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Why am I learning about this from a blog, rather than the local media?

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Not to be too harsh, but umm, you don't read the Eagle or watch the local TV news. This was discussed when it happened.

There are fights at closing time outside Hurricane Harry's every weekend it seems. TAMU students even. Drinking leads people to do stupid things.

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I seriously don't get why the actual criminals (not implying McDonald's played no part in the tragedy) aren't being held accountable.

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I agree that a serious assault like this should be prosecuted. Someone was arrested well 9 months after the fight. He pled guilty to assaulting the other guy who wasn't killed. But proving that he caused the death of the guy who died in the car crash in a criminal case (as opposed to a civil case) might have given the DA's office pause. But you should ask them.

For what t's worth, hurricane Harry's (or the entity that I believe owns it, Little Skyneck, inc) was sued but they settled out of court I believe. Only reason McDonald's didn't settle is they thought they had slam dunk win, but brazos county juries are apparently trying to rival Jefferson county as welcoming to all civil plaintiffs.

[This message has been edited by unmade bed (edited 8/22/2014 1:13a).]

Thanks for sharing that article, OP. It fills in some details.

[This message has been edited by techno-ag (edited 8/22/2014 6:07a).]

Whataburger and Ihop both hire uniformed off duty Police. Not security guards.

Inca:
The incident was in Feb 2012 and Turner didn't seek reelection and was gone the end of that year. Criminal cases don't move that quickly.

Indictments can certainly happen within 10 months. The guy who killed Noel Devin was charged within a month. So maybe Turner wouldn't have been able to get the case to trial before he left office but he certainly could have started the process.

Would be interesting to hear an official statement from the police regarding their investigation of the crime. I couldn't find anything from 2012 about the actual fight.

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I was surprised to learn facts that had not been reported in the long time which had passed!

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You mean you were surprised to read declarative statements that you assumed to be facts, but that are not cited, right?

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Why am I learning about this from a blog, rather than the local media? Another example of the importance of "new media"!

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http://www.kbtx.com/home/headlines/Funeral_Set_for_Two_Teens_Killed_in_Weekend_Wreck_139868583.html

http://www.theeagle.com/news/local/funerals-set-for-blinn-students/article_1e94a103-9a9b-59e5-a4c9-f6ce96bf1501.html

http://www.theeagle.com/news/local/families-mcdonald-s-didn-t-protect-children-who-died-in/article_8fb16e99-e125-5cd9-930f-50401eae1bf7.html

http://www.theeagle.com/news/local/expert-claims-crash-was-not-the-cause-of-student-s/article_008e008b-df3e-5e95-a6b9-1129d14a5ce5.html

http://www.theeagle.com/news/local/mcdonald-s-negligence-trial-testimony-continues/article_e8a76dcf-0752-55d9-a629-7ed09fa038b6.html

http://www.theeagle.com/news/local/closing-arguments-set-for-today-in-mcdonald-s-negligence-trial/article_428cb328-6766-5b9e-bac1-f840eb338f2b.html

http://www.theeagle.com/news/local/jury-awards-parents-million-in-mcdonald-s-negligence-lawsuit/article_df73eb82-1827-11e4-ad0c-001a4bcf887a.html

http://www.kbtx.com/home/headlines/Jury-Awards-27-Million-In-McDonalds-Lawsuit-Over-Teens-Deaths-269278801.html

http://www.theeagle.com/news/local/legal-experts-weigh-in-on-million-reward-in-mcdonald-s/article_81655e2c-1d3f-5228-b3ac-18c2c7b70438.html

http://wtaw.com/2014/07/31/mcdonalds-appeal-brazos-county-jury-verdict/

At the time of the accident, the only reporting was that of the funeral arrangements of teenagers running a red light. It wasn't until the trial that anything about the teens being beaten came to light.

But to say it wasn't reported locally is just dumb.


[This message has been edited by kraut (edited 8/22/2014 10:24a).]

"Very Naive suburban kids in a post-racial world"....This.

