By Thomas Kenney Los Angeles
On Tuesday, I was hard at work here in lovely Santa Monica when I heard screaming from outside. I recognized the homeless man on crutches who only has one leg lying in the street, struggling. I rushed outside to find him pummeling an elderly man. I know him to have a history of unprovoked assaults.
I quickly yelled at him to stop and then physically pulled him off of the elderly man. When the police arrived, another witness came over and said that I was the one who assaulted the poor, defenseless homeless man. Why? Because the homeless man was black and so was the witness. He said I should have separated them equally. I’ll remember that the next time I have to stop an elderly man from being beaten in the middle of the street here in lovely Santa Monica.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 13, 2005. Read the original PDF.