In Steven Utash’s battered body and comatose brain, courtesy of a mob of black youths, Detroit law enforcement has discerned different kinds of beatings: Some of the deadly blows are said to be based in racial hatred; other, equally brutal beatings are, apparently, bereft of racial overtones. That’s how ridiculous is the legal species of hate-crimes.
Two more men, ages 30 and 24, have reportedly been arrested in the brutal beating of Steve Utash, who remains in a coma Tuesday morning. Police are still looking for more suspects, believing 10-12 people attacked Utash. …
A brutal beating on the streets of Detroit has left a 54-year-old father of three fighting for his life. The shocking incident happened last week when Steve Utash, a tree trimmer from Roseville, Mich., struck a 10-year-old boy with his pickup truck.The scene was captured from a distance on surveillance video, and it appears that a group of youngsters were playing a game of chicken with passing cars, darting into the street and sticking their legs out. When Utash struck one of the children accidentally, he stopped and got out to check on the boy.
A group of older teens, however, attacked Utash, beating him nearly to death. Two teens, ages 16 and 17, have been arrested, but authorities are still looking for more of the attackers.
The 10-year-old boy suffered a broken foot. …
Utash remains hospitalized in a medically-induced coma. Joe Utash described the gut-wrenching scene that the family has had to endure each time doctors try to bring Steve out of the coma.
If you’re a white supremacist caught in the act—no “alleged” or “buts” for you. On the other hand, if you’re a swarthy supremacist, driven by hate for honky or by devotion to a vampiric prophet and his deity—then mitigating circumstances will be cobbled up for you or your gang.
In fact, after learning (via CBS) of the ages of the accomplices of the 16-year-old charged in the beating—30, 24, 19, and 17—I wonder whether the prosecutor is charging only the youngest of them with a hate crime because, as a juvenile, his punishment is guaranteed to be negligible.
Cynical but quite possible.
The teenager facing the hate crime charge is accused of beating Utash with his fists and feet. The teen’s name is not being released because of his age and the fact that he is being charged as a juvenile. Prosecutors say the teen will remain in custody and appear at the Wayne County Juvenile Detention Center on April 12.