"A bleach-bomb fell and hit me, my roommate; well almost hit us. It barely missed us," student Jaysen Runnels said. "It's very frustrating to know that it's 2012 and that stuff like this still happens."
Not everyone is convinced the incidents having anything to do with race. Some students said the recent reports of balloons full of bleach being thrown from balconies at black, Hispanic and Asian students, are just pranks.
"I have seen it happening for the past three years, all the time," student Sophie Weiner said.
"I see it from my balcony," Pete Desai said. "I think it is just who ever happens to walk by at the time."
"I don’t know. My friend said they had gotten a banana thrown at them and someone said they had a water balloon with bleach thrown at them one time," student Mackenzie Drake.
Police said they're investigating several incidents, and they said if prosecutors determine they're hate crimes, that may be difficult to prove.
FULL ARTICLE.
Never mind the motive (though yes, it matters, if only as a barometer of attitudes), that's not a prank; it's a stupid, potentially dangerous, destructive, selfish (other people are there for your amusement?!?) and generally anti-social thing to do. What if someone ends up with a caustic substance in hir eyes, or simply has clothing or other belongings (s)he can't afford to replace ruined? Heck, what if (s)he is heading off to take a test, and has hir concentration upset?
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to see the police calling it what it is: assault.
Bleach is a corrosive chemical that can cause harm. This is definitely assault.
ReplyDeleteThis is like a worse version of the time where Ted Rall and a dorm-mate made a 20 pound water balloon and dropped it onto an unlucky passerby, a bicyclist. The dean thought Rall and Co. had dropped a typewriter onto the poor guy.
ReplyDeleteSo yes, it's assault.
Racism or no racism, it's terrible.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all of the above. Why, if it's been going on for 3 years according to one student, can't the police stake out the dorm? Just point a security camera at the building, or something similar, and see which floor and room?
ReplyDeleteI have enough problems controlling bleach in the laundry room, much less having the damned stuff dropped on me. Even if it misses, the splash can potentially ruin whatever you have on or are carrying.
Why not just bust out the fucking anthrax and get it over with!
ReplyDelete