(no subject)

[cleolinda]

A few announcements:

Please post links to pictures rather than pictures themselves. And lest anyone feel bad, this is in response to a number of incidents over the last week or so. Number one, it's going to appear in my email without warning no matter how unpleasant it is; number two, if you're worried that people won't look, well, trust me: curiosity will cause people to click a link more times than not. I would appreciate any picture being linked instead of posted in its entirety, but if I personally find it unpleasant in any way, I will definitely screen it, and it will be up to you to repost a proper link, because that's how the cookie crumbles in Cleoland, y'all.

As several people sent this to me: hamlethunt, a community dedicated to getting the New Orleans Facekicking Asshat arrested and prosecuted.

onyx_noir: "There are additional pics of him, including his tattoos, available at the noladarkside community on lj. His hair and clothes he can change, but not his ink." And given that his hair was shocking pink the last time I saw a picture, it is very likely that he would.

And I'll repeat what hamlethunt says: DO NOT go vigilante if you find this guy. When I said that we had a chance of "running into the guy," I meant so we could call the police. As all_ephemera says,

What concerns me is the rampant vigilantism that's going on in this case - the police are involved and what SHOULD be happening is people keep an eye out and if they see him to contact the police. There's a disturbingly real chance that someone else will find him and take it upon themselves to enact a little hometown justice and then THEY'RE going to go to jail. People shouldn't kid themselves that "no one would convict someone for kicking this kids ass" because they will. Or - worst case scenario, this kid Will goes free because he gets a gifted and talented defense lawyer who can use this hooplah to get the trial repeatedly thrown out because the jury pool is tainted. [My note: if he's from Mountain Brook originally, he will have a good lawyer.]

I hope this kid gets caught, prosecuted and thrown in jail, and I hope the girl recovers. I also hope that people can rein in their emotional responses and be able to act like mature adult. Threatening to cut this kids balls off does no one any good except his lawyers.

Here's another reason I'd like to see this guy arrested and prosecuted: this kind of thing happens every day. A friend of mine had an abusive boyfriend in college. My mother had an abusive boyfriend in college. My father threw a small metal vase at her that I still have, and there is still a large dent on the brim where it hit her. Before he left for good, he kicked in screen doors and wood paneling, threw things at my sister and hit my dog--and when the law did finally come for him, it wasn't for physical abuse. Abuse happens every day, and it rarely gets reported. And you know why it happens? Because abusive men (and, when it happens, women) know they won't get reported. They'll wave it off and the police will let them. We need to prosecute abusers so people will understand that it is not something you can get away with. That's why this is important. Not because a pretty girl's face may have been damaged, as much as we might feel for her. It's important because we might be able to prevent it from happening again--prevent other victims from the same pain and suffering--if we find this guy and turn him in to the police peacefully and let the law get a bitchslap in for once.

And you know what the other important thing is? That everyone saw this and was outraged. That everyone saw this and cared. We need people to know that assault does not equal shame, and that people will support them if they come forward. That we will protect them when the abusers come back around. And we need abusers to know that we--as communities and as individuals--care, and that we won't let them do this: that it is not acceptable in the community or under the law.

Also, I hear he might be around Auburn.

Comments

[much-reality.livejournal.com]

Half of all female murder victims in the UK are killed by their partners. Usually, they've been subjected to many, many assaults first. So yeah, this reaction made me happy. The shame is going where it belongs. I just hope they catch him, and people don't try to prove a point, violently... and in so doing, screw it up for the victim.

[thebroodwich.livejournal.com]

Said right.

[edda.livejournal.com]

Eloquent and to the point.

Plus if he winds up in jail as he should, professional criminals can kick his ass proper in ways we can only dream of.

[the-bumper-car.livejournal.com]

not to mention make showering and sleeping hell.

*watches too much Oz

[jantalaimon.livejournal.com]

rock on, cleolinda. i really hope this guy is brought to justice as well. more people need to do stuff like this when such asshaberdashery occurs. >P

[aberrantangels]

There's a disturbingly real chance that someone else will find him and take it upon themselves to enact a little hometown justice and then THEY'RE going to go to jail. Or - worst case scenario, this kid Will goes free because he gets a gifted and talented defense lawyer who can use this hooplah to get the trial repeatedly thrown out because the jury pool is tainted.

Ouch! Good points!

I still want to see his ass kicked, but yeah, I'll leave it to the pros and the talented amateurs.

My father threw a small metal vase at her that I still have, and there is still a large dent on the brim where it hit her.

Double ouch! *patpat, hugs, wails*

[scotchwhisky.livejournal.com]

That's true: it's such a nice change from something like Kitty Genovese, and it's good to know there are people who are willing to help out a complete stranger. The way this has spread, I saw that the girl (Heather) had written, absolutely amazes her and she's really touched by the outpouring of support. Almost enough to restore my faith in humanity. Almost. Because there are people out there like this Will, and they are the scourge of the earth.