CS78_ -"Feral humans and a media that is afraid to call a spade a spade"....This.

See also Ferguson MO, LA. Chicago etc.

This is not one world people. We are not "post racial". Civility is only skin deep, and for some it's not even that deep.

Heads up, stop being naive, face reality.

Don't get into dangerous situations and if you find yourself in one, have a weapon and know how to use it.

So I guess the issue of underage drinking at Harry's was not an issue at all?

[This message has been edited by ifish2 (edited 8/22/2014 11:15a).]

If that was the 'college' or 'campus' McDonalds, my guess is that a requirement of a valid college ID to be on the premises would have gone a long way towards mitigating the problem.

It's a public restaurant that happens to be near the university. It's not even on campus.

Kraut,
I think you missed the point of the blog. He never said the incident wasn't reported in the local media, but that the racial aspects were ignored. In your links, I saw mention that the young man was attacked for allegedly using a racial epithet, but that's it. How would it have been reported if a group of angry white men had attacked an innocent (albeit drunk) group of black college students?

I previously disagreed with the verdict against McDonald's, but I'm not so sure anymore. The kids had been drinking, but they were also running from an angry mob in fear of their lives. The jury verdict is much more understandable now, at least to me.

Thank you, Kraut, for posting the links to the local coverage. In a quick perusal, I see no reference to the racial aspects highlighted in the American Thinker article! I've seen no rebuttal of that aspect of the case.

No one is disputing the fact that the victim was white and the attackers were black. But, that blog-like "article" paints such a ridiculously slanted, one-sided story that it's difficult to take it seriously.

And why did the author drag the Texas A&M black fraternities into this whole tragic mess? Is there any proof that a single member of an A&M black fraternity was even in the area that night? I guess by just EXISTING, the black fraternities at A&M are evil-doers and contibuted to the events of that night.

Why is there no blame placed on the police for not finding and arresting the perpetrators of the assault? Why no outrage that the sitting DA (Bill Turner) didn't seek any indictments, other than the 1 charge that resulted in a 90 day jail term?

The article is totally agenda-driven and the OP seems to agree with that agenda and wants everyone else to get on board.

I am genuinely curious as to why the police and DA's office didn't pursue the whole thing further back in 2012. Is there any public access to police reports? I couldn't find any kind of comments from the police or DA's office about this from 2012.

It does bother me that this was some known hot spot for trouble and the police didn't seem to do anything about it other than respond to 911 calls when they got them. The police are VERY proactive (instead of reactive) in policing Northgate. Why wouldn't they do the same in this area if they know it is a problem?



[This message has been edited by inca (edited 8/22/2014 3:38p).]

The only evidence that the victim used a racial slur is anecdotal. I'd say the fact that the local media isn't trying to turn this into a racial story speaks volumes to the journalistic integrity of the local media. I'd also say the fact that the author of this article wants to spin this as black vs white with little to no evidence to support that claim says something about their purpose in writing the article.

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I'd say the fact that the local media isn't trying to turn this into a racial story speaks volumes to the journalistic integrity of the local media.

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This. With the claims of race baiting and propaganda, particularly with the whole Ferguson debacle going on, shouldn't we applaud our media for not stooping to such a level?

I find it rather silly to think that the article accuses the mainstream media of race baiting and then proceeds to do the same thing in the opposite direction. Two wrongs don't make a right.

1. The racial aspect was indeed under reported locally.

2. The hate crime aspect indeed changes everything, and the jury's conclusions begin to make more sense.

Nothing that those kids did made it ok or acceptable in any way for a mob of thugs to assault them.

Whether it was 5 or 400, it was a violent act and somehow a young life was taken. The manager at Mcdonalds couldn't even remember if he called the police and that just shows the type of clientele they had working there and the fact that the police had been called so many times over the past three years. And all of you that lambast those kids for underage drinking are just hypocrits because this town promotes it everywhere with all its bars and dorm drinking and sports events. Its a do your own thing world now and somebody else needs to pay.

