July 15, 2008
Originally posted July 14, 2008
Take a close look at these faces
There is a simple question many in Seattle want to know the answer; which of these girls are witnesses, and which of them are accomplices in the death of James Paroline of Rainier Beach, Seattle WA?
If you’re new to this story, this is what you need to know:
At about 7:45 p.m. last Wednesday, Paroline was watering the little garden he had planted on the traffic circle at 61st Avenue South and South Cooper Street. He ran a garden hose from his house at the corner to the traffic circle — one of roughly 700 that city transportation officials estimate have gardens on them.
Paroline put a traffic cone in the right lane to keep drivers from driving over the hose.
Several young women and girls in cars told Paroline to move the cones so they could pass. He refused, and the girls eventually got out of their cars, a police report said. The confrontation escalated, and the girls later alleged Paroline squirted them with water from the hose, according to court documents.
A video shot by a neighbor doesn’t show the alleged spraying, and it appears to show Paroline ignoring the girls, according to a police report. The girls can be heard yelling that he squirted them with water and that he assaulted one of them, according to court documents. The girls circled Paroline continuing to scream before they eventually walked away.
A few moments later, police say that Brian Brown — dressed in a do-rag, gray tank top and blue jeans — arrived in a silver Buick.
“He walked up to Paroline, paused as though he may have been saying something, then suddenly sucker-punched Paroline hard in the jaw or face,” court documents allege.
The 60-year-old’s hands were at his side when he was struck, and he fell backward, possibly being knocked unconscious when his head hit the street with a loud pop, police say.
This picture has purposely been altered out of respect for the victim
That is Paroline, near death just moments after being attacked, his skull caved in for all to see.
One of the girls was quoted in the paper:
“You already have the story, but you have it wrong,” said Ebonie Shephard, a 22-year-old interviewed at the scene on Monday. “I have a lawyer. I’m not going to talk to you or anybody about this.”
I wonder if she was aware at the time of her smart ass comments that someone had captured the entire incident on tape; which was clearly what police and prosecutors used to decide if he would be charged, and with what (2nd degree murder, as it stands).
The girls, a few a which are pictured above, are named in the King County documents as Ebonie Shephard, Patrina Hicks, Shawanda Meneese, Tawnetta Wyrick, Asanti Brown, and Prissa Martindale.
We know that three of the girls were involved in taunting Paroline and then calling Brown to come and do something to him, and the other three are “witnesses” . We do not know which is which, but many want to.
On one of the girl’s myspace page, it reads “”People change, things go wrong, stuff happens life goes on”.
On yet another, is this colorful message:
Hi my name is Ebonie. I am a coo ass person very laid back and love to hang out and do fun stuff and be around alot people I hate fake ass people can't even do it. I am so past that part of my life i am on my grown women. I just like to have fun i get along with mostly everyone i meet and as long as you dont piss me off it will be all good so if you can obey my wishes then holla at me when can kick it sometimes.
Based on the last login dates, it seems the girls are going on about their lives not having a care in the world.
One of the pages was listed as private, but I was struck at the fact that the 15 year old girl it belonged to lists herself as “Miss Hottie.” Talk about lack of self worth. Where are her parents?
As it stands, police are stilling looking for this man, Brian Brown:
Lastly, and simply a pet peeve of mine: It would be great if someone could remind the Department of Licensing, from which this photo originated, that one is not allowed, legally, to have anything on their head for their driver’s license photo, unless it is of religious affiliation. The doo-rag, no matter what some brotha’s might claim, is not now, never has been and damn sure never will be a religious item.
Update July 15, 2008: Prosecutors have charged none of the females involved in this situation?
Will they, or did they agree not to in exchange for their testimony. While that is possible, I don’t find it likely or necessary; too many people saw what happened to Paroline, hell, yesterday we found out the entire altercation and subsiquent attack were caught on video, so they have Brown dead to rights…while they were able to get the identity of the suspect out of the girls a day later, they really didn’t need anything from them. A few days of waiting it out and watching their cell phone activity would have led to Brian Keith Brown, the suspect charged with 2nd degree murder.
