Good to see the media reporting on this instead of ignoring it like the Jena 6 and the Dunbar Village Case. My fellow African Americans…this is the America we live in…this hatred and evil that we’ve seen in the last couple of months…this hate and racism…this is part of America. We must work to create an America where all people live in peace and safety…regardless of race. CNN and The Smoking Gun have also reported on this story.
photo: Charleston Gazette “Megan Williams, 20, wakes up in her hospital bed on Monday evening and is comforted by her mother, Carmen Williams. Police say Megan Williams was tortured and raped in a Logan County house for about a week.”
www.washingtonpost.com | BIG CREEK, W.Va. — For at least a week, authorities say, a young black woman was held captive in a mobile home, forced to eat animal waste, stabbed, choked and repeatedly sexually abused _ all while being peppered with a racial slur.
It wasn’t until deputies acting on an anonymous tip drove to a ramshackle trailer deep in West Virginia’s rural hills that she was found. Limping toward the door with her arms outstretched, she uttered, “Help me,” the Logan County sheriff’s office said.
Six people, all white, including a mother and son and a mother and daughter, have been arrested and could face federal hate crime charges in the suspected attack on 20-year-old Megan Williams, who remained hospitalized Tuesday with injuries that included four stab wounds in the leg, and black and blue eyes. Her right arm was in a cast.
“I’m better,” Williams told The Associated Press in a voice barely above a whisper.
“I don’t understand a human being doing another human being the way they did my daughter,” Carmen Williams said Tuesday from the Charleston Area Medical Center. “I didn’t know there were people like that out here.” The AP generally does not identify suspected victims of sexual assault, but Williams and her mother agreed to release her name. A prosecutor said police are investigating the possibility that the victim was lured to the house and attacked by a man she had met online, but Carmen Williams insisted that wasn’t the case. “This wasn’t from the Internet,” she said.
Authorities were still looking for two people they believe drove the woman to the house where she was abused, said Logan County Chief Deputy V.K. Dingess. Deputies also interviewed Williams on Tuesday morning. An FBI spokesman in Pittsburgh, Bill Crowley, confirmed that the agency is looking into possible civil rights violations.
The case is “something that would have come out of a horror movie,” Logan County Sheriff W.E. Hunter said.
The home is in a forlorn part of Logan County about 50 miles southwest of Charleston, where the scattered homes are marked by “No Trespassing” signs. An old shed linked to a mobile home by an extension cord is what authorities say became a hellish prison for Williams.
Deputies found her when they drove to the home on Saturday after receiving an anonymous tip from someone who witnessed the abuse, officials said.
The woman was forced to eat rat and dog feces and drink from a toilet, according to the criminal complaint filed in magistrate court based on what the suspects told deputies. She also had been choked with a cord, it alleges. Deputies say the woman was also doused with hot water while being sexually assaulted.
One of those arrested, Karen Burton, is accused of cutting the woman’s ankle with a knife. She used the N-word in telling the woman she was victimized because she is black, according to the criminal complaint.
Carmen Williams said doctors told her daughter she may be well enough to leave the hospital within a few days, although a nurse said the young woman’s condition was listed as “under evaluation.”
“I just want my daughter to be well and recover,” Carmen Williams said. “I know the Lord can do anything.”
The six suspects were arrested Saturday and Sunday. Frankie Brewster, the 49-year-old woman who owns the home where the suspected attacks occurred, is charged with kidnapping, sexual assault, malicious wounding and giving false information during a felony investigation. Her son, Bobby R. Brewster, 24, also of Big Creek, is charged with kidnapping, sexual assault, malicious wounding and assault during the commission of a felony.
Frankie Brewster was released from prison in September 2000 after serving five years for voluntary manslaughter and wanton endangerment in the death of an 84-year-old woman, according to court records.Burton, 46, of Chapmanville, is charged with malicious wounding, battery and assault during the commission of a felony. Her daughter Alisha Burton, 23, of Chapmanville, and George A. Messer, 27, of Chapmanville, are charged with assault during the commission of a felony and battery. Danny J. Combs, 20, of Harts, is charged with sexual assault and malicious wounding.
All six remained in custody Tuesday in lieu of $100,000 bail each, and all have asked for court-appointed attorneys. (Tom Breen reported from Charleston, W.Va.)