I just heard of this story from the Michael Berry Show today. I cannot believe that College Station, TX has these types of problems. What is really shocking is how some of you actually support the crowd? Are f*ing seriousj?! Enough of the "white guilt" BS! No person should be beaten to death while just going to the McDonalds (THE FREAKING MCDONALDS ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE DAMN CAMPUS!!)

"What's Baylor?" - Dr. Cogslotter, a/k/a SEC Guy

According to the kid's parents' lawyer (on the air right now on AM 740) said a mob of 20 were jumping and landing on the young man's head. The young man was 5'6", 163#. I'll certainly advise my own children to be more aware of their surroundings and to just steer clear of any such environment for which many of you would probably criticize as stereotyping, profiling, and being racist) but for any of you to suggest this was deserved because of the white kids' naivety and the high crime of needing to pee after a little bit of underage drinking, well,...f-you.

The manager of this McDonald's hosted hip hop parties in his home where gang culture was promoted. Coincidence? I think not.

[This message has been edited by Mister mystery guest (edited 8/25/2014 9:36a).]

Thank you Mystery! Finally somebody sees the problem. I can't stand people's belief of "they had it coming to them." NO ONE SHOULD HAVE THIS DONE TO THEM!! I don't care what color you are. If this town doesn't want a full out war in the streets, they better make sure that these mobs should not occur.

"What's Baylor?" - Dr. Cogslotter, a/k/a SEC Guy

I don't see where anyone suggested the victims "had it coming to them." Good grief.

This story is ugly and depressing on every level, ranging from the tragedy of lost lives, to a crowd/mob situation that still appears to not be fully understood or explained, to battling media sources leading to only more confusion about what the actual facts in this situation were and continue to be.

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Thank you Mystery! Finally somebody sees the problem. I can't stand people's belief of "they had it coming to them." NO ONE SHOULD HAVE THIS DONE TO THEM!! I don't care what color you are. If this town doesn't want a full out war in the streets, they better make sure that these mobs should not occur.

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I certainly don't believe that "they had it coming to them". I'm still trying to wrap my mind around why McDonald's was the one that was targeted in a lawsuit instead of the individuals that actually did the beating.

No one is supporting the crowd. No one thinks the kids "had it coming." But a slanted, sensationalized article does not help anything.

Again, why did the police and DA office not pursue things further back in 2012? Why were the police not more proactive in dealing with this alleged known hotspot of trouble? That is an article I would love to see researched and written. I am genuinely interested in answers to those questions. And I would think the entire community would want answers.

Maybe someone could get Dateline on this. Seems right up their alley.

Cspd has no problem policing white college kids but group of young blacks At 3 am is overlooked?

Keystone cops

The kids on NG at closing time are a wide range of races and colors so don't bag on them for that.

I do agree that I'd like to know why this particular McDonald's was allowed to be out of control when it was a known problem spot though.

I can barely believe the reaction of most posters to this.

Kraut, calling someone "dumb" for calling out local media for lack of coverage is exceptionally dumb.

No one is arguing that local media didn't cover the deaths or the civil trial.

The issue is clearly that there was no coverage of the continual thuggery by hip hop mobs at the McDonalds. One would think that the local media would consider it their civic duty to inform citizens of the danger at that place.

Testimony in the civil trial established that the thuggery had been ongoing for some time.

Was there fear of offending the black community; legal action by McDonalds if they had covered the thuggery??

There is fault at multiple levels which, in combination, resulted in the deaths of two innocent people, underage drinking not withstanding. Unless of course, you consider that a capital offense.

Wildmen, your post(er) raises some interesting questions.

Is it racism if I cross the street to avoid a one on one meeting with a black guy? Not sure.

However, from January thru June 2004 in NYC, 84% of gun crime was committed by black citizens while they comprised 24% of the population.

Racism or good judgment?? You tell me.

Not surprised by the NYC data, but very surprised that I'd ever encounter a situation here in B/CS where, to avoid potential violence, I'd be forced to avoid a place because of the color of the people who were there.

Sad indeed, racism or not.