[redmapletree.livejournal.com]

*applauds*

Damn straight.

[foresthouse.livejournal.com]

Totally OT, but your icon is SO cute.

[bigfatgreek.livejournal.com]

Oh now, was the placenta really THAT bad?

[artificialamore.livejournal.com]

jail is often the worst thing that can happen, he seems like a small guy, and although he can beat up a small girl, he's not going to be able to take down "big joe" who "thinks he has perty lips."

the law would be much worse, even if he only gets 6 months (which is highly probable since the law does this in RAPE CASES, not to mention "simple abuse" which is how the courts still view it) those few months are enough to get him hurt enough.

I agree that the law can do much worse than one ass-beating by some vigilantes.

[law-witch.livejournal.com]

VERY well put.

I'm amazed with all the net buzz that this guy is still running around free.

[dopaminergic.livejournal.com]

Holy crap, I didn't expect to see this on my flist in a post from you.

I live in New Orleans. I went to Convergence XII. I know both Will and Heather. I saw them that night at the concert before it happened. I was one of the first few people to find out about it on Saturday morning, too. And boy, let me tell you, on Monday after I came back to my apartment and had internet access again, it seemed like the only thing on my flist were posts and reposts about the assault. Word of this has spread so far over the internet, every goth in the country is looking for him (and, well, I'm sure some non-goths as well.)

Anyway, I know your journal reaches a lot more people than the various new orleans/louisiana communities, so thanks for posting about it.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

No problem. : ) Although, the way your comment started, I was afraid it was going to end with, "GAH, WON'T PEOPLE STOP POSTING ABOUT IT?" Meep!

(I think what drew me to it was the Alabama/Mountain Brook part. From a practical perspective, I felt like I was in a position to inform people around here who could do something.)

How's Heather doing? Is she (relatively) okay?

[dopaminergic.livejournal.com]

Heather is only really an acquaintance, and she has not friended me on LJ so I can't read any updates she has made...so I don't know how she is doing.

But there has been a development... Will has made a post in his LJ, you may be curious to check it out: http://surrealism.livejournal.com

Apparently he is still in New Orleans.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

What an asshat. Interestingly, I don't see any evidence that he is, in fact, where he says he is. And I'm not sure what all his vague posturing is about. "ZOMG YOU TARDS HAVE ALL PROVED... something." What, exactly?

[elbales]

Word.

[onyx-noir.livejournal.com]

Don't know if you've seen it yet, but it seems that the hamlethunt community was besieged with trolls yesterday. And apparently, so was Heather's live journal.

Which is more than a little sick, really.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

God, I've seen that shit before. There's something about "Gee, I'm injured/sick and down on my luck" that really brings out the asschapeaux, for some reason.

[onyx-noir.livejournal.com]

It's on her myspace too, I was just checking it out. And she's had to f-lock her live journal account.

WTF is wrong with some people?

[dopaminergic.livejournal.com]

Her account was locked a looooooooong time ago....she just disabled the comments on the public entry about the assault.

[syneblue.livejournal.com]

Bravo and amen. I know far too many people who like to think they live in "Batman" or "Unbreakable." If the asshats that hit people actually started going to jail, maybe people would start getting the message that this is unacceptable. What was it those AIDS posters used to say? Something like
Silence=Death
Pretty much applicable to all situations.

[bigeyedrabbit.livejournal.com]

Well said, ma'am.

[theredpanther.livejournal.com]

FYI for any New Orleans people on here (and apologies if it's already been mentioned):

There's a benefit to raise money for Heather's medical bills:

This next Thursday night, April 27th, at the Whirling Dervish, 1135 Decatur St in the French Quarter.
Local stores have donated goods for raffles, etc. There will also be a paypal account set up for her, which will be accessible there so people may make direct donations.

(I'm going off memory from the flier I saw last night, so I'm not not sure of all the finer details.)

[txvoodoo.livejournal.com]

re: piccie posting - sorry dear! didn't even think about it, as i don't have mine set to show in my email.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Did you post a picture? I don't even remember. I was mostly thinking of 1) New Orleans girl and 2) the bloody placenta. : )

[txvoodoo.livejournal.com]

Bwah! I think I did....um...OH. DUH. NO. It was in someone else's LJ.

OK, I now have a 1 apology credit with you :D

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

*writes down in ledger*

[txvoodoo.livejournal.com]

Of course, to be 100% accurate - I also owe you about 300 good info links ;)

[silverdee.livejournal.com]

"We need people to know that assault does not equal shame, and that people will support them if they come forward. That we will protect them when the abusers come back around. And we need abusers to know that we--as communities and as individuals--care, and that we won't let them do this: that it is not acceptable in the community or under the law." Amen Sister Cleo!

[almostnever.livejournal.com]

Well said, all of it.

