Cleveland doesn't rock?
 

Is it me or is the world getting more and more insane by the day?

CLEVELAND - Even by tough, urban-crime standards it was a grisly attack: Up to 15 people chased a man, then kicked and beat him to death on the street. Before police arrived, one attacker urinated on the victim's head.
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When the crime-hardened neighborhood awoke later that morning, two people reported a man lying on the pavement, his clothes being dragged off by his assailants.

"You got a male being assaulted by 15 other guys. He's laying on the street," one 911 caller said.

The April 27 attack on Charles Gooden Jr. happened in the most murder-ridden neighborhood in one of the nation's poorest cities. But it was also within a 10-minute drive of the city's skyscrapers, sports venues and tourist attractions.

Three suspects have been charged with aggravated murder. Police have not mentioned a motive, but they expect more arrests.

It wasn't always dangerous along East 117th Street, where the tulips bloom late because of the cool winds blowing off Lake Erie just a mile to the north.

"It used to be so quiet, and we were so blessed to live on 117th Street," said Irene Bennett, 78, who has lived there for 40 years. She is so used to gunfire and loud outbursts at night that she slept through the commotion of Gooden's slaying.

In retirement, she and her husband had hoped to enjoy simple pleasures: watching people pass by and planting flowers around their neatly kept home. But the violence in the neighborhood makes that impossible.

"You pay for your home. You work hard. You retire, and you want to enjoy, just come out on your porch and ... wait for the summertime to come," she said, shaking her head.

The attackers sent word that anyone helping police could face retribution, according to City Councilman Kevin Conwell. He described the assailants as gang members.

Conwell said the motive was based on an argument involving a woman and a threat by her cousin against Gooden, 41.

"He went to defend his malehood honor. He hit the cousin in the mouth. When that happened, the other gang members jumped on him," said Conwell, relying on information from police and neighbors.

Charged in the slaying were Latangia Anderson, 23, Johnny Brown, 20, and Paris Moore, 19, all of Cleveland. They were each jailed on $1 million bond.

None of the three defendants was able to afford an attorney. The lawyers appointed to represent them all said they could not comment on the case.

After the attack, a memorial of stuffed animals took shape outside the Bennett house because the slaying scene doesn't have a tree to anchor the display.

The display has dwindled but still has a stuffed dog with the label "Puppy love" and another with Gooden's nickname, Bud, written on it, according to Bennett, who knew Gooden when he was a youngster visiting an uncle down the street.

The uncle's house is now boarded up, along with many other neighborhood homes left dilapidated by poverty and drugs. There are a few newly renovated homes and two newer ones, one with barred windows. But in the once-lively commercial district around the corner, most stores are closed, except for a few barbershops or storefront churches.

The neighborhood is Cleveland's murder capital, according to police spokesman Lt. Thomas Stacho, and outsiders driving the streets risk getting pegged as people looking to buy crack cocaine.

Still, Gooden's death unnerved people here, including the 911 callers.

"They're stomping somebody and ripping their clothes off. You need to come," another caller said. "Like 15 of them beating the hell out of him."

The emergency dispatcher asked if an ambulance should be sent. "You better bring a stretcher, too," the caller replied. "Please hurry."

Not saying the guy deserved it but, how do you piss off 15 people to that unless you were involved in something questionable?

Still, no excuse for that.

Makes me happy how North America spends so much money on the war effort and other things, and yet their own countries are full of shit (Canada included)

It makes me sad that certain areas have gotten so bad, and that humans can even do this to one another.

ég elska ísland :)

ie that sort of theing pretty much doesn´t happen here.

If you would loosen your immigration policy, we can send you some of our minority gangs and you can enjoy it too.

Where I'm at in Mexico this type of thing doesn't happen either. But I've read recently of some major gang war/police killings etc... up north. In some countries it all depends on what part of the country you're living.

better yet, i can instigate :)

in the urban gang environment, you piss one off, you piss em all off.

this alone should be enough reason for people to get off their lazy dead idol watching asses and start fighting back VIOLENTLY against the criminal thugs taking over their neighborhoods.

one grenade would do the job.

