Disturbing Metro assault

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Okay... the crime states are really alarming for the metro (see link below). Do you feel safe when traveling on metro? I will begin using metro 7:30am and 5:30pm everyday to go between Bethesda and Union Station. Are there particular stations that require more vigilance?

http://www.wmata.com/about_metro/transit_police/mtpd_crime_stats03.cfm

You should be fine during rush hour. As I recall, this assault occurred on a Sunday night. I wouldn't expect it to happen during rush hour. But I would be careful about having a smartphone out by the train door even during rush hour. I've heard of kids stealing them as they are exiting the train.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
We don't know what happened prior to the videotaping.

Someone saying something like this must be trying to be needlessly provacative or has never been on Metro with large groups of teens looking to target someone. http://www.tbd.com/blogs/tbd-on-foot/2011/01/man-attacked-by-kids-at-l-enfant-metro----bystanders-watch-film-6880.html
If the guy works in a flower store I'm wondering if he was targeted for seeming gay. (I'm gay myself before PP attacks me.) I hope the poor guy suffers no long term damage. I will never ride metro alone or with my kids at off hours. Do people think that these kids are going to grow up to be empathetic law abiding citizens magically at 18? How is blaming the victim useful to anyone?

Which school is it in NW DC PP?

I wondered about this too. But I was thinking he would more likely be attacked by other guys rather than girls but who knows. If this is the case, they could be prosecuted for a hate crime.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe this school in Van Ness?

Not sure why link didn't show. Seems to be a school for troubled youth?

http://www.rockcreekacademy.org/

[Anonymous]

Wilson HS has been temporarily relocated to UDC at Van Ness while Wilson is being renovated. This probably explains the packs of teenagers at that stop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I found this very disturbing, but it is useful for everyone to understand the kind of things that can happen on the metro these days. I've lived here for a long time and have never thought of the metro as unsafe, even at off hours. I'm re-evaluating that judgment now.

http://dcist.com/2011/01/really_everything_about_this_is_qui.php

So, the fact that you never had reason to think it was unsafe is completely eliminated by one event? Overreact much?

[Anonymous]

NP here. I think that since it's a group of young girls hitting a guy, I bet most people assumed that it was some type of personal dispute if they were just walking by. But if someone were standing there watching and knows what is really going on, I don't see why they wouldn't run and report it. Bizarre.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is a very unfortunate incident, but random bad things like this do happen from time to time. I would say be aware, but you can't worry about attacks and crime beyond a certain point, and you can't really avoid metro altogether.

This wasn't "random". Getting struck by lightning is a "random bad thing". This was sentient (one assumes) people planning and coordinating an unprovoked attack. To call it "random" completely removes responsibility from the people who perpetrated the attack.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP here. I think that since it's a group of young girls hitting a guy, I bet most people assumed that it was some type of personal dispute if they were just walking by. But if someone were standing there watching and knows what is really going on, I don't see why they wouldn't run and report it. Bizarre.

Yes, I was wondering about that as well. People have to realize that girls can be violent too!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wilson HS has been temporarily relocated to UDC at Van Ness while Wilson is being renovated. This probably explains the packs of teenagers at that stop.

I thought this happened at L'Enfant. There wouldn't be a pack of teens at Van Ness on a Sunday night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is a very unfortunate incident, but random bad things like this do happen from time to time. I would say be aware, but you can't worry about attacks and crime beyond a certain point, and you can't really avoid metro altogether.

This wasn't "random". Getting struck by lightning is a "random bad thing". This was sentient (one assumes) people planning and coordinating an unprovoked attack. To call it "random" completely removes responsibility from the people who perpetrated the attack.

By random I was not implying that definition. Perhaps rare would be a better word. As someone who has ridden the metro twice a day pretty much every week day for the past 15 years, not to mention many nights in my 20s, and has never seen anything like this, my point was I don't think we all need to assume that riding on the metro = pretty good chance of getting beaten.

But I was also saying that people RANDOMLY attacking strangers in public is less common than someone being targeted in a dark alley, a lone street, or even among people who know each other. I thought that most murders at least were by people who knew each other. I remember reading that recently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:yes. the black teenage girl gangs on the metro are vicious. I don't ride the metro alone so much anymore. But, definitely more police are needed on the trains. Also, a lot of teenagers eat and drink on the train.

PC Police here. Will you please retract your description? We're sure you didn't mean to include the term "black" when describing the girls who were just engaging in a little "horseplay" (description by another poster). Thank you for your cooperation.

Not the poster you're quoting and hate to say it but the kids are usually black (and maybe "usually" should be in parenthesis).

I don't know. I've seen quite a few rowdy white kids as well. A couple years ago there was a group of white teenage boys on the red line who were running up and down the aisle of the car and throwing each other's shoes as well as diving in and out of the car at metro stops.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:yes. the black teenage girl gangs on the metro are vicious. I don't ride the metro alone so much anymore. But, definitely more police are needed on the trains. Also, a lot of teenagers eat and drink on the train.

PC Police here. Will you please retract your description? We're sure you didn't mean to include the term "black" when describing the girls who were just engaging in a little "horseplay" (description by another poster). Thank you for your cooperation.

Not the poster you're quoting and hate to say it but the kids are usually black (and maybe "usually" should be in parenthesis).

I don't know. I've seen quite a few rowdy white kids as well. A couple years ago there was a group of white teenage boys on the red line who were running up and down the aisle of the car and throwing each other's shoes as well as diving in and out of the car at metro stops.

Wow! Now THAT'S scary behavior!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wilson HS has been temporarily relocated to UDC at Van Ness while Wilson is being renovated. This probably explains the packs of teenagers at that stop.

No, the PP had it right - Rock Creek Academy kids are who cause the majority of the trouble around the Van Ness station around school let-out. I always think it's hilarious when people assume it's because of UDC