But what about these girls. Fine, three were witnesses. But what about the other three? Those that got out of their car to taunt Paroline and throw water on him, doing their best to intimidate him because of the cones he had placed in the street. What abou t the one who called Brown (or called their sister to call Brown) to the scene to ‘handle it’.
Did they think Brian Brown was going to mediate the dispute using his brilliant oral skills?
No.
They called Brian Brown to the scene because they wanted to see him punch the life out of this man, which is exactly what Mr. Brown did. Paroline hit the ground so hard, the loud pop (of his skull caving) described below could be heard halfway down the block from the traffic circle garden.
There is much more than a moral responsibility here, there is a legal, criminal one.
When you have messages on myspace that say, basically, do as I say or suffer the consiquences, don’t piss me off and you won’t get fucked up…when that is your “about me” message, sister girl you have real issues with yourself. It has nothing to do with what other people do, it has to do with what you do.
And for this same young woman, Ebonie Shephard, to claim that we don’t know what really happened…there was a video camera not thirty feet away, dear, so shut the hell up with all of that. Forgive me, but no one is inclined to give you or your friends the benefit of the doubt on this, no one.
This is the real mean of menace to society. Get the “Natural Born Killers” image out of your head. To taunt and intimidate an older adult, throw water on him outside of his house…
Truly, for the life of me, to the neighbors and the girls, what the hell is the big deal?! Some cones up to protect a hose. I can’t understand why anyone wanted to get snotty about it or call the police; when people block one side of the road with a moving van and put up cones, who is calling the police if you can still safely get down the street? No one. Could the street be safely traveled down in this case? Yeah. Go the othe way. Big deal.
They went after this man in his immediate neighborhood, and then called someone to come reinforce their attempts to intimidate the man.
Intimidation, assault, planning or soliciting assault, intent to do bodily harm, those are all things that point to a crime.
They should be charged. Then let “a jury of your peers” decide what should be done.
A copy of the charging papers can be found at:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2008/07/14/2008051243.pdf
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/370721_circle15.html
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008051182_webtrafficcircle14m.html
http://sableverity.wordpress.com/2008/07/12/seattle-murder-leaves-us-all-shocked/
http://sableverity.wordpress.com/2008/07/14/breaking-suspect-idd-in-shocking-seattle-garden-murder/
I was apalled by this entire incident for so many reasons- and I couldn’t possibly write them all here. It was completely reactive and unnecessary and in the space of a 2 minute phone call for reinforcement (not needed)from their thug friend, lives will be changed forever. I don’t understand the apathy in our young teens and adults today. Was it really that serious? They had to call for back up? I think the girls (yes, I said GIRLS because most grown women I know do not, nor would they ever behave this way and if they found out their daughters did, there would ass kicking from here to Alabama.) should be charged as accomplices at the VERY least. And I hope to see the lil GIRL who made the phone call to Mr. Bad Ass get charged as an accessory. Why? Because something tells me she knew damn well exactly what would happen when she made that call. There needs to be consequences all around and I for one, can’t wait to see it.
If this wasn’t a hate crime I don’t know what is. A crime against humanity!
“witnesses or … accomplices”?
Accessories before the fact? Nasty pieces of work? Street trash? Something in there must be a legal term.
If that’s how they define power and success–getting some strong young guy to beat up a helpless old man for them–(“oooh, you’re so bigg and strong! Go beat up that old man–he was rude to me.” [giggle]), then I have trouble thinking why we need them in this world. In fact, if abortion could be performed retroactively …
If that sounds harsh, it’s only because I have to occupy the same planet with these creatures, the females and the male, and it’s getting crowded enough without being trod on by those who garbage it up with their foul mouths, foul attitudes, and foul actions.
And I’m even madder because I am pretty sure they, at least the girls, will be back on the street before anyone can enjoy missing them, with the same old attitudes and behavior.
I hope they are good to their mothers. There’s no other justification I can figure for their existence.
I have been threatened by blacks in Seattle on a few occasions over the years, for what appeared to be my white skin color, but never by whites (I am white). I can see myself in Paroline’s shoes, had I ever stuck up for myself and challenged those angry and confused black men and women. The reason I never defended myself from public humiliation is because I felt that if I did, I might end up seriously wounded or dead.
