On the spot

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(St Maarten may be calling them soon!)

Finally the Intl. Media (ABC) have adjusted their focus, pulling it off the "gay bashing" aspect of the case and onto the police force, where it should be. Their article yesterday (the 25th) - Does Justice Take a Holiday in Caribbean? is far more damaging to St. Maarten than attention so far given to the extent of homophobia on the island (small) and the attack itself.

The fact that Chief Prosecutor Taco has not yet received a report from Police Chief Holiday about the police response to the attack, two weeks after he ordered one, tells it all.

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Click here for latest news - CBS Assault case links

Both the Today and the Daily Herald cover the story.

Poor ol' Taco can't explain the reluctance of the police to investigate the assault.... but maybe he can enlighten us when he gets the report and we can hope ABC will push for it to become public, because we know our local media isn't up to that task.

Taco does make a few interesting statements in the report that need a little closer examination, though. For example he notes that the assault happened very late at night. "The problem is that like everywhere in the world we have less police officers on duty at 3 a.m. than in daylight, so that affects response time," he said. The article then goes on to inform the reader that there are 41,000 inhabitants and just 70 police officers. There are only 15 detectives

Er, um..... 'scuse me, Mr Taco, but isn't the problem rather clear? And won't pretending it doesn't exist or trying to deny or hide this problem actually make the situation worse? You've been away for a while, sir, but I've got to tell you, if ABC really wanted to find more of the stories they published in their article, they won't have much of a problem finding them.

Oh, and about the murders, I should think the 12 or so last year and the 3 this year so far would be enough for 15 detectives to learn the job on. Besides, courtesy and consideration for victims along with procedures for investigating crimes, such as turning up, taking witness statements and collecting evidence are basic training. Right?

And what about the Police station in Simpson Bay that closes at 11pm? Sometimes you just don't know whether to laugh or cry on St. Maarten, for St. Maarten.

Our print media are no better at serving the community, either. The Today paper we already know about, trash that it is, but the Daily Herald is not much better. In the year 2006, it is rather amazing that the leading newspaper of the island has such a lousy website. First of all, articles are not archived, at least not in any way that I can find. If you don't read it today then it's a struggle to find again. Secondly, the news articles themselves have NO DATE!

It's interesting to note too that often stories that might be in the front pages of the DH are occasionally not posted online. The article today about ABC is an example; it was on page 4 and took up about 1/4 page. Apparently Nagico sponsoring the 'Chippie Challenge' is more important, a story not even in the printed paper.

St. Maarten has a big problem and the sooner it is acknowledged and confronted by the authorities (and the local media) the better. At this point in time I would even go so far as to say the police force needs a complete makeover and reform program. Higher Supervision anyone? Time to clear out the attic?

Our island media just needs to remember what its job really is and to do it.

Thank you ABC

Flipper

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Submitted by Flipper on Wed, 2006-04-26 20:27.

Not even sure which posting to post to. I appreciate the robust debate over the incident which certainly has changed my life, and severly changed Ryan's.

It has been a month and there are no formal arrests. I'll repeat what I said three weeks ago. That should bother the people of St. Maarten/St. Martin more than me.

And I think most readers have understood the point I have been trying to make all along. There are punks everywhere. Ryan and my friends ran into a group that hates gays, for whatever reason. I happened upon the scene, and then ran into the much much larger problem of police indifference.

I could walk away and live my life, but I also think that would be commiting the same mistake the police made with our case. Not caring is the worst "sin," of which I can think.

So, let's all keep caring and fix the mess.

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I live in St. Maarten, run a business here, and I am gay. What happened to Dick and Ryan was painfully disturbing and following the circus they call an "investigation" is downright ludicrous.

I haven't heard anyone call for the resignation of the police chief or SOMEONE over the lack of action that has been taken. The police on the Dutch side are a joke...everyone knows it. It has taken this case, unfortunately, to shed light on the issue of poor leadership in law enforcement. Actually, not only is the leadership poor...it seems completely absent.

I don't know what it would take, but something NEEDS to be done to shake things up down here. I guarantee that if an incident like that of Dick and Ryan's were to happen again tonight...nothing different would be done.

Help me out, folks...??

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Not caring is the worst "sin," of which I can think.

I agree and find it astonishing that so little has been done on this case. I now hope that the Island is boycotted. I realize that innocent peoples lives will be affected, but it pales in comparison to the changes caused in yours and Ryan's lives. Empathy seems to be a lost emotion.

Take care and God Bless you and Ryan

candy

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I guess those are two words that might be used most to describe this story.

The impotence is because there appears to be no treaty or protocol between the Netherlands Antilles and France regarding law enforcement cooperation. I do recall in the past there have been exchanges of suspects and criminals between the two sides that have been much faster and smoother, but in this case I can understand the desire of the authorities to go by the book. After all, we wouldn't want these thugs to get off on a technicallity now would we?

But I do not understand nor do I accept that this process should take a month, and I am as disgusted and angry about it as yourselves. There was an article yesterday in the Today which basically rehashed the information we have already had. The delay in getting the French assistance hasn't hurt the momentum of the case, says Taco. Momentum in the same way as a snail has momentum, I assume.

Paperwork moving ahead in bashing case - 4th May 2006

As someone who has visited the island many times over the past 15 years, I am sure you have a love for St. Maarten, and that it is a special place for you. I'm sure also that you realise that the homophobic aspect of the case is not indictive of the vast majority of the population, no more so than anywhere else. It is there, though, in places like churches and the Today newspaper, and I for one will confront and expose it when I see it. I hope to encourage others to, also.