I quoted a Charleston newspaper account on a Yahoo board, and Yahoo removed my “offensive” post…see Yahoo’s nastygram to me here:
http://www.butterfly-dvd.org/pmwiki.php?n=Main.WestVirginiaHateCrimeMassacree
Is there anyway possible to contact the Williams’s and show support? I feel terrible. I wish it could have been me instead.
Look at how these six people were charged. They were armed, they kidnapped her for days. they beat her, stabbed her, tortured her, in the most disgusting and cruel ways…for DAYS.
six black boys, all unarmed, beat up a white kid, who was discharged within hours, and attending a school function later in that day. those Jena boys were facing attempted murder charges.
the news reports make it seem as though her attacks were hate crimes because the attackers incidentally called her a nigger.
I just hope that the more ignorant TV personalities don’t cover the story as opposed to turn on this poor girl as I’m sure some will. “what was she doing there?” “Wasn’t she attacked before?” etc.
This is to these 6 scum filled brains of those arrested. I wish for you all the most, excruciating pain filled deaths when the time comes. I wish you the most unhappy living conditions always. I wish you all the worst and more till the day you die. I wish you all hell, disease (which you already carry) and despair. I wish you grief,horror and uneasy uneasiness. I wish you all untold hurt forever. I hope you all these things and more. You are all waste and you look worse.
And this goes for the others involved that were not caught yet. Frankie Brewster and her low class kind should be given over to a mob and be fed to vultures.
also,,, I hope everyone signed the petition for the Jenna 6. These kids who hung those nooses knew exactly and know exactly what they are doing.They know they are hate filled. It is clear cut to any normal person that these kids think they will be getting away with causing this whole affair…they delight in it….it’ll come back on them one day…..and I believe the court system in that town is WRONG! It astounds me when you can see the truth and it is just scuffed away.Shame on them!!
I can no believe how fast this made the news. Because its white on black crime. What about the five black men who raped and tortured that young white college couple down south. Never made the national news only the local news in town ran a story about it. Despite the fact that these animals raped and killed the boyfriend in front of her and then raped the young white girl for days before cutting off her tits and pouring bleach down her throat to hide dna evidence. Then they cut her up and placed her i three different trash cans before the police found her. Things are bad but don’t assume that life is always worst for black people. White people that are killed dont even make the news.
To Brian who wrote the one about five blacks who raped and killed down south and didn’t get enough publicity……..what about 400 years of slavery, rape, torture WHITE people did this to blacks? Even with the case you are talking about, white people still holds the championship for killing at will, raping at will and torturing at will, so shut up and get you some business.
It’s time as White people to get angry about this reverese discrimination. It’s ok if the victim is White or the assailant is Black… No problem with that now is there? Two paragraphs of excellent examples below….. Let them be heard all over the internet………
“Were you as black people angry when four black men and a black woman kidnapped and murdered a young white woman and young white man in January? They were raped, tortured and murdered. Neither of them knew any of the scum that did this. It was not revenge for a bad relationship. That event didn’t make the headlines. It wasn’t considered a hate crime, but it never is when the blacks are the ones doing the hating. As horrible as the things that happened to the black woman are, what happened to these two young people is far worse and I ask you again were you angry about it?”
“Channon Christian was tortured and repeatedly raped for a period of two days by five Black assailants including a Black woman.
While she was still alive, Channon’s breasts were cut from her body.
The Black assailants poured toxic cleaning fluid down her throat to destroy DNA evidence.
Channon’s boyfriend Christopher Newsom was tortured and forced to watch the rape and torture of Channon.
While still alive, the assailants cut off Christopher’s penis.
Christoper was shot, bound and his body wrapped up in bedding and set afire.
Channon’s disfigured corpse was dumped in a trash can.”
I just heard about this story from KGO Radio in San Francisco. I feel helpless and so confused as to why people can treat others so horribly. What can we do for Ms. Williams? I am so glad that her mother is there for her.
