Archives

The Face of Hate – So Young – UPDATED

Not to put a downer on your weekend guys, but violent assaults, such as what happened in New Bedford, Mass. on Feb. 2nd, need to be addressed, spoken about, and worked through.
As we all know – and sometimes so easily forget – the safety of our community is always at risk. We need to stay alert, play it safe, and protect one another – each and every chance we get.
The attacker was only 18 – so damn young and so very senseless – and he’s still on the run.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to all the injured and suffering, as well as their family and friends. May justice prevail in the end.
UPDATE:
Man Held in Bar Attack Dies After Shootout
By Noah Trister, Associated Press Writer
GASSVILLE, Ark. – The teenager suspected of a hatchet-and-gun attack in a Massachusetts gay bar and in the killing of two people in Arkansas, including a policeman, died Sunday of wounds suffered in a gun battle with officers, authorities said.
Jacob D. Robida, 18, died at 3:38 a.m. Sunday at Cox-South Hospital in Springfield, Mo., said hospital spokesman Randy Berger.
Robida, a high school dropout who friends said glorified Naziism, was shot twice in the head in a shootout with police Saturday after he killed a Gassville police officer and a woman in his car, authorities said.
Two days earlier, he allegedly went on a rampage at the Puzzles Lounge in New Bedford, Mass., that injured three men, one critically. Police labeled that attack a hate crime.
“I wish he would have lived and gone on trial,” said Dan Sheterom, 51, who lives above Puzzles Lounge and frequents the tavern. “I would have liked to have seen if the commonwealth here would have taken it up to the federal government as a hate crime.”
After Thursday’s attack, police say Robida drove off and picked up 33-year-old Jennifer Rena Bailey at her home in Charleston, W.Va.
“Apparently she’s had a prior relationship with this guy and had been corresponding with him,” said West Virginia State Police Sgt. C.J. Ellyson.
They were driving through the northern Arkansas town of Gassville when Officer Jim Sell pulled them over for a traffic violation Saturday. Sell, 56, was shot twice, said Bristol, Mass., District Attorney Paul Walsh Jr.
Witness Maryann Hoyne said she saw the officer’s squad car sitting bumper to bumper with Robida’s car, and heard three gunshots. She saw Sell on the ground as Robida got back into his car and drove off, she said.
Robida returned a moment later to retrieve his gun, which he had left beside the officer, said Hoyne, manager of the Brass Door Motel in Gassville.
About 25 miles away, Robida drove over spike strips set out by state troopers and continued driving with two punctured tires into downtown Norfork, where he smashed into several parked vehicles to avoid a police barricade.
“When he wrecked he started firing at our officer and a state police officer, and the officers returned fire,” said Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery.
The teen shot Bailey before he was wounded in the shootout with police, Walsh said. State police wouldn’t confirm Walsh’s account and said ballistics tests would determine how the woman died.
One victim of the Massachusetts attack said he was “elated” the teen had been stopped. Bob Perry was released from a Boston hospital Friday. He had a black eye, a five-inch gash on his right cheek and a bullet hole in his back.
Another victim remained hospitalized, and officials would not disclose the location of the third.
Before Robida’s death, Massachusetts police had said he would be charged with attempted murder, assault and civil rights violations in the attack. In Arkansas, killing a police officer is punishable by death.
Robida’s friends said he had, at times, glorified Nazism and bore a swastika tattoo, but had not previously expressed prejudice toward homosexuals.
Rep. Barney Frank, the openly gay congressman whose district includes New Bedford, said the community has a history of tolerance.
“This is not some general problem with the people of New Bedford,” Frank said. “This is one disturbed 18-year-old.”
Associated Press writers Ray Henry in New Bedford, Mass.; John Raby in Charleston, W.Va.; and Tom Parsons in Little Rock contributed to this report.

Continue with “The Face of Hate – So Young – UPDATED”

What’s That?

Any guesses?