The Denver Police Department announced today that they have made 32 arrests during a sweep to end a four-month spree of what police said were racially motivated assaults and robberies in downtown Denver, including the LoDo entertainment district.
A task force comprised of the Denver Police, FBI and the Denver District Attorney’s Office investigated 26 incidents in which groups of black males verbally harassed and then assaulted white or Hispanic males, according to Denver Police Chief Gerry Whitman.
Many of the victims were robbed after being assaulted.
Three suspects, Allan Ford, Torrance McCall and one juvenile are still at large. Suspects are being held on $1 million bonds for each count.
http://www.denverpost.com/ci_13835315
Here’s mugshots of the handsome, fine, upstanding citizens:
From left, Allen Ford and Torrence McCall.
Ashley Celestine
Kavean McCloud
More:
The Denver District Attorney’s office today filed formal charges against nine of the 35 people suspected in downtown beatings and robberies over the last four months.
The suspects, who are black and alleged gang members, targeted white and Hispanic men, police said last week. District Attorney Mitch Morrissey said in a statement that others would be charged later this week.
All nine remain in the Denver County Jail, each under a $1 million bond.
Ashley Celestine, 17, and Rodney Christopher, 18, are charged with aggravated robbery and first-degree assault in connection with a Nov. 9 attack at 1550 Broadway. A 25-year-old man was robbed of his cell phone after he was attacked from behind and knocked unconscious,
Kavean McCloud (Denver District Attorney’s Office)prosecutors said.
Kavean McCloud, 17, and Alexander Bunting, 18, are charged with first-degree assault and conspiracy to commit first-degree assault in connection with a Sept. 6 assault at 17th and Market streets, when a 24-year-old man suffered a skull fracture.
Kendall Austin, 18, and Clarissa Lockhart, 18, are charged with attempted robbery, bias-motivated crime and third-degree assault in connection with a Sept. 4 attack at 16th and Welton streets, when two men were assaulted during an attempted robbery.
Nyeri Goff, 18, Landae Woods-King, 21, and Tabias Graves, 18, are charged with attempted robbery, conspiracy to commit attempted robbery and third-degree assault in connection with an Aug. 11 incident at 30th Avenue and Downing Street, when a man was attacked at a bus stop.
http://www.denverpost.com/ci_13859327
Of course, the Denver Police Department had trouble treating this as a hate crime:
Denver police should be applauded for apparently breaking up a ring of thugs who were attacking mostly white males downtown in what seems to be the largest racially motivated series of crimes in decades. Yet we’re left with one important question:
Why weren’t residents warned about the scope of the threat?
Denver Police Chief Gerry Whitman said that groups of young black males from the Rollin’ 60s Crips and the Black Gangster Disciples gangs approached single white or Latino men late at night and struck them in the head, often after berating them and calling attention to their race, but sometimes attacking without warning.
Victims in the LoDo and 16th Street Mall attacks suffered broken noses and shattered eye sockets, among other head injuries. Sometimes wallets and other small items were stolen.
“We have seen coordinated efforts before, but not by this large of a group,” Whitman said as the arrests were announced Friday.
Yet no concerted effort was made to alert residents to the unusual nature of these violent crimes, or their apparent racial motivation.
Police say there may have been 26 such attacks, almost all against white males, but investigators stress there could be other victims and more are coming forward. A few are women.
Monday, police spokesman Sonny Jackson told us all but one of the 35 suspects are now in jail, each on a $1 million bond due to the racial bias involved. The mostly young men and teenage boys are charged with aggravated assault, aggravated robbery and bias-motivated crimes.
The situation was so grave even the FBI got involved.
Who knew? Certainly not the young white and Latino men who were at risk of being attacked.
Though Denver Police issued a warning on Sept. 3 that they were aware of “a pattern of assaults and robberies,” they simply said “single males” should be on the lookout.
http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_13852737
If this had been in reverse, race-baiting panderers Al Sharpton, Jessie Jackson, and Eric Holder would have been marching arm-in-arm through downtown Denver singing “We Shall Overcome” at the top of their lungs.
Related Post:
https://sfcmac.com/its-only-a-hate-crime-when-the-victim-is-black-part-v/