Please realise that I do not in anyway mean to lessen this aspect, but for me the bigger issue is the state of our justice and law enforcement entities. They didn't just fail you, they fail other people all the time. I believe the authorities need to acknowledge this fact instead of pretending it doesn't exist . They must restructure the whole force and tie it to the Dutch police force by way of exchanges and training. This also means new management.

St. Maarten has many problems, the failings of the police force are reflected also in the environmental, planning, housing, health, labor and social departments, to name a few. My opinion is that this is a result of failed and incompetent planning and management by government and politicians. I shudder to think about New Status with the same crowd at the helm.

When it comes to a boycott, I don't think it will work. I believe they will catch the culprits in the next week or so, and it will take the air out of any campaign.

What I think St. Maarten needs is a new newspaper, one that is online as well as in print. A newspaper that investigates stories, digs into them, follows up after them and asks questions. Why has the Daily Herald not reported anything? Have any reporters actually asked the French authorites anything? Where is the outrage this is taking so long? As I said, they all have their heads in the sand hoping it will blow on by.

The local public needs to be better informed and information means education.

A few blogs have been written about the state and operations of our law enforcement on St. Maarten, you can find some of them here, here, here. and here.

By the way, have you heard anything from Taco about the report on how the police responded to your incident?

Flipper

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GLAAD Denounces St. Maarten Newspaper’s Defamatory Embrace of Gay Bashing
Associated Press
Monday May 1, 2006

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is denouncing a local St. Maarten newspaper editorial that glorified gay bashing, trivialized recent assaults, and called gay people "faggots" and "homos."

"This editorial is so grotesquely defamatory that it almost defies description," said GLAAD President Neil Giuliano. "This is the kind of malignant bigotry - pure, unfiltered hate - that leads to and causes violence."

The April 11 editorial in Today (a St. Maarten newspaper published by Today Publishing, N.V.) ran five days after senior CBS News producer Dick Jefferson, 51, and 48 Hours researcher Ryan Smith, 25, were assaulted in the early hours of April 6 by several men and beaten with a tire iron outside a St. Maarten bar. The same men had hurled anti-gay slurs at Smith and others in his group earlier that evening. Jefferson was treated for injuries, including a skull fracture, and released from a Miami hospital on April 9. Smith remains hospitalized in Miami and is being treated for brain damage.

The Today editorial began by protesting - as anti-gay activists have for years - use of the term "homophobia." The paper then ridiculed the term "gay bashing," claiming such occurrences "might have been a case of a stronger (and non-gay) person taking advantage of a male whose strength may be suspect to the more macho individual."

The newspaper then proceeded to blame and attack the victims of the assault:

"Now we don’t know what the news producer and his male pal, who also works for a syndicated news organization in New York, might have been drinking or ingesting before the unfortunate incident. They were in a bar setting, from accounts of eye witnesses they were ’all over each other’ and four upset young men didn’t like it.

"When a newspaper waxes nostalgic about a time when it was more acceptable to assault gay people, that’s not just condoning violence - it’s endorsing it."

They didn’t like it so much that after they were asked to leave Bamboo Bernie’s, they glared at the gay men, who have also been known as faggots, homos, homosexuals and other names that won’t go into this family newspaper. They glared at them hard and they exited the place.

And waited in the parking lot.

Gay bashing has taken many forms over the decades. During and after World War II, it was considered common sport for military guys to let themselves be picked up by a faggot in a bar in Los Angeles or San Francisco. The one who was picked up would pretend to go along for the ride, only to turn around and beat up or rob the homo who picked him up, leaving him without wallet and sometimes teeth.

All that has changed, of course, largely due to American laws that are being spread around the world. Gay bashing is now a no-no. Slurs against homos, a no-no. And beating a person over the head for flagrant public behavior that once was considered criminal misconduct is a no-no.

This is a sorry case and we hope the police find the attackers. But it is made much worse when silly homosexuals use their power in the New York media to trash a friendly island for a one of a kind incident. The homosexual community should be ashamed."

When its editorial generated angry responses, the newspaper backtracked somewhat, claiming in an April 15 editorial that it did not condone violence, but that readers’ outrage over the previous editorial "stems from either an inability to accept a point of view different from their own or from a misunderstanding of what we were attempting to get across."

"Let’s be clear," GLAAD’s Giuliano said, "When a newspaper waxes nostalgic about a time when it was more acceptable to assault gay people, that’s not just condoning violence - it’s endorsing it. I don’t care who you are; you don’t get to editorialize support for gay bashing and then turn around and claim that you’re the victim."

one

Candy :) Hi flipper

Hi Candy - We got this story from GLAAD last week, check it out in the list of links in the blog post - Many thanks anyways )

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I thought it sounded familiar. I was updating stories I follow and actually kinda happy that the event was still being mentioned. It does seem that investigation is going no where, I hope it doesn't just end up geting thrown in a filing cabinet.

candy

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Would not the next step be for the media, Intl and or local to get on over to the French side and start asking Mayor Albert Fleming about the Dutch side request in this case?

One would think so.

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But the Daily Herald has a story today.

French agree to assist in gay bashing case - 28th April 2006

The report is from Taco, not the French side authorites. Maybe he is their spokesman too?

Hady

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I was browsing some older papers before throwing them out and I noticed this editorial from back in March.

Today Editorial - On Gay Marriage - 1st March 2006

There are a few stories this week, I'll try to get them posted in the next day or two in the CBS Assault links thread.

Flipper

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