Poseurs laughing, dancing, “having a say” … and speaking volumes

This Saturday, July 7, locals are holding another punk fashion show at local neo-Nazi venue The Birmingham Hotel in Fitzroy. Thus, while local boneheads may have deserted The Birmy, Distorted Truth, Sewer Cider, The Boots, The Worst and Wot Rot will be holding a gig to celebrate The Worst’s five year anniversary and to launch their new EP. As the bands and their fans busy themselves having a laugh and having a say, few are expected to reflect that, on the same date in 1942, Heinrich Himmler granted permission for sterilization experiments at Auschwitz. Fewer still are expected to make the connection between neo-Nazism, Blood & Honour, the Southern Cross Hammerskins, their support for The Birmy, and events such as the following:

Bonehead victim jumps to death from cruise ship
Erik Jensen
Sydney Morning Herald
July 2, 2007

An 18-year-old who fell to his death from a cruise ship yesterday had reportedly been struggling after being identified as the victim of an horrific racial attack by [boneheads].

David Ritcheson is believed to have jumped from the cruise liner Ecstasy yesterday afternoon, with the ship’s staff retrieving his dead body from the Gulf of Mexico about 30 minutes later. The rescue was handled entirely by ship staff, the US Coast Guard said.

Mr Ritcheson had to undergo more than 30 operations after [having] been stripped naked, burnt with cigarettes and repeatedly attacked by two [boneheads] in April last year. His attackers, one of whom [David Tuck] received a life sentence while the other [Keith Turner] got a 90-year sentence, sexually assaulted Mr Ritcheson with a PVC pipe, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Although Carnival Cruise Lines, who own the ship that was sailing on a five-day round-trip to Cozumel, Mexico, would not confirm his identity, a spokesman for The League of United Latin American Citizens, Rick Dovalina, told the Chronicle that the family’s lawyer confirmed the death. “The family heard from the captain of the ship. He went overboard,” Mr Dovalina said.

In an interview in April, Mr Ritcheson said he was struggling with being identified as the victim of the [bonehead] attack. “It’s like everyone knows I’m ‘the kid.’ I don’t want to be a standout because of what happened,” he said.

Mr Ritcheson testified in the US Congress in June, supporting a hate crimes bill. He told the House Judiciary Committee that his attackers had stripped him naked before burning him with cigarettes, and beating him as they yelled anti-Hispanic slurs…

See also : ‘Anti-Latino Violence: Neo-Nazi Convicted in Savage Anti-Latino Assault’, Intelligence Report, Spring 2007:

It was attacks like this one that hate-crimes legislation was created for.

A Latino teenager attended a party in April 2006 at a housing complex just north of Houston, in a town called Spring. According to witnesses, the 17-year-old tried to kiss a white girl. She rebuffed him and told her brother about the advance. Word spread. The extreme violence that followed illustrates the savagery that can result from this country’s rising tide of anti-Hispanic hatred

Meanwhile in Russia:

Neo-Nazi Violence Reported in Chelyabinsk

UCSJ
July 2, 2007

Neo-Nazis attacked fans of punk rock music in the center of Chelyabinsk, according to a June 29, 2007 report by the news web site Newsru.com. The June 28 assault was reportedly the latest in a series of similar incidents. According to the article, neo-Nazi gangs have taken over an area of downtown Chelyabinsk, “patrolling” the territory in groups of several dozen and attacking anybody they don’t like the look of. The extremists apparently feel such a high degree of impunity that they didn’t even flee when police arrived at the scene, but instead calmly spoke to the officers about what they had done. The victims, perhaps showing an equally contemptuous attitude towards the local law enforcement agencies, refused to file a complaint, and as a result, the [boneheads] were set free without being charged.

About @ndy

I live in Melbourne, Australia. I like anarchy. I don't like nazis. I enjoy eating pizza and drinking beer. I barrack for the greatest football team on Earth: Collingwood Magpies. The 2024 premiership's a cakewalk for the good old Collingwood.
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2 Responses to Poseurs laughing, dancing, “having a say” … and speaking volumes

  1. @ndy says:

    Er, touché?

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