No federal hate crime charges in torture case

Six Faces of Evil I’ll admit that I don’t know the ins and outs of federal hate crime legislation but, I am wondering how every last one of the 6 people in custody for the week-long torture, beating and sexual assault of a black woman in West Virginia will get away with not being charged with a hate crime.

It was revealed, today, that one of the suspects, Bobby Brewster, has a previous relationship with the victim. Because the crime was not “random” in nature, this, apparently, negates the use of federal hate crimes charges.

However, the state has said that it will pursue stiffer charges for the suspects. Detailed below are the list of charges:

Frankie Brewster, 49, is charged with kidnapping, sexual assault, malicious wounding and giving false information during a felony investigation.

Bobby Brewster, 24, also of Big Creek, is charged with kidnapping, sexual assault, malicious wounding and assault during the commission of a felony.

Danny J. Combs, 20, of Harts, is charged with sexual assault and malicious wounding.

Karen Burton, 46, of Chapmanville was charged with malicious wounding, battery and assault during the commission of a felony.

Burton’s daughter, Alisha Burton, 23, and George A. Messer, 27, both of Chapmanville, are charged with assault during the commission of a felony and battery.

The victim, Megan Willams, 20, is currently recuperating in a hospital and may be released in a few days. In the meantime, the suspects are all currently in custody in lieu of the $100,000 bail for each.

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6 comments for “No federal hate crime charges in torture case”

nancy , on the 13 of September, 2007 at 3:31 am said:
reading about this story so sickens me, I had to reply. I normally don’t engage in this type of media, but for goodness sakes, we are all children of God, regardless of sex, race, religion, etc.

God have mercy on the souls of those who committed these crimes, and as the Bible states, …an eye for an eye…
tera , on the 17 of September, 2007 at 1:50 am said:
God Bless Ms. Williams this story is very shameful an shocking!Shocking that there are people sick enough to things of this nature,an Shameful that I read this in the paper one day an never seen it on the news. I guess it is to bad shes not a PITBULL or that the suspects are not black professional atheletes because then it would have been on every news station there is!!
charl , on the 19 of September, 2007 at 9:01 am said:
I agree. We also need them for black on white hate crimes like Channon Christian and Chris Newsom; the Wichita massacre to name just a couple. And they were even worse. Do you hear much outcry from white America? What are the chances of a black person being murdered by a white person as compared to a white person being murdered by a black. Speaking as a victim of an attempted murder/rape, and one who has many white friends who have been victimized by blacks, I can’t get too overwhelmed with emotion about this particular “hate crime”, unappealing as the perps might be.
If you want a lot of attention paid to this, just be prepared for a lot of attention coming down the pike, to be paid to white victims of black hate crimes. Even the FBI agrees they are far more numerous and the crimes more heinous.
JP Smith , on the 19 of September, 2007 at 3:52 pm said:
Charl,

Would you provide a link to the statistics you’re referring to? The FBI statistics I’ve read point to the contrary. So, I’d be interested in seeing those statistics.

Also, if we start going tit-for-tat, we can throw in Rosewood and Tulsa, the nearly 5000 recorded lynchings of black people and the scores of unsolved Civil Rights-era murders.
RQ , on the 20 of September, 2007 at 12:53 am said:
Unfortunately, there are far too many hate crimes of white toward black and black toward white. Some folks just don’t have tolerance for difference, and most of these crimes seem to be committed by less educated and less financially fortunate. Education is the key. Be respectful and pay repsect forward.
Alexandria , on the 28 of September, 2007 at 1:36 am said:
This makes me so sick. They are not going to be charges with a hate crime because she had a prior relationship with one of the people in custudy. I can feal the mothers pain because one of my children whom is only 14 was recently raped and this crime will stay with this young woman for life. I hope all these people in custudy get what they diserve and more. I am ashamed that cnn or other news programs I have watched did not air this story. When my daughter was raped we had news stations 60 miles away to try and get the story.And when they did all the facts were not correct.Maybe since they did not know they were reporting on a interratial child she got more press. But still what happened to this poor girl in West v. MY prayers are with you tonight. I chose to keep my daughters identy out of the press so she can heal and she is only 14 and the experience of being raped by someone is all she can handle. Their have been so many nights I have spent awake woundering why people choose to do such bad things. Many people need to know what is going on around them and wake up and see that we as people need to ban together and take a stand and make sure these types of people are locked away for the rest of their lives. I know that I will be making sure that they change something about how long of a sentence Rapests and child molesters get. They need to be locked away for longer periods of time.

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nancy , on the 13 of September, 2007 at 3:31 am said:

reading about this story so sickens me, I had to reply. I normally don’t engage in this type of media, but for goodness sakes, we are all children of God, regardless of sex, race, religion, etc.

God have mercy on the souls of those who committed these crimes, and as the Bible states, …an eye for an eye…

tera , on the 17 of September, 2007 at 1:50 am said:

God Bless Ms. Williams this story is very shameful an shocking!Shocking that there are people sick enough to things of this nature,an Shameful that I read this in the paper one day an never seen it on the news. I guess it is to bad shes not a PITBULL or that the suspects are not black professional atheletes because then it would have been on every news station there is!!

charl , on the 19 of September, 2007 at 9:01 am said:

I agree. We also need them for black on white hate crimes like Channon Christian and Chris Newsom; the Wichita massacre to name just a couple. And they were even worse. Do you hear much outcry from white America? What are the chances of a black person being murdered by a white person as compared to a white person being murdered by a black. Speaking as a victim of an attempted murder/rape, and one who has many white friends who have been victimized by blacks, I can’t get too overwhelmed with emotion about this particular “hate crime”, unappealing as the perps might be.
If you want a lot of attention paid to this, just be prepared for a lot of attention coming down the pike, to be paid to white victims of black hate crimes. Even the FBI agrees they are far more numerous and the crimes more heinous.

JP Smith , on the 19 of September, 2007 at 3:52 pm said:

Charl,

Would you provide a link to the statistics you’re referring to? The FBI statistics I’ve read point to the contrary. So, I’d be interested in seeing those statistics.

Also, if we start going tit-for-tat, we can throw in Rosewood and Tulsa, the nearly 5000 recorded lynchings of black people and the scores of unsolved Civil Rights-era murders.

RQ , on the 20 of September, 2007 at 12:53 am said:

Unfortunately, there are far too many hate crimes of white toward black and black toward white. Some folks just don’t have tolerance for difference, and most of these crimes seem to be committed by less educated and less financially fortunate. Education is the key. Be respectful and pay repsect forward.

Alexandria , on the 28 of September, 2007 at 1:36 am said:

This makes me so sick. They are not going to be charges with a hate crime because she had a prior relationship with one of the people in custudy. I can feal the mothers pain because one of my children whom is only 14 was recently raped and this crime will stay with this young woman for life. I hope all these people in custudy get what they diserve and more. I am ashamed that cnn or other news programs I have watched did not air this story. When my daughter was raped we had news stations 60 miles away to try and get the story.And when they did all the facts were not correct.Maybe since they did not know they were reporting on a interratial child she got more press. But still what happened to this poor girl in West v. MY prayers are with you tonight. I chose to keep my daughters identy out of the press so she can heal and she is only 14 and the experience of being raped by someone is all she can handle. Their have been so many nights I have spent awake woundering why people choose to do such bad things. Many people need to know what is going on around them and wake up and see that we as people need to ban together and take a stand and make sure these types of people are locked away for the rest of their lives. I know that I will be making sure that they change something about how long of a sentence Rapests and child molesters get. They need to be locked away for longer periods of time.