Rampaging Teens Need Handcuffs And Charges
Stop calling them “teen meet-ups” or “teen takeovers.” Those terms downplay what’s going on.
I’m talking, of course, about the violent mobs of young people that spontaneously appear, wreak havoc and then disperse, looking like extras from the disturbing 2013 movie “The Purge.”
Worse, they’re erupting around the country.
Let’s call them what they are: Rioters. The barbarians involved should be cuffed and booked. If they really ARE teens, their parents should be hauled into court along with them and charged with child neglect.
That most certainly didn’t happen Sunday night in West Ghent when a mob of uncivilized people descended on an intersection. They were driving like maniacs and setting off fireworks. One of these “teens” brought out a flamethrower and set the street on fire.
The list of laws this crowd broke are as long as Leviticus.
How many of these excitable “teens” were arrested?
Zero.
The soporific Norfolk police response guaranteed that they’d go free. As soon as the melee broke out, calls poured into 911. Norfolk sent a single officer to the scene, but reportedly diverted him before he got there. Another cruiser was sent and when the mob heard the sirens they fled, leaving behind scorched earth and tire tracks.
After disgruntled Ghent residents pointed fingers at the police, the chief vowed to find and arrest the miscreants, according to The Virginian-Pilot.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday afternoon, Police Chief Mark Talbot called the behavior by those at the scene “reprehensible” and said the next step is to “track down everybody involved.” “It wasn’t just kids having fun, it was people engaging in life-threatening behavior,” Talbot said. “I have no idea what kind of ethical misfire occurs inside somebody’s head that causes them to bring a flamethrower to a neighborhood but it’s certainly the kind of person that I’m sure the public will help us identify.”
The time to arrest the rioters is when they’re rioting. But that would involve quick action by the police. Not tough talk two days later.
Here’s a peek of what’s happening in other places:
New Orleans has the right idea. They sent in the National Guard to quell these disturbances.
The U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeanine Pirro, is vowing to not only prosecute the perps, but also their parents.
We’re unlikely to get a response like that from Norfolk’s Commonwealth’s Attorney, Ramin Fatehi. George Soros wouldn’t approve.
Elections have consequences, Norfolk. It’s going to be a long, hot summer if authorities don’t crack down on these “teen takeovers.”
A good start is to stop with the silly euphemisms.
