Update: Oreo, Dog Thrown Off Building, Was Euthanized
People Wait For Tomorrow's UWS Apple Store Opening
Emily and Sarah Kunstler, Filmmakers
Video: Close Encounters Above Central Park?
Cheap Chicken Wing Deal Ruined by Gunslinging Teens
A father of one of the arrested in a Staten Island 4th of July melée with cops, who were responding for a fourth time to the scene of a raucous party and illegal fireworks display, complained of the racial injustices Italian-Americans are forced to endure at the hands of the police and America's legal system.
"If we were black, Al Sharpton would have been here," said the father of one suspect. "Because we're white and Italian, we have no civil rights. They have to fight this. It's ridiculous."
Indeed, "ridiculous" is the first word that popped into our heads when reading today's article in the Staten Island Advance. Police arrested 19 people in the Independence Day incident and issued summonses to another 11 individuals. When police arrived at 23 Fillmore St. on Staten Island, the homeowner slammed the door on the leg of Inspector Richard Bruno. Eventually, five police officers would be injured in the brawl with partygoers.
Homeowner Richard Sciana's lawyer, John Meringolo, said that police used excessive force in making the arrests and cited the fact that mace was sprayed on party guests, a 69-year-old woman was bruised, and cops put a woman with Down Syndrome in handcuffs. That woman, 20-year-old Anna Marie Sciana, admitted earlier that her injuries were incurred after she jumped on the back of a police officer. The Advance says that the worst of the struggle occurred when other partygoers were similarly jumping on police in an attempt to prevent them from making arrests. A number of the arrested said that they intend to sue for police brutality. Mr. Sciana, who was accused of being a member of a mafia hit squad for the Columbo family organization in the early 1990s, said that he will not be pressing any charges against police.
Bruising and mace sound like fairly unpleasant experiences. We can't help but wonder how a similar incident would have played out in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, if a group of 100 black partygoers started jumping on the backs of officers responding to a complaint from neighbors. We suspect we would be reading articles about something much more severe than a "donnybrook."
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
Fireworks are ILLEGAL....they broke the law by possessing fireworks.....case closed
Amazing. Even when he's not at all involved, the Rev. Al's name still gets invoked...
they should cry me a river. baby pee pants!
I guess it was too much of an effort for these people to go to the Macy's fireworks display. Those amateurs just had to have their own personal pyrotechnic extravaganza and endanger the neighborhood.
Where did Gothamist get this interesting tidbit:
"Mr. Sciana, who was accused of being a member of a mafia hit squad for the Columbo family organization in the early 1990s, said that he will not be pressing any charges against police."
oh, puh-f*****g-leeze!!!!
IF they were black, the police would have arrested them RIGHT AWAY without any warning!!!!
When did the editorial crew at Gothamist get together and say, "Hey, we really need to be more racially partisan because that's clearly what people want. Never mind reporting stories, let's editorialize the shit out of them every chance we get. That'll really put us ahead of the game."
You wrote for the college paper. You graduated. Move on with your lives already.
i like the editorial. if gothamist is where you get your 'news', you have big probs.
Take responsibility for your actions, no matter your color, sex or age.
I dont see gothamist editorializing; they took a quote directly from an outside source.
I'd hate to think what I would be reading if this happened in a predominately black neighborhood.
We even read about these types of incidents in predominately Jewish neighborhoods. Not fireworks but a large melee.
The info about Mr. Sciana's past brushes with the law was taken from the linked article in the Staten Island Advance.
The 20 year old with Down syndrome was quoted as saying, "Schoooooool buses!"
D. hogarty is correct, if you went on the SIlive site linked (and yesterday's link) it tells you that and much more. Like the info on all arrested, their age and address.
#7: Which part of the editorial comments do you like? The police-abused-these-unfortunate-people part;
or the police-abuse-of-these-unfortunate-people-would-have-been-worse-if-they-were-black part? Either way, the one group of people who never get fair treatment on Gothamist are the cops. The laws of probability dictate that even cops could be right once in a while.
Reminds me of the ex-mafia bartender I met, who was complaining that "Guiliani ruined it for all the Italians" and that his past days of working for the 'waste management industry' a couple of hours a day for $3500/week had been ruined. Uh yeah.
Stuy-guy, I don't think it would have merited an article if not for the initial quote from the father.
And after all, this is a blog, not CNN.
I don't understad what the issue is, if theyr'e jumping on thecops and shit they can use whatever frce they want. how retarted do you have to be to jump on the cops and shit?
whatever.
this is stupid.