The hate of the white man is, in my eyes, clear as day in South Seattle, where I live. There are many blacks around me for whom this is not an issue whatsoever — most of them are African immigrants or Muslim. Many purportedly “Christian” American-bred blacks, especially the ill-educated, seem to be spoonfed the idea from birth that the white man all around them is their oppressor — to be hated and scorned, taunted and stolen from at every chance.
If a white person talks openly about reverse discrimination (blacks against whites) in South Seattle, they tend to be reprimanded by both blacks and whites. Yet the whites are a minority in most neighborhoods in South Seattle.
I am pissed off at white men, too — despite that I am a white man. The ones I am pissed off at are the ones who are members of the wealthy, elitist groups that have purchased the US government (among others in the world), and have taken control of the mainstream media. These people seek a One World Government, socialism (which generally leads to communism, over time), and essentially total control and surveillance over the rest of the world population. They seek total control. They already have it, except now they are putting together the final pieces.
Why don’t I ever hear about black people taunting wealthy white power elites who are members of organizations such as the Bilderberg Group, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Club of Rome, AIPAC, the Skull and Crossbones Society, and on and on. There are dozens of these groups. These are the very people who perpetuate the illusion that blacks are inferior, yet the blacks in South Seattle want to take out their aggression on their white neighbors. The only people I ever hear about taunting the white elites are other whites. Why is that???
Greg,
I am sorry it has taken me so long to respond, but I hit the ground running this AM and have barely had time to stop to eat.
This is a place to talk about these issues safely and respectfully, as you have.
I thank you for being open and honest and sharing your truth because the fact is, through this kind of honesty we can learn a lot.
Not only about each other, but about ourselves.
I hadn’t heard about this incident until I accidentally came across your blog post. This is a horrible, sorrowful thing, shocking and so pointless.
Maybe I’m getting old, but I feel like I see a lot more of a thoughtless and unfeeling attitude in some teens and young adults (in kids of all races) – seems like all that means anything to them or is real to them is THEIR feelings, THEIR concerns, other people aren’t real so they don’t have to be polite to other people, do anything for other people, care about other people.
I have three kids and I NEVER want to see those looks on their faces or hear them make excuses for terrible behavior to others. I can’t imagine what kind of parents these rotten girls and their rotten male friend had to let them grow so poisonous.
This issue is not about color at all, it is about this generation as a whole. This generation is developing a narcissistic attitude toward human life in general. Children of all races have become desensitized toward civil rights and healthy social relationships within the community and television, music, video games and magazines don’t make it any better! I am a black woman and I know these individuals. What they did was a horrible act against another human being. But this issue goes much deeper than skin. This is psychological. These kids are not being fed hatred against “white people”, these kids are being fed hatred against themselves and no one has a perfect solution to fix this problem. I do community service trying to read to kids and teach them morals but it is just too hard when the rest of the community doesn’t give a damn about influence and guidance. Ask yourself who’s life you have touched before blasting this lost generation! My sympathy goes out to the family of the victim. Blessings.
Why is everyone pretending there is not a racial aspect to this story. Would the young women have screamed and yelled at a 60-year old black man? I doubt it. Would the young man have hit a 60-year old black man? I doubt it. Everyone seems quick to blame the 60-year old man for his own death. There is no reason those young women should have even confronted the man, they could have simply drove around the other way and called the police to deal with the traffic cones. Does this give me the right to start a confrontation with every black youth with an ultra-loud and illegal car stereo system, and then call a white friend to come and punch him? If the colors were reversed, every black leader in the country would be crying racism and hate crime, and demanding that every white person involved be charged with a hate crime.
I am caucasian, and I refuse to apologize for it. I also know to judge a person by their actions and deeds, not by the color of their skin. I don’t owe black people anything besides respect as human beings, just as I deserve the same respect. Don’t expect me to be afraid of you because you are black, because I am not. A thug is a thug, regardless of color or gender.