I cannot believe that we live in a society that has such hatred woven into the fiber of its citizenry. No one should be treated this way no human no animal no living breathing entity under God’s sun. This issue stems beyond racism, the reality is that there is omething seriously wrong in any society that does not value LIFE! The sheer disdain for human life is sickening,to rape, torture, mame, kill, and blatantly destroy the life of another without hasitation for some reason is becoming some societal nrom in this country.We as Americans need to examine what is going on in this country to cause us to hate ourselves so much.This is not just about race, this is about a sick society that is getting more ill daily.
Who gives a damn about what O.J Simpson is up to, our society and news media needs to re evalute what is truly happening in this world, remember those things that are truly inportant and news worthy. This world needs to be reminded of the respect, for life that is necessary for us all to co-exist, race, sex, age, weight, class, political views, or any other differing factor can never change the most common denominator our humanity and right to LIFE. Peace
This makes me sick….i cannot believe that we live in this kind of a world!!!!!!! Everyone, regardless of color or religion has a right to dignity and freedom…….we need to wake up and do something about this!!!!
I would just like to point out in response to another comment that 400 years of slavery in the past is not a justification for caring more about black victims than white victims. I am a young white man, I didn’t oppress black people for 400 years. let’s work on today. if it was black people taking white slaves for 400 years in the past, that wouldn’t justify innocent black people being tortured by whites today. no one here is responsible for racism back in the day, so no one here deserves retaliation for it.
The effects of 400 years of slavery are visible in all of our lives as Americans. You as a white man can never, ever understand what the legacy of slavery has done to African Americans psychologically, spiritually, economically, etc…
So, I’m in no way suprised by you comment. You can’t help your ignorance.
So after years and years of being treated like animals, oppressed by the system of institutionalized racism- and i’m not even talking about slavery, i’m talking about the last fifty years- rapes that were reported but not prosecuted because it was only a “nigra”, the bombings, the government medical experimentation, separation of families, the harrassment, the pure wickedness and hatred that blacks in this country have endured, the oppressor is gonna get all butthurt because now all his dirty little secrets are being uncovered? Now, he’s going to call it “reverse discrimination”? Are you serious right now? Really?
And though today’s oppressor does not own slaves (unless you count the immigrant workers that pick, farm, hammer, shovel or clean up after you and your spoiled little kids from sunrise to sunset for less than minimum wage then are villified by the very racist exploiters that make money off their labors) the social, economic and spiritual brutilization and oppression of peoples of color continue just as if he did.
If you are not taking steps in being aware of, and taking a stand against this type of evil, but instead, try to diminish Williams’ horror by making excuses and citing other incidents to support those excuses, you are an oppressor. No one, of any color, deserves to be treated this way. It just pisses me off that on every page regarding Ms. Williams, somebody has to jump in with-”If they were black…” or “If she was white…” If she was white, it would have been all over the news, white people in cities around the country would have retaliated against local blacks and all hell would have broken loose.
We’re tired. Enough already!
Amen CHUGHES.
When white people get scared…..
crazy stuff happens
I think it wrong what they did you talk about wat black people to a college student and her boy friend wat about my ancestors who were slaves and got a rapped and beat we not focusing on the pass we are focusing on today. we cant not change yesterday and we might not make it to tommorow so let focus on today. and this is what has happened right now.
Great Blog! Bad story that had to be told.
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/the-megan-williams-case.html
MAKE A DIFFERENCE! SIGN THE PETITION!
Leave the racism out of this, all of you idiots. What they did was wrong, this crime is colorless, bottom line. Stop being stupid and face the facts.
In the midst of all the anger that had brewed from these recent publisized acts of hate, I continue to pray for the well being of the young woman who was tourtured beyond comprehension for her recovery. I pray for the 6 young men in Jena, Louisiana that they are given equal representation and a fair trial when they are tried in juvenile court. I pray for all the critics, reporters, protestors, activists, and members of this wary, torn fabric of a society we call home in this country who use countless stories like these and throughout HISstory as a catylst to represent a mindset that apparently hasn’t changed for 400 years. That HATE cannot and will not change HATE. If we want change, we must be about it….
Whether you know it or not, or should I say, whether you choose to believe it or not, racism is alive and kicking here in America. Our ancestors were put through hell and just because they are no longer physically with us doesn’t mean their pain does not endure from generation to generation. We will NOT forget. Fortunately, we are a strong people and by the grace of God, we will overcome. John 14 says: Let not your heart be troubled. Believe in God and be believe in Me. In my Father’s house are many mansions. If it were not so I would have told you because I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, again do I come and will take you to myself, in order that where I am you may be also. And where I go you know the way. We have hope and that will NOT be taken away from US. So before you say “get over it”, get a clue.
