am thankful you spent the time writing this up.
It is never a joyous occasion to deliver such horrible news; nonetheless, I wanted to give credit where credit's due. Given my physical reaction while reading the criminal complaints (stomach tight, muscles tense), and although I still feel helpless in stopping this kind of outrageous, senseless violence, a write-up seemed the least I could do.
This story is very sad and it makes me feel terrible to my stomach to know that stuff like this is happening and happening in 2007. I hope that all parties will get what they deserve but however i know that its not going to happen because this world is not fair. Racism still exists and its getting worse.
IT MAKES ME SICK TO MY STOMACH TO HEAR HOW PEOPLE CAN EMASCULATE SOMEONE ELSE BECAUSE OF THEIR FAULTS.BLACKS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN A TARGET SINCE WE WERE BROUGHT HERE...Y?IS IT BECAUSE WE ARE SO WELL PUT TOGETHER?IS IT BECAUSE WE ARE BRILLANT?OR MAYBE IT'S BECAUSE WE ARE SIMPLY WHO WE ARE AFRICAN[AMERICAN?]THE WORLD ONLY TRIES TO BRING US DOWN BECAUSE WE ARE SOMEBODY..WHAT DOESN'T KILL YOU CAN ONLY MAKE YOU STRONGER...AND THE MORE "WHITES"{OR WHOM EVER}TRIES TO TEAR US DOWN..THE MORE BOLD WE STAND