Man arrested in Baltimore St. Patrick's Day beating

[Rockntractor]

Saturday - 4/14/2012, 3:00pm ET

WASHINGTON - A man has turned himself in after he was linked to the beating of a man in downtown Baltimore on St. Patrick's Day -- an attack that was caught on video and went viral.

Aaron Parsons, 20, of Rosedale, was arrested Friday night, police said. His attorney tells the Baltimore Sun that he turned himself in. Social media posts over the past week have linked him to the attack.

Investigators looked to the local community and nationwide for information leading to this arrest.

"It was the help of community intelligence from people as far away as California calling Baltimore police, helping is us out and identifying potential suspects in this vicious attack," says spokesman Anthony Gugliemlmi.

In the video, a crowd laughs as the victim is punched in the face. The crowd then strips him naked and takes his belongings, including his car keys, watch and phone.

Parsons is charged with assault, robbery and other crimes.

There are some disturbing images in the video.
http://www.wtop.com/?nid=86&sid=2827048

Well I guess we need to get all of our white activist reverends together and protest for a hate crime charge!

[wannaberocker]

well it wasnt just one guy. It was a number of people and even a female who punched the tourist when he was on the ground. Sick people, i tell ya.

[noonwitch]

This reminds me of the movie with Jodie Foster, where she played the rape victim in the bar, where all the guys stood around and cheered while she was getting raped.


In the movie, the prosecutor felt badly because she didn't go far enough and the actual rapist walked, so she charged the "spectators" and won convictions. Couldn't that be applied in this case, even though they have caught the actual perp?

In light of everyone having a camera on their cell phone, I'm sure there is a way to identify the crowd members. They can be charged, since none of them tried to stop it and actually cheered it on.

[Odysseus]

This reminds me of the movie with Jodie Foster, where she played the rape victim in the bar, where all the guys stood around and cheered while she was getting raped.


In the movie, the prosecutor felt badly because she didn't go far enough and the actual rapist walked, so she charged the "spectators" and won convictions. Couldn't that be applied in this case, even though they have caught the actual perp?

In light of everyone having a camera on their cell phone, I'm sure there is a way to identify the crowd members. They can be charged, since none of them tried to stop it and actually cheered it on.

In this case, the crowd did more than egg on the attackers, as many of them inflicted blows on the victim.

I expect Eric Holder to file federal civil rights charges against all of them at any moment...

[wannaberocker]

I expect Eric Holder to file federal civil rights charges against all of them at any moment...

has hell frozen over?

[JB]

Well I guess we need to get all of our white activist reverends together and protest for a hate crime charge!

Isn't everyone in Baltimore wearing Mountain Dew T-shirts (like the vic was at the time)? No, we're not doing that? Oh.

For the record:

Baltimore's police chief said that the videotaped beating of a white tourist does not appear to be a hate crime, but rather "drunken opportunistic criminality" on the part of a gang of Charm City assailants.