Let me begin by expressing my deep sorrow for Megan Williams, Channon Christian, Christopher Newsome, and their respective families. The crimes committed against them are beyond atrocious. With respects to the comments regarding racism, reverse racism, hate crimes, etc., let me begin by providing a generalized legal definition of a hate crime.
A hate crime is a crime directed at a person or persons on the basis of characteristics such as race, religion, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. In many U.S. states, once a crime has been classified as a hate crime, additional penalties are mandated for violent crimes motivated by bias or bigotry against particular groups. Based on my limited knowledge regarding the crimes against Ms. Christian and Mr. Newsome, there has been no indication that the crime committed against them were racially biased, or that the persons who committed the offenses would not have done so had the victims been black. This does not downgrade the horrific nature of the offense, it simply doesn’t elevate the penalties.
The crimes committed against Ms. Williams appear to be racially motivated, based on the information provided about the statements made by the persons who committed the offense, and as such, would face elevated penalties as a hate crime.
Whether the victims or perpetrators of the above crimes are black or white does not negate the fact that the crimes are heinous in and of themselves; nor does it diminish the fact that racism still flourishes in today’s society. I have witnessed racism involving whites against blacks and blacks against whites. I am a black female and have experienced various degrees of racism throughout my childhood and adult life. I’ve even witnessed and experienced discrimination among my own race. There are those among my race who discriminate because my skin coloring is too dark, or that my skin coloring isn’t dark enough – talk about ludicrous. Regardless of what I’ve experienced and witnessed, that doesn’t mean that I blame every single white person in existence for the actions of the bigots or racists in existence; nor do I discriminate among my own race. It merely means that I am cognizant of the ugly truth that even in 2007, hatred and bigotry still flourish. It never ceases to amaze me how human beings can inflict such pain and sorrow against one another.
Gabriel, I agree with your remarks that 400 years of slavery in the past is not a justification for caring more about black victims than white victims. I’ve worked with victims and no victim should undergo what Ms. Williams, Ms. Christian, or Mr. Newsome experienced. Under no circumstance should slavery in the past be a justification for crimes committed today. Again, I must reiterate that their doesn’t appear to be a correlation that the crimes against Ms. Christian and Mr. Newsome were racially motivated, unless someone has additional information that I’m not aware of. Please, also keep in mind that the effects of slavery are still burdensome to carry, even today. I don’t have the time to regurgitate every aspect of racism I’ve experienced, as recently as 3 weeks ago, but rest assured it still flourishes.
ITS REALLY A SHAME WHEN THE BEST PEOPLE CAN DO TO THROW REALLY HORRIBLE INCIDENTS AT EACH OTHER. NO ONE BLACK OR WHITE DESERVES TO BE TREATED THIS WAY, BUT WHEN ITS DONE BY WHITES ITS EXPLAINED AWAY. WHEN BLACKS DO THESE TYPES OF CRIMES OUT COME THE NOOSES. SORRY PEOPLE, BUT THESE PEOPLE SHOULD BE CHARGED WITH ATTEMPED MURDER, AS THE JENA SIX WAS AND ALSO AS THE MEN THAT KILLED THE WHITE WOMAN AND THE WHITE MAN, WERE CHARGED WITH MURDER. RACISM IA ALIVE AND WELL IN AMERICA
The Megan Williams case seems to be turning into a case of horrific domestic abuse rather than a hate crime. She has lodged charges against one of the accused, Bobby Brewster, before. Police investigated a disturbance at the house before the current incident and arrested Brewster on charges of domestic battery and assault against Williams. Some of the police officers recognized Williams from the early incident and never believed her claim that she barely knew the defendants.
All of the defendants have criminal records, including violent offenses against white people. Frankie Brewster was charged with first-degree murder in 1994, but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter in the death of an 84-year-old woman. She was released in 2000 after serving five years in prison. At age 12, Bobby Brewster shot and killed his stepfather. Are six are not facing serious charges of kidnapping, sexual assault, malicious wounding and assault. If convicted, they will are going to spend a lot of time in prison.
