Another shooting near the National Zoo

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. For all those clamoring for the event to be cancelled, I have a couple of questions?
1) Do you think that after 100+ years of going to the Zoo, African-American families will stop coming (how will they even know that it has been cancelled)?
2) Are you proposing that African-American families be forcibly kept out of the zoo? Or, are you suggesting that the Zoo close on Easter Monday?
3) If the zoo does close, wouldn't that be perceived as discriminatory and a way to keep the "black folks" out of pristine, crime-free Woodley Park?
4) Same thing for having tickets - the zoo is free everyday of the year except for African-American family day (note Boo at the Zoo is after the Zoo's normal hours of operation).
5) Lastly, If the zoo closes on Easter Monday and there's still violence due to kids being out of school and on spring break, would would have been the point of cancelling?
I'm just trying to picture how it would look to cancel the day and how you're going to stop African-American families from visiting the Zoo (especially if they go every single year). I should admit that I'm a AA and a native Washingtonian who has been to the Zoo on Easter Monday as a child and now as a mom. I had no idea the day was "advertised" on the web site, I just knew that's what we did on Easter Monday.
For me the real issue is that during Spring Break you have a lot of teens looking for something to get into. Maybe providing mandatory Spring Break enrichment camp for teens who are not in the care of their parents/families would be a better solution than trying to keep out certain people or breaking 100+ year-old traditions.

See...that is point! They do not care what these teens do - as long as it is not in Woodley Park. They do not want a large congregation of AA's in their neighborhood - that's why you had suggestions to move a Zoo function to RFK. It would not reduce the likliehood of an incident - it just would not happen in Woodley Park.

Congratulations! You're a mind reader.

Another PP here. LOL!! Nope, it is not about mind reading. All you have to do is read the prior 20+ pages. Some folks were very clear about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. For all those clamoring for the event to be cancelled, I have a couple of questions?
1) Do you think that after 100+ years of going to the Zoo, African-American families will stop coming (how will they even know that it has been cancelled)?
2) Are you proposing that African-American families be forcibly kept out of the zoo? Or, are you suggesting that the Zoo close on Easter Monday?
3) If the zoo does close, wouldn't that be perceived as discriminatory and a way to keep the "black folks" out of pristine, crime-free Woodley Park?
4) Same thing for having tickets - the zoo is free everyday of the year except for African-American family day (note Boo at the Zoo is after the Zoo's normal hours of operation).
5) Lastly, If the zoo closes on Easter Monday and there's still violence due to kids being out of school and on spring break, would would have been the point of cancelling?
I'm just trying to picture how it would look to cancel the day and how you're going to stop African-American families from visiting the Zoo (especially if they go every single year). I should admit that I'm a AA and a native Washingtonian who has been to the Zoo on Easter Monday as a child and now as a mom. I had no idea the day was "advertised" on the web site, I just knew that's what we did on Easter Monday.
For me the real issue is that during Spring Break you have a lot of teens looking for something to get into. Maybe providing mandatory Spring Break enrichment camp for teens who are not in the care of their parents/families would be a better solution than trying to keep out certain people or breaking 100+ year-old traditions.

See...that is point! They do not care what these teens do - as long as it is not in Woodley Park. They do not want a large congregation of AA's in their neighborhood - that's why you had suggestions to move a Zoo function to RFK. It would not reduce the likliehood of an incident - it just would not happen in Woodley Park.

Congratulations! You're a mind reader.

Another PP here. LOL!! Nope, it is not about mind reading. All you have to do is read the prior 20+ pages. Some folks were very clear about it.

Anything you're clear about?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. For all those clamoring for the event to be cancelled, I have a couple of questions?
1) Do you think that after 100+ years of going to the Zoo, African-American families will stop coming (how will they even know that it has been cancelled)?
2) Are you proposing that African-American families be forcibly kept out of the zoo? Or, are you suggesting that the Zoo close on Easter Monday?
3) If the zoo does close, wouldn't that be perceived as discriminatory and a way to keep the "black folks" out of pristine, crime-free Woodley Park?
4) Same thing for having tickets - the zoo is free everyday of the year except for African-American family day (note Boo at the Zoo is after the Zoo's normal hours of operation).
5) Lastly, If the zoo closes on Easter Monday and there's still violence due to kids being out of school and on spring break, would would have been the point of cancelling?
I'm just trying to picture how it would look to cancel the day and how you're going to stop African-American families from visiting the Zoo (especially if they go every single year). I should admit that I'm a AA and a native Washingtonian who has been to the Zoo on Easter Monday as a child and now as a mom. I had no idea the day was "advertised" on the web site, I just knew that's what we did on Easter Monday.
For me the real issue is that during Spring Break you have a lot of teens looking for something to get into. Maybe providing mandatory Spring Break enrichment camp for teens who are not in the care of their parents/families would be a better solution than trying to keep out certain people or breaking 100+ year-old traditions.

See...that is point! They do not care what these teens do - as long as it is not in Woodley Park. They do not want a large congregation of AA's in their neighborhood - that's why you had suggestions to move a Zoo function to RFK. It would not reduce the likliehood of an incident - it just would not happen in Woodley Park.

Congratulations! You're a mind reader.

She may be a mind reader, but a text reader she is not...the PP who made the RFK suggestion is AA and not a Woodley Park neighbor, and this thread has included multiple ideas to improve safety, not just cancelling the event.

[Anonymous]

UPDATE:

A 14-year-old District youth admitted in court Thursday, June 14, that he fired shots into a crowd congregated outside of the National Zoo during the Easter Monday annual celebration, injuring two other teenagers.

The youth pleaded guilty to seven charges including assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a handgun in the April 21 afternoon shooting.

Following his May 3 arrest, D.C. police said the teen was a member of the "Southwest Crew" of Southwest Washington and was outside the zoo when he came across members of the "Kentland Crew", a rival gang from Prince George’s County. The teen pulled out a handgun and fired into the crowd. One 16-year-old was shot in the elbow and an 18-year-old was shot in the hand.

The teen was initially facing 13 counts, but prosecutors agreed to drop six of the charges, including two counts of first-degree attempted murder, in exchange for the guilty plea. He is scheduled to be sentenced in July and could face a maximum sentence of being remanded to Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services until age 21.

[Anonymous]

That seems like he is getting off really easy. He fired shots into crowd? thats intent to murder I woudl think. What if a kid had been killed. This little shit is not going to be rehabilitated. Not until he gets out and kills someone and then finally goes to jail for life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That seems like he is getting off really easy. He fired shots into crowd? thats intent to murder I woudl think. What if a kid had been killed. This little shit is not going to be rehabilitated. Not until he gets out and kills someone and then finally goes to jail for life.

He's 14. There's always hope. Realistically, he's probably a lost cause, but I wouldn't count him out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That seems like he is getting off really easy. He fired shots into crowd? thats intent to murder I woudl think. What if a kid had been killed. This little shit is not going to be rehabilitated. Not until he gets out and kills someone and then finally goes to jail for life.

He's 14. There's always hope. Realistically, he's probably a lost cause, but I wouldn't count him out.

In 2011, the teen was charged with robbery while armed in an incident involving a knife. Prosecutors later dismissed that case. Last year, he was charged with felony threats. He pleaded guilty to misdemeanor threats and was placed on a 30-day probation, which a court social service worker had said the youth had completed successfully. The teen's probation ended just two months before the April shooting.

I'm skeptical of his rehabilitation.