Eugene Kane's column in today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "13-year-old carjacker is as scary as it gets," tells another story of youth and violence and victimization in Milwaukee.
Kane writes:
It might be the scariest urban nightmare imaginable.
Getting carjacked at gunpoint obviously ranks way up there. When the carjacker is a 13-year-old boy, the anxiety level is off the charts.
With a criminal that young, there's no way to predict what will happen. He is, after all, just a child.
With a gun pointed at your head.
Marie Jefferson was face-to-face with this particularly harrowing urban nightmare and thankfully lived to talk about it. Jefferson, 48, was leaving church on Sunday with her 8-year-old grandson. Almost as soon as she was ready to get into her car, the 13-year-old and two other young people appeared.
...She remembers seeing the group approach her car in a non-threatening manner. What happened next happened so fast that she had little time to react.
"At first, it looked like they were just walking past us and then it happened," she said. "I just looked up, and he was there. He said, 'Give me the keys.' "
After the car was stolen, Jefferson went home and told a male acquaintance, who armed himself with a gun and went looking for the carjackers. He found them in the area and fired a shot that missed the mark.
The three young suspects were caught later that evening, so the rest of us don't have to worry about these particular "children" out on the streets. Jefferson's friend also was arrested, on suspicion of endangering safety by use of a dangerous weapon.
Jefferson was still upset days after the traumatic sequence of events. A native of Arkansas and mother of five, she moved to Milwaukee 17 years ago. Like most north side residents, she's been concerned about rising violence but she had never been the victim of a crime before.
In Jefferson's mind, the youth of her assailants was a nagging reminder of the dysfunctional nature of too many families where parents don't give their children enough guidance.
"It must be the parents," she said. "They must not have anybody who spends time talking to them about the right things to do."
The carjacking by these children is indeed scary. A 13-year-old stealing your car at gunpoint is terrifying.
I can understand why Jefferson was so shaken by the experience. Her 8-year-old grandson isn't all that much younger than the thug who put the gun to her head.
I agree with Jefferson's opinion that its the lack of proper parental guidance that has a lot to do with the prevalence of this outrageous, dysfunctional behavior.
So Kane holds Jefferson up not only as a victim of crime, but also as a wise woman with the moral authority to pass judgment on her young assailants and those of their ilk.
How can Kane just skim over the fact that Jefferson's "male acquaintance" armed himself with a gun and went out to find the carjackers?
Jefferson seems to suffer from the same affliction as John Jazwiec -- not knowing when it's time to call 911.
(Of course, Jazwiec chose to contact Mayor Tom Barrett rather than arm himself and go after the man who allegedly invaded his home and held his family hostage.)
When Jefferson's "male acquaintance" found the carjackers, he "fired a shot that missed the mark."
What was the mark?
Whatever it was, thank God the man didn't hurt anyone.
How can Kane dismiss the fact that Jefferson and her "male acquaintance" are just as dysfunctional as the teenage carjackers?
That's as scary as it gets.
Kane describes Jefferson as still upset about her ordeal. "Like most north side residents, she's been concerned about rising violence but she had never been the victim of a crime before."
If this woman is so concerned about rising violence, I have to wonder if she is equally concerned about her "male acquaintance" grabbing a gun and firing it when he found the young criminals. Talk about rising violence!
When you're the victim of a carjacking, you call the police. You don't have your "male acquaintance" arm himself and go after the thugs -- a thug with a gun in search of young thugs with a gun.
Jefferson says that her assailants "must not have anybody who spends time talking to them about the right things to do."
Good Lord, does she think that she did the right thing? What sort of message is this mother of five sending to her children and her grandson?
Reporting the carjacking to police is the right thing to do.
Associating with the sort of "male acquaintance" who would take to the streets with a gun in response to the carjacking is not the right thing to do.
Kane doesn't seem to get that Jefferson is part of the urban nightmare. She's certainly not part of the solution to rising violence.
Unreal.
Absolutely unreal.
I am so sick of being sickened by the crap that goes on in Milwaukee.
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