Public punishment for cowardly act

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November 19, 2009

Anonymous The Tribune-Democrat Thu Nov 19, 2009, 09:16 AM EST

We urge state police in Indiana County to work with urgency to determine who burned a cross outside a home in West Wheatfield Township, and to arrest all parties involved.

The punishment for this cowardly act should be very public, stripping away the anonymity the actors counted on when carrying out their crime in the dark of night.

The family that was victimized – Joe and Candy Walbeck and a foster child, who is black – deserve the best efforts of the police and the full support of their community and the United School District.

When the crime hit the news Monday, there were more questions than answers.

* Was this a deliberate act of attempted ethnic intimidation?

* Or was this a reaction to a lost football game, with actors turning to a symbol of racism to express a different frustration?

We don’t care what the motives were.

No one could burn a cross on another person’s lawn without understanding the implications.

Someday, hopefully soon, the actors will stand before a judge and receive their punishment.

Let us suggest a course of action:

* The actors should be forced to hold a press conference and talk to reporters and cameras about what they did and why they did it.

* Those actors should also be sentenced to participate in a public forum on racism, perhaps on the IUP campus or at United High School.

* They should be sentenced to go into classrooms, in rural and urban areas, and talk with children about racism.

And anyone found to be withholding information about the crime to protect the actors should endure the same sentencing.

Perhaps the actors and their accomplices should get a choice in sentencing: Engage in the above public service, or spend a few months at a state

penitentiary such as Graterford in Philadelphia.

They might find that to be an illuminating experience.

You can help

Anyone with information about the cross-burning incident in West Wheatfield Township should call the Indiana state police barracks at:

(724) 357-1960.

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