[firegatka007.livejournal.com]

from kids getting arrested because of threats on their myspace to this...

the internet is a strange place...

and that site about loving will hunt because they support domestic abuse...

WTF?!

[kvschwartz.livejournal.com]

I know I must sound stupid, but I feel as if I walked into a movie that started quite a while ago.

What exactly is going on? You are upset with whom because of what?

Someone hurt you and / or a friend and / or loved one. That much I get. I think. But the rest is a blur.

====

As long as I'm leaving such a stupid comment, I might as well tell you that for the moment I have settled on getting your m15m book when it comes out in the US. It seems silly to pay more in shipping than the cost of the book, and I'm behind in all my readings anyway. Plus you said you wanted to make sure the US version sold some copies too.

I was thinking of buying an extra copy to donate to the public library, but I don't know how to get people to READ it, so maybe, if I do buy an extra copy, I should just give it to a friend who might want to read it.

=======

MOOD: stupid; tired; a tad nauseated; headache-y

MUSIC: Bach: St. John Passion

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Go back to, I think, Wednesday's entry. It starts there and continues through to today. Basically, a guy in New Orleans kicked a girl in the face with a steel-toed boot, nearly killed her, and fled the scene (three-hour car chase, may currently be in Birmingham, which is how it caught my attention). A surprising number of LJers and/or communities have expressed support for this guy, whose journal has shown him to be completely unrepentant, and one poster even called for "whoever finds him [to] give him a medal."

[kvschwartz.livejournal.com]

Wow. How horrible.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Yeah. That's what everyone's in a froth about. A community was started to help hunt this guy down, as he's still on the run (and taunting them/us from his journal every now and then), and today the community was suspended. Which I kind of understand--the community was very blatant about how it didn't want anyone to go vigilante on him, they wanted him prosecuted peacefully, but I think LJ has rules about any kind of journal that targets a specific person. What kind of disturbs me, though, is that, in this context, the journal of the guy who said "give him a medal" but also "Repost this entry if you support violence against women" was reported and NOT suspended. There's a slim chance the entry was satire, but if it's so close to reality you can't tell, it's not effective satire.

[kvschwartz.livejournal.com]

I can understand why lj would shut down the community devoted to tracking him down yet leave up an lj with abusively misogynist comments. But I can also understand people being absolutely FURIOUS with them for that.

Re the satire that may not be a satire: people tend to forget that tone does not translate well online, and things you can say with a wink in real life have a way of coming across as cruel online.

As you said, a satire is only effective if the audience can recognize it as a satire.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I can understand why--I didn't stop to think about it until the suspension actually happened, but even I knew that you can't target someone with a journal/comm. The exception, of course, being a fan community, because theoretically that's positive attention. And I understand the whole freedom of speech thing, and I'm sure the guy defended himself by saying it was *clearly* satire, because why would he say something that awful otherwise... whether that was true or not. Still, it's kind of disturbing to see those two decisions next to each other. That doesn't mean it indicates a policy of misogyny on LJ's part. It's just... an unfortunate coincidence, might be the best way to put it.

[kvschwartz.livejournal.com]

Oops, sorry. I meant to post that comment directly to Cleo.

Ugh. My even my stupidity aches.

[artificialamore.livejournal.com]

I reported the community "willhuntiscool" that was condoning his actions and it is now suspended. The community was filled with masogynist conversations and actively condoned violence against women.

They said: "Whoever finds him, give him a medal" for kicking her.

But, it's closed now. I recommend additional reports for condoning violence with the names: lemonparty and heavenaflame. Both have disturbing user pics, and have active masogynist journals.

[ter369.livejournal.com]

And you know what the other important thing is? .....We need people to know that assault does not equal shame ...

We also need to not use "abuse" to describe verbal meanness, as in "My boyfriend abused me" when the speaker means disparaged her abilities, her goals, her choice of friends, etc. It gets very confusing.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

See, this is why I never say that my father was "abusive," because it makes it sound like he beat us up on the weekends. His usual tactics were verbal, which to me is a totally different ballpark.

This is also why I've never understood the term "drug abuse." I mean, the problem is that you're using the drugs in the first place; it's not like you're using them incorrectly or with some particular cruelty ("Ow! Stop snorting me!") or something.

[ter369.livejournal.com]

"Abuse" in the drug and speech instances you and I offer upthread seems a polite euphemism for something, instead of a cue to freakin' intervene.

We must keep an eye out for a more appropriate term for the verbally cruel.

[kvschwartz.livejournal.com]

I don't know if my dad would OFFICIALLY qualify as verbally abusive. It was some combination of his roughness and my extreme oversensitivity. Plus my OCD and phobias made me very difficult to deal with.

My point: I can empathize.

[foresthouse.livejournal.com]

But then what do you call serious, ongoing instances of verbal cruelty that may be insidious and drawn out and leave no physical mark at all but affect a person majorly? I mean, I don't think all abuse is physical.