The First Friday Attack & the State of Denmark

We have no doubt that two members of the Kevin Dawes family were attacked by someone at the last First Friday, as well as their van. We do have questions about this attack. There are a number of oddities about the family’s statements--all of which may have logical rationales. Let’s look at them.

1. A group of 20 to 30 black youths are alleged to have attacked the father & son in Wilson Park between 8:30 and 9:00 on a First Friday. It was dark, but wouldn’t others leaving the event also have been walking through the park? Goodness knows enough people saw the (different) crowd at the deli half an hour later.

2. The gang yelled, “Get that white!” Really? Is that what they say in the ‘hood now? Not “cracker” or even the old standby “honky?” Not even one vulgar adjective thrown in? Anyone else out there think that’s pretty odd?

3. The gang had an expensive Taser? We’ve previously commented that we doubted that, but most recent reports from the family indicate that Mr. Dawes had burns from seven Taser hits. A stun gun theoretically won't leave burns, but Tasers do. Seven hits? And no one saw anything?

4. The attack, the mother has reported, was a “gang initiation.” Is this how it’s done now? 20 or 30 initiated at once? And just who in this lovely group took the time to utter the words “gang initiation?” If that isn’t bizarre, we don’t know what is.

5. The gang ran when they heard sirens? (The latest update indicates the mother called 911 immediately.) Two things come to mind here. First, weren’t any of the officers one block away on Court Street and on foot called to the scene? Second, why couldn’t any of the officers catch just one of the 20 to 30 running from the park? If any responding officers even saw one of these youths, he hasn’t made a public statement.

6. Why has no one come forward to offer any eye-witness information on the youths? Again, look at the Subway incident. Facebook and our mailbox were full of witnesses reporting what they saw.

There may be perfectly reasonable explanations for these discrepancies. In the mean time, every uber right-wing (read: hate) site on the Internet is running a story on the out of control black gangs in Florence.

Totally true or patently false, this incident is a black eye on the Renaissance City.



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