We all have more in common than we do not. Hey black community, don’t forget Obama is HALF-WHITE.
un-PC,
I hear your frustration. I get it. And I agree. A hate crime shouldn’t be mostly defined by whether or not someone woke up that morning with the intention of hunting down a person from a race they hate and vowing to kill or harm them in some way.
I know that a person doesn’t need to actually call me a nigger to treat me like one.
I know Black people don’t have to call White’s honkey’s or crackers to know that they have an internal, sometimes subconscious hatred or resentmet towards them.
There is a mentality by SOME Black people towards White people of “I’m going to treat you however the hell I want, and I dare you to do something about it.”
But if we’re going to talk about those kinds of feelings, we have to trace a long, long chain throughout history to truly understand where that emotion is coming from.
But we aren’t really ready to do that as a nation; nor is our government. We aren’t really ready to delve into race and racism in a way that is thorough or beneficial.
And yes, I agree with you and am more than willing to say, for what it is worth, that no, I do not think they would have done this to an elder Black man or woman; they would have ignored that person, so yes, I agree that they treated this man the way they did because of his race, and not because he assaulted one of them, and not because his cones were in the street.
Peace-
SV
I can honestly say I have never treated a black person different based on their race. I was not raised like that. In fact most “normal” white people I know don’t act like that either. When I have witnessed some form of racism, I call the person out right there. This also includes black friends who have been called “fake n*gg*rs” for “acting white”.
Now, have I treated people different based on their attitude and “voluntary appearance” (clothes, etc…), yes. Black AND white youth dress like thugs, because they want to get a thug’s respect. What they don’t realize is that a thug’s respect is condemnation. I am not afraid of them, but I have no desire to befriend or communicate with somebody of any age who wants to look like and/or act like a thug.
As for the emotion, I do understand what has happened to a large percentage of the black community throughout American history. That history and emotion does not excuse the behavior of a large percentage of a population who has never had to deal with restrictions or outward racism of their parents or ancestors. Personal responsibility will go a long way to really ending racism.
“We want to put flowers where he died.” – Patrina Hicks.
The flowers were already there before you arrived. Perhaps they are gone now as it was reported that you or your friends chose to stomp them flat. A man is dead -simply because someone lacked the patience to wait or drive the other way around a traffic circle. All that were present that day are responsible in some fashion – if only because they were there at that monent in time.
Take down your MySpace page. You are neither “coo ass” nor laid back.
People need to chill out there the media always thinks of whites as the victim even going back to the slave days. If the situation were reversed it would not have recieved this much attention or hatred.
People need to chill?
This was a lynching honey. And before you open your big mouth again get this- there have been A LOT of lynchings by African Americans in the past few decades. A mexican man was lynched in 2007 by a bunch of African Americans celebrating Juneteenth. I kid you not.
you say the media always thinks of whites as the victim even going back to the slave days? As though you’ve read anything from the media from those times!!
To Jane Doe, you would be supprised I have newspaper articles from my great great grandparents from Mississippi. So like everyone else and there opinions about this situation, you don’t know. And shouldn’t talk about what you don’t know if you give me your email address I would love to send you some attachments! Dumb a**!!!!!!!!
So like everyone else and there opinions about this situation, you don’t know. And shouldn’t talk about what you don’t know if you give me your email address I would love to send you some attachments!
Wow.. where is your email address big mouth? I would love to send you a slew of newspaper articles going back from the 1930′s in which black people TOOK PART in lychings. I bet your great great grandparent didn’t keep those around did they? You are calling me dumb ass? I’m not the one lynching people for giving me attitude…. those lynchings are committed by people named Ebonie, Shaquiette, Jermone, Tyrone. A lot of black people must think the KKK is wickedly great cause many, including anti-racist activists, follow their line of thinking, and unfortunately, their way of acting. A hell of a lot of lynchings these days are committed by black people. I’m sure your great, great grandparents would be sooooo proud!
Jane doe you are the one hiding give me your email address. Blacks probably were involved in lynching of other blacks out of fear of hanging there with them.There are alot of people from all races that commit murder and other crimes. I am not trying to get into a racial debate with you this is what I am trying to avoid you are entitled to your opinion as well as me to mine.