I've been to Cleveland. I've lived in Cleveland.

and I can tell you one thing for certain...

Cleveland sucks.

eh, I was attacked by a drunk trio on Laugervegur right in front of the McDonald's near the burned down building.

I didn't think that kind of stuff happened either, but it did.

Your post seems offensive and, hypocritical, considering that you're part of a faction that brought these developments about, especially if you're attempting to make a point about the influences eroding our society:

host I know you have a crush on me, but I'm married. Please give it a rest or I'll have to see the judge again about that restraining order.

I don't see what troops dying in Iraq or the Fed Reserve/Bush/McCain have to do with hooligans in Cleveland in a lynch mob mentality...

Oh God. I know I'm going to regret this....but, Host, just what does the war in Iraq, and the government shoring up markets, in an effort to prevent collapse, have to with some macho moron in Cleveland getting his ass beaten to death by 15 other bangers? How does one make that connection?

And...if a connection can be made...there was a wind storm in Omaha a few nights ago that brought down a tree branch from my neighbors tree onto my birdbath. Can you help me find a way to blame GW?

if he had only signed the kyoto treaty, that wind storm would never have happened. or made good on his 'healthy tree' initiative, the branch would never have been there to fall.

I agree with Host on many issues. But read this post and pretty much had the same gut feeling.

I have a serve dislike for Bush and Co. A dislike that's grown to massive portions over his two terms. But to blame every freaking problem facing mankind on him or his lunatic fringe followers seems rather asinine.

velkomin til íslands :)

i´ve been attacked by a couple of drunks here too. they´re an agressive bunch but it´s drunken stupidity (something that the people her excel at) and not organised violence.

ps what maccas on laugavegur? the only 2 are near smáralind and on suðurlandsbraut. did you mean the 10/11?

i believe the building that was torn down where the fish and chips/gyros were on the corner...

As much as Detroit?

.... and I was planning a trip to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Oh, well.

well, I've only visited Detroit once, so I can't say...tho I must admit that my buddy had his wallet stolen while we were there....

I think Detroit is bigger, so it probably sucks more for that reason alone...however, at least Detroit gave us many years of cars to drive, whereas Cleveland's biggest gifts to the country are Drew Carey and Joe Walsh.


in the end, I'd have to say Cleveland is the suckier of the two.

Sheesh this horribly sad. The fact that human beings would act in this matter is horrifying and the fact that it happened in a US city is even more sad. Why don't we focus on destroying these gangs that terrorize our American cities on a daily basis instead of continuing to spend all this money on a war for oil.

in july of 1967, i was driving home from colorado before i went to viet nam. i stopped for gas on euclid avenue and continued on my way. that evening, on the network news,

i saw the gas station where i bought my gas on fire.

in october or november, 1979, i went to a notre dame/navy football game at municipal stadium. we spent a lot of time at "pat joyce's." never had more fun in my life on that trip. totally loved the downtown cleveland experience.

one of the conditions of my second marriage was that my wife take me to the rock and roll hall of fame. i am still eagerly awaiting that trip and we might just do it this summer...

Just about anywhere you go, you can find someone willing to kick you ass or slit your throat, for the proper provocation. All big cities, and most smaller ones, have a gang presence. They take a slumping neighborhood and kill it off completely, and pose a threat to everyone who isn't "in."

This trend was forming in my mother's neighborhood (yes, in Detroit), and we got her out of the home where she'd raised the 11 of us. She struggled with the change, but eventually realized that safety is a good thing, and lives on quite contentedly as she approaches her 94th birthday, 17 years later.

The victim made a mistake, letting his pride drag him into that confrontation. Sadly, those situations deal out the maximum punishment, even for small "mistakes" in judgement.