From the Rapid City Journal:
Trace O’Connell, the Philip man accused of spilling bear on Native American children at a local hockey game in January, has been acquitted of the disorderly conduct charge against him.
The verdict, issued in the racially charged trial, was filed Tuesday morning by Magistrate Judge Eric Strawn.
How do you think that one is going to go over?
And do you think something really happened, or was it a social medial lynch mob ginning things up until it tool on a life of it’s own?
Intoxicated people spilling beer on me in any public venue is disorderly conduct, as far as I’m concerned. And if there is any question at all about “racially charged and confrontational words within the hearing of minor(s) and adult(s)” as charged- again, the drunks already forfeited credibility. But not in Rapid City, apparently, at least for some. What could possibly be the factor that could explain these glaring discrepancies? A sad, banner day for white privilege, in my opinion.
“What could possibly be the factor that could explain these glaring discrepancies?”
–beer was not spilled
–the accused was not the person who spilled the beer
–the beer spilled was accidental
–words were not uttered towards the minors
–the accused did not utter the words towards the minors
You know, REALITY!
Prosecution and defense attorneys agreed that beer was spilled
and O’Connell spilled it. The plaintiffs alleged that act was not accidental, and that racial comments – not an apology – were directed towards a group predominately consisting of minors. Several witnesses from the school group testified to that. The defense called no witnesses to refute the plaintiff’s witnesses. The defense gambled on a high threshold of tolerance for this behavior, and, sadly, they won that bet. Reality.
“Prosecution and defense attorneys agreed that beer was spilled
and O’Connell spilled it. The plaintiffs alleged that act was not accidental,”
The defendant doesn’t have to :”allege” anything; the city/state has to PROVE its allegations. Basic justice. And, there is and was NO evidence that the spillage was intentional.
” and that racial comments ”
The ONLY person who alleged “racial comments” was the chaperone, who in her deposition, , said under oath that she heard the allegation from another person AFTER they had left the civic center. That’s HEARSAY.
“. Several witnesses from the school group testified to that”
NONE of the witnesses testified that they heard the alleged “racial comment”. NONE. ZERO.
” The defense called no witnesses to refute the plaintiff’s witnesses. ”
Duh. The city has to PRO\VE its allegations BEYOND A REASONABLE doubt. The defendant has to prove NOTHING. That’s criminal JUSTICE.
“The defense gambled on a high threshold of tolerance for this behavior, and, sadly, they won that bet.”
No bet there. No gamble. The burden is the city’s—BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT. The city failed.
” and, sadly, they won that bet. Reality.
Why are you “sad” that justice prevailed? Were you and your white hooded brigade of witch hunters so enraged that the guy was acquitted;you were denied the opportunity to enact revenge out of your own white guilt, right? Did you miss the part in civics class about the criminal justice system? Or does your condescension to so-called “victims” outweigh the need for evidence? It all makes you “sad”!
“A sad, banner day for white privilege, in my opinion.”
So OJ’s acquittal was a sad a day for black privilege?
Take your white guilt somewhere elae.
” it a social medial lynch mob”
Obviously if Korey Heildleburger was touting it and inciting the Madvile lynch mob,.
They create the controversy, stoke the fires with their anger, agitate their mentally unstable followers, and then wave their arms and stomp their feet in satisfaction when the verdict violates their preconceived prejudices.
Black Lives Matter!
In my opinion, the only people that know the truth is the School group, Trace O’Connell, maybe a few others, and God.
Media most likely blew this out of proportion with vague details and running without all of the facts. The group leaders may have built the story up more than reality, but we won’t know for sure. Mr O’Connell may have lied about some details, but we won’t know for sure. Also, remember back to when the RCJ had the headline about the possibility of kids not standing for the National Anthem, as if that was a potential excuse for the beer and harsh words? That was media causing more attention, headaches, and hurt feelings to this incident.
Regardless of what the truth is, everyone needs to go forward being more aware. Be more aware of your surroundings, be more aware of your own actions, and be more open to other people’s ideas, preceptions, or opinions.
“In my opinion, the only people that know the truth is the School group, Trace O’Connell, maybe a few others, and God.”
Read the judge’s opinion . Go get the trial transcripts if you want more. Then read the depositions if you still want more.
The Truth is there. That’s why we have trials.
I don’t buy the suggestion that we cannot know the Truth.