Oh come on. This is not a contest between which race has the most sickos. Every time something like this happens, you can bet some fool starts defending these other racist fools by demanding a talley. “They didn’t report this black on white crime or that white on black crime”. The people that commit these crimes are animals. I am just as appalled when they are committed by Black human animals as White human animals. I wish all such crimes were reported so we Human Beings of all races, can know who they are and possibly keep ourselves safe.
This is a person! A person that should never be treated in such a manor. The reason it is a white on black issue is because these 6 people made it one. Megan Williams is not trying to “play the race card”.
I’m a 43 year old white man, OMG… My heart goes out to poor Megan and her family. This should not happen to anyone regardless of skin color.
I’m outraged the the judge/prosecutor will not add HATE crime to the charges… I guess they are both WHITE. I guess the system still does not acknowledge that their state has HATERS among them.
OMG just look at those six inbred creatures, not even human… They should all be ‘Put Down’ like a rabid dog for what they have done, so the seeds of their behavior don’t get planted into others to perpetuate the hatred…
I don’t care from what background you come from or what qualifies as entertainment to some people, this is plain wrong. If the courts don’t do right by Megan, there should be justice on a vigilantly level. I’m so ill by this I can’t write anymore….
Dave
It is unfortunate that whenever there are race crimes, Americans retreat to the racism issue. What else can we do? Push for JUSTICE, irregardless of who the victim or defendent may be. Until an American can honestly fight for EVERY AMERICAN’s equal-justice, he or she should (1) be silent and just except that he or she is really a hater – at some level, and (2) not expect AMERICA to be what you refuse to be.
Letz face it people and i mean my people of color,
anything they do is justifiable.like the case of the WHITE women teacher having sexual relationz with those 14yr old boyz.Any normal human would say molester,molester but phyc and others say she not a pedifile due of her lack of childhood.she was never molested and her father was and still is a priest,u do the math im out..bOTTOMz
If justice in this land was equitably applied, then this wouldn’t even be a discussion.
It amazes me that folks just won’t realize that the system of racism is intricately woven throughout every facet of american life- the media, education, the justice system, economic structure, etc. It is easy to “be silent”. It is easy to call people names.
America steps in around the world on behalf of ‘justice’. It is not silent, regardless of the feelings of those it seeks to aid.
This crime against Meghan Williams was awful in the true meaning of the word – horrific. I never heard the crime about the young couple that was tortured. I am sickened and quite saddened by the sadistic nature of our community at large. Not only are there people on this site that made excuses for one crime versus another but it was almost a sense of “oh well.” I can’t imagine the torture and utter pain this couple went through nor that of Ms Williams. There is enough racism in this world without pulling slavery in every crime a black person commits as an excuse of their behavior. I understand institutional racism – guess what – people have the ability to choose right from wrong. There is no excuse for condoning anyone being tortured and murdered because they are white. The history of America includes slavery and all forms of racism but that can’t be made up for by killing innocent people nor is it an intelligent response. There were white people that worked as abolitionists during slavery so it negates the fact that all white people are bad and deserve what’s coming to them because of slavery. Even if America is intelligent and fearless enough to elect a brilliant person like Senator Obama as president – racism will still exist but it paints a portrait that says “most of America” is ready to move on. More hate doesn’t show people another path –more hate breeds more hate. Love is the only thing that kills hate – that is what Jesus taught HIS people. If you don’t HIM – oh well. I feel the pain as a black person when I see someone like me who is mistreated just because they are black, but honestly vigilante justice breeds more of the same. I believe in GOD and he will handle all of my enemies. He died on the cross and showed the world how to forgive your enemy. I will wait for the end and see if the Bible was right, cause if it is all true-there are so many people who will pay for horrible things especially people who have committed crimes against it’s own. Towards the end of the age the world will become a much more bitter, evil place but certainly God has given us the ability to be forgiving and choose to make more loving decisions about others. Get ready, people Jesus will be back soon.
We should all pray for Megan and her family. No one should have to go through something like that. I hope one day she can find peace. Also, a prayer should be said for Christianson and Newsome. Unfortunately they never will be going home. We can’t move forward as a society if we justify rape and torture. It is wrong in any context.