billdsd

Attack on cyclists in St. Louis may have been 'knockout game'

Probably not attacked due to their status as a cyclist but rather their status as vulnerable.

Completely unacceptable. We need to bring back public hanging.

JWalton215

[/QUOTE]We need to bring back public hanging.[/QUOTE]

Or not.

Chris516

Fifty years for each of them.

johnny99

I'm not a fan of guns or the NRA, but if I lived in that wild west town, I would get a gun.

dahut

Bring back the stocks, in the public square.

Whiteknight

Around here we have had incidents such as that as part of street gang initiations. In the past 3 years I know of 3 such incidents along a very popular MUP.
We generally watch for groups of youths along the trail who are all wearing the same clothing. In one case my wife and I were looked over by a group of 5 youths all dressed in red t-shirts and black pants. A week later this same group tried to punch a woman off her bike one evening.

Roughstuff

All it takes is one good 'sting' operation to put an end to something like this; or else, unaddressed, it will get worse and worse. Up here in the Peoples Republic of Massachusetts it has graduated to battery acid tossed in people's eyes. Bike paths can be isolated, compared to roadways and shoulders, but even so lets hope this gets nipped in the bud where you are.

roughstuff

Daves_Not_Here

Just linked on Drudge. Story could go mainstream viral:

Teens Target Cyclists In ‘Knockout’ Game

Mithrandir

The comments on that article are absolutely frightening.

DPN

How so? I have to admit I kinda agree with a lot of them, especially the ones regarding a serious lack of law and order...


DPN

johnny99

Really hope this does not inspire copycats.

Roughstuff

Police urge bike riders to be aware of their surrounding and call 911 when they see a swarm mob preparing an assault.


Wow. and people wonder why we need a 2nd amendment.

roughstuff

Mithrandir

Oh I dunno, all of the blatantly racist comments...

I mean you do realise that not all African Americans are gang bangers and hoodlums right?

rydabent

Nothing wrong with public hangings. Nothing like seeing the perp twitching at the end of a rope to put the fear of the law in people. There is simply too many people in society to allow the lawless few to cause the rest of the law abiding to have to hide in their homes. We have water bottle holders on our bikes, maybe we will also need gun holsters also.

Roughstuff

The comment about copycats is a good one and a tough one, which arises whenever a difficult-to-detect crime takes place (bomb scares are a prime example, false alarms another). If the article takes the tack that these crimes are 'impossible to solve and prosecute," and that they are due to sociological factors (placing the blame on the victims, basically); then yes, copycatting follows quickly. In contrast, if the articles focus or rapid enforcement and successful interdiction (forget prosecution... ) then the incidents probably would die out.

roughstuff

jkp1187

Actually, I thought the _subject_ of the article was a little more frightening. Though there's no doubt that quite a few of the commentators are of the usual trolling racist variety that crawls out of the woodwork on the Internets whenever ethnicity is mentioned....

rydabent

I get so sick and tired of people trying it interject race in to crimes like this one. Simply put what the hell does race have to do with it??? A criminal is a criminal and should be arrested a tried to the full extent of the law. Trying to excuse a crime because or race is completely stupid. And it just breeds more crime if the criminal gets just a slap on the wrist because of race.

rydabent

Maybe after a few years in jail being Big Eds "lover" they may rethink how much "fun" knockout games are!!!!!!

Roughstuff

Tsk tsk....such a viewpoint puts ya firmly into the Tea Party. Welcome!

As was made clear in Animal Farm, without a vigilant citizenry the principle "All men are created equal,' becomes 'some men are more equal than others.'

As cyclists and outdoorsmen, it is natural for us to be more vulnerable than others; to both natural and man made risks. To keep the thread focused, what can we as riders do to minimize these risks?

roughstuff

DPN

I'm not sure I understand...you make it sound like the Tea Party is a bad thing...

Anyway, as cyclists and outdoorsmen, we riders can elect representatives who will enforce laws against criminals who commit such acts against an innocent citizenry.

Race has nothing to do with this. Being tolerant of criminal behavior is the problem. History has shown time and again that a society gets what a society tolerates...

Phil_gretz

Even in discussions that offend our sensibilities, there often is a kernal of truth. It appears from my limited vantage point, that mob violence is on the rise worldwide. This is especially troubling here in America. Several times recently, there appeared to have been a racial component, as well. These aren't good trends...

Seanholio

The first thing we can do is to be more aware of our surroundings. The easiest way to avoid a situation is to avoid a situation. Listen to your instincts: if a group triggers your "something ain't right" cortex, listen to it. If you see a group of young men behaving oddly near your trail, path, or roadway, either change your route, or put some space between you and run an interval right there to burn through at maximum speed. Give them the least amount of time to react to your presence and depart the scene as quickly as possible.

The second is to stay connected to the local groups that will know about these things. For instance, there are periodic incidents along an isolated path (Guadalupe Creek Trail near Communications Hill in San Jose) where cyclists, runners, and walkers are attacked by groups of young men at night. My solution is not riding there at night: the path has a fence on both sides and is unlit, so there is no easy escape if confronted and no way to see if there is danger ahead.

The third is to decide in advance what your priorities are and how you will achieve them. My first priority is to escape alive. My second is to remain unharmed. My third is to retain my bike. My fourth is to report the incident to the authorities so they might possibly allocate some patrols through there. So my actions will conform to this. First, I'll try to ride around/away from the situation. Second, I'll defend myself while trying to escape. Third, I'll ride out of there if I can, or run if I can't. Finally, I'll be dialing 911 on my mobile phone. Figure out what your priorities are, and then figure out what you'll do to achieve those priorities.

Finally, when you're going on a ride, use the buddy system. The bigger the group, the less likely it will be a target for a mob. Criminals don't want to get hurt, and big groups are more likely to hurt them.

radshark

Maybe undercover police on a bike - someone getting pummeled on the ground by a swarm of kids can be easily killed with a kick.

Roughstuff

Sorry you misunderstoodimated me. I think the Tea Party is the best thing to happen in the US in many decades. Again,welcome aboard. One if by land, two if Tea!

Seanholio comments are excellent.

roughstuff

Mithrandir

Sadly that's just the media overhyping everything for dramatic effect. Crime rates have actually been dropping for quite a while now. Here's just one example from the latest FBI report about 2010 (https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr...jan-dec-2010):