It’s there if you want it.
Easy to miss the forest from the trees with this one. The tensions are not about this specific incident and if anything really happened. When conditions are dry, any little spark will set off a fire. Natives have a long story here into the present day of a lack of Justice in our system. From that vantage point this is simply more of the same.
Go back to Scotland and your Hagis, you bore everybody.
norwegian on scottish racism. classy.
“The tensions are not about this specific incident and if anything really happened. ”
The American justice system and the NA justice system are ALL about SPECIFIC SITUATIONS.
We don’t have trials about “tension” or resolving “tensions”. We have trials based on FACTS of SPECIFIC CASES.
“From that vantage point this is simply more of the same”
Or is it simply about crying wolf, again?
“Natives have a long story here into the present day of a lack of Justice in our system”
Tell that to the hundreds of innocent white victims of the Dakota War of 1862. Or the many Indian raids on THOUSANDS of innocent whites. Oh wait, they’re all dead.
Per Curiam, your comments are grossly out of line. You have to understand that native people were forced into a Caucasian system. Historically and systemically, the justice system may have been a little skewed over the years, although getting better.
Also, let’s not keep score with the 1800’s and dead ancestors.
“You have to understand that native people were forced into a Caucasian system.”
No–that’s why there was & is a “reservation” system.
The vast majority of folks living in & coming to the US were ALL “forced” into a “Caucasian” system. It was/is called “the United States of America”.
I note that you describe my comments as “grossly out of line” but fail to refute any of them with… um historical facts.
“Also, let’s not keep score with the 1800’s and dead ancestors.”
Tell that to Hickey. Was he grossly out of line?
Native people are forced to go to hockey games?
Wow
Before commenting or wasting any mental energy on this subject, read this: http://www.kotatv.com/blob/view/-/35034984/data/1/-/v8iqqqz/-/O-Connell-Memorandum-of-Decision.pdf
Thanks. I read the decision. It appears to me this is one of those mountains made out of mole hills. It also appears some people have trouble recollecting things and sometimes recollect things as they would like to have had them happen rather than how they happened.
Exactly.
Much like Ferguson, when these “witnesses” had to go under oath about their PERSONAL observations, they came up way short.
Sadly, many gullible folks like the irreverend Hickey and the race-pimps at Madvile fanned the flames of hatred for their own evil purposes. May a just God hold THEM accountable.
Pat, what I think happened or didn’t happen is WHOLLY irrelevant. In this country, all that matters is the jury. Period.
Anybody who alludes justice is served by being intentionally unjust to a defendant to serve some larger purpose or correct a wrong done by another is asserting Stalinist,Chavez,Castro type crap. Period.
It was a bench trial.
First day back in the ranks and some anonymous rally here calls me race baiter and assumptions are made I would have rather seen the guy get a guilty verdict. Nope. My point is it doesn’t take much to agitate the wounds of natives here who have legitimate and ongoing experiences with injustice in South Dakota.
Agreed, Mr. Hickey. But that’s no reason anybody, American Indian or not, should lash out with accusations that may or may not be based on racism. It makes the accusers racists, in many books. I’m just sayin…
“My point is it doesn’t take much to agitate the wounds of natives here who have legitimate and ongoing experiences with injustice in South Dakota.”
The only one infecting those wounds here is you, Mr.Hickey. You’re ripping off a scab so that you can infect the healing with your own infectious disease called “white guilt”, and then raise your own filthy banner of a witch doctor preaching the cure.. There was no “injustice” here; only justice. The reason you brought up “injustice” is so you can throw some fuel on the fire and then volunteer yourself as a firefighter. You’re not the cure, Irrev. Hickey–you’re part of the problem.
This case was and is one of HEALING those wounds. JUSTICE is an antibiotic.
Mr. Hickey is a shaman.
anonymous “wally” it should read
In the 1990’s I served on a jury for a manslaughter trial of an American Indian woman who was accused in the death of a white man. The paper declared, “No native Americans on the jury!” This all white jury found her . . . NOT guilty! I guess we were all a bunch of racists, right? I am sure this is never remembered by certain members of our society, and others such as Hickey and Campbell never heard of this.
“. My point is it doesn’t take much to agitate the wounds of natives here who have legitimate and ongoing experiences with injustice in South Dakota.”
The thread is about JUSTICE. Thus, any attempt like yours to insert “injustice” into the discussion is simply for one reason: race-baiting.
The real INJUSTICE would have been for this guy to be convicted–yet, you deny that you wanted a guilty verdict. So why bring up “injustices”? To race-bait.
(Maybe you brought up injustice in some lame attempt to elevate your own perceived moral superiority in uncovering and inserting RACISM EVERY PLACE YOU LOOK, even where there is none, like in this case. Race-pimping though is just another manifestation of egoism driven by white guilt.. Such egoism is unChristian. Please Hickey, cleanse your heart with God).
Racism in any part of the judicial process is in fact injustice. Wounds from racism exist throughout life, and residents of the Hills know it firsthand (my family and I are life-long residents). We can discuss/debate that candidly without dog-whistles like “white guilt” and “race-baiting”. Any person can have empathy and compassion for people treated unfairly, without bearing the blame for the wrong-doing. In general terms, my politics are light-years from Pastor Hickey’s, but I’m with him on this.
I too abhor dog whistles like “injustice” and “unfairness”, especially where there is none like in this case .
Look, as one can read, I’m a vocal civil rights activist. I too grew up surrounded by mean people, racist people, bigoted people, people who acted and talked like they were better because they said the “right” things, and folks who were in positions of power who abused their privileges–I call them all bullies.
Out of these experiences grew my innate dislike of bullies, especially those who used seemingly innocuous words to couch their bullying in terms of “helping others”–of course, the reality was & is that such help actually HURTs more often than not. Naturally, these bullies “empathized” (another dog-whistle) with the harms done to their “victims” , even if they caused it themselves, but they’d never admit it. Then action predicatably decayed into mere “caring” with “raising awareness” (dog-whistle) efforts that amounted to little more than baseless condescension.
So, I have vowed never to let the racism spewed by the likes of Hickey and Heilbdeger go unchallenged. And that ‘s just what it is: RACISM. The racism of treating and talking about others in condescending tones like “historical injustice” and “victims” and “compassion” and “unfairness”.
Look, we have problems but we’re NEVER going to solve them when the bigots like Hickey continue their cry wolf talk about victims and injustice where there is none. Falsely claiming and inserting racism where there is none is as worse if not worse than real racism as it tends to DISTRACT versus FOCUS. Since Hickey continues to spew this filth, one must conclude that he’s doing it intentionally. And in doing so, he’s shamelessly trying to elevate himself above and beyond REAL solutions, which is also UNCHRISTLIKE.
SHAME ON HIM.
PC, civil rights leader
“Racism in any part of the judicial process is in fact injustice”
And “injustice” has NOTHING to do with this case. Until you bother reading the decision, the trial transcripts, or the depositions, you’re operating in ignorance –just like racists.
Your insistence on using race where it is inapplicable, as well as Hickey’s efforts, is racism per se. Do you understand that?
Your claims, as well as Hickey’s, actually DO address the RACISM of this case–YOUR racism of inserting racism where there is none. It’s EVIL.
You’re no better than those racists who wore hoods. Instead of white sheets, your racism is hidden behind “empathy & compassion” and “unfairness”. I’ve exposed it to the disinfectant of sunshine.
Hey anonymous Wally, put your name to your accusations before you speak of wearing white hoods.
No hoods needed–your words condemn you.
Care to respond to the criticisms or just play your silly reindeer games?
You need to change your dark heart.
In my first post, I wrote that O’Connell enjoyed the benefit of white privilege, to the extent that he was acquitted of all charges. Per Curiam, the self-described “civil rights leader”, anonymously draws a straight line from that observation to the conclusion that I am racist and evil, ignorant and race-baiting, a leader of a “white hooded brigade of witch hunters”. Gads.
You don’t have to commit an overt racist act to benefit from a racist system. In general, it’s better to be a white defendant in court than a minority, no matter why you’re there. That doesn’t make all white people racist, just privileged.
I remain torqued that O’Connell’s behavior was not only tolerated but absolved by a judge.
“In my first post, I wrote that O’Connell enjoyed the benefit of white privilege, to the extent that he was acquitted of all charges.”
Based on what? The acquittal? What “white privilege” are you talking about? So “white privilege” benefitted this guy simply because you say so?
” observation to the conclusion that I am racist and evil, ignorant and race-baiting, a leader of a “white hooded brigade of witch hunters”.
You didn’t OBSERVE, you jumped into a unsubstantiated rant, just like a lynch mob. gee gads for sure..
” it’s better to be a white defendant in court than a minority, no matter why you’re there”
1. Where’s your evidence of that? In my experience, it’s quite the opposite for poor white defendants are presumed to have some money somewhere for an attorney; poor minorities are more likely to be appointed a PD.
2. The evidence (use the NJ Turnpike study for example) is that different racial/ethnic groups do NOT commit crimes in proportion to their makeup in the general population.
3. What of SEXISM and FEMALE privilege? There is NO doubt that women are treated by the judicial system much less harshly than men who committed the same crimes.
” That doesn’t make all white people racist, just privileged.”
Oh yes, the “royal we”. FINALLY! Sorry Campbell or whatever your name is, you don’t; speak for whites or anyone else but yourself. Moreover, the judicial system does not deal with groups–it deals with INDIVIDUALS charged with crimes.
” I remain torqued that O’Connell’s behavior was not only tolerated but absolved by a judge.”
Of course you do because you remain ignorant in spite of my pleas to read the decision, the trial transcripts, or the depositions. You fail to see that it’s not THIS defendant’s acquittal that is the problem: the problem is YOU dear John; . for you, like the KKK and lynch mobs that preceded you, don’t care about the facts or the law (how do we know this? Because you have yet to argue or debate ANY facts of this case! ALL of your comments have been about this amorphous “white privilege”) . You act upon your prejudices, never really wanting to address the facts that your perceived perpetrator (because of his race) may not be the real perpetrator and your perceived “victims” (because of their race) may not be the actual victims.
Sorry pal, but YOUR racism is the real problem in this situation no matter how much you wish to flail yourself with the spike of “white privilege”. Please, get the help you need with YOUR problems before telling us or the NAs or anyone else how much you care about racism.
Who are you anonymous Wally? You certainly are vested in this incident.
civil rights advocate….. lol.
Pastor. lol.
Who is Per Curiam? Since Per Curiam remains entirely anonymous and vitriolic, and since his posts represent more than half of this thread, I think it’s fair to speculate on the things he’s written so far. I’d be willing to bet the farm that Per Curiam is a middle-aged white guy who’s been a plaintiff in court more than once. I’d bet that he’s lost most or all of the time, and that he sees himself as the bullied victim. I’d bet that the civil rights he refers to are solely his own, and that at least one of his court cases involves a gun somehow, because there are obviously some major power issues going on. I’d bet at least one case involves a power struggle with a woman, to whom he lost. I’d bet he wanted someone else to pay for his legal fights. He and Cory Heidelberger have clearly crossed paths, and he compensates with repeated Klan references, because the anonymity of hoods appeals to him. I’d bet he’s been told to deal with anger issues more than once, and that his aggression to others gets in his way. He’s been asked repeatedly to identify himself. But since Per Curiam chooses anonymity, he remains a fart in the wind.
” and since his posts represent more than half of this thread”
As I said, as a civil rights activist, I will take on racism wherever I find it….
even among who try to hide behind their “caring” and “sadness” .. none of which does anything to solve the real problems.
For example, Reverend (lol) Hickey yammered about a truth & reconciliation effort a few months back. So what did he do? Resigned, left SD ,and left the country! And here he is again yammering about injustice! Sorry folks, but good feelings and good intentions and laments about “white privilege” are nothing but white sheets covering the white guilt…meanwhile nothing is solved and the wounded continues to bleed. Its the hidden racism of words, and liberals are the celebrated novelists.
PC, civil rights leader
This is getting weirder & creepier by the hour.
John Campbell that last post of yours was just weird… Kind of creepy too.
I’m being told to google Andrew Shiers, aka Robert X, aka Julie Gross, aka Per Curiam, etc.? Don’t feed the trolls. Sorry to offend, PlanningStudent, but I don’t take well to being compared to the Klan.
Wow, that is creepy.
We have yet to have “John” (another one of Coreys white underwear-clad groupies apparently–Corey himself?) discuss/debate the facts of this case. All we have are “his” white guilt ridden feelings about how sad it all is.
Thats how lynch mobs operate–on emotion.
If the hood fits, you must convict.
–time for a shower after dealing with all these creepy trolls….
Andrew – I don’t know Cory. My Madison and DSU connections let me know who and what you are. Remind me to stay far away from anything you consider to be “civil rights”.