Dad believes son's beating by blacks was racially-motivated.

[Chocoholic]

NEW YORK (Sept. 8) -- Brian Milligan Sr. believes his son's race triggered a brutal attack on the streets of Buffalo, New York.
Armed with a chunk of concrete, several assailants beat Brian Milligan Jr. on the back of the head on August 18, leaving a 3-inch gash. They kicked him in the face, breaking his jaw.

Bloodied and bruised, the 18-year-old managed to walk five blocks to his grandmother's house before being rushed to the hospital.
Milligan's father believes several African-Americans beat his son, who is white, because he is dating an African-American woman. Mulligan's father wants police to treat the beating as a hate crime. He also has criticized what he calls a deafening silence from the community, police and the national media.
"If this was a black guy who was beaten by a group of white guys for dating a white girl, people would be up in arms," he said. "There's a double standard."
Buffalo police believe a group of about 10 to 15 African-American men attacked Milligan late at night, police spokesman Mike DeGeorge said. Police have made no arrests and are still investigating the motive, he said.
Milligan Sr. says he believes the attackers are the same "neighborhood guys" who threatened his son and his African-American girlfriend because of their interracial relationship.
The younger Milligan and his girlfriend, Nicola Fletcher, who is also 18, had recently complained of an increase in insults and threats in east Buffalo, where Fletcher lives and where Milligan was staying with his grandmother, Fletcher said.
"Every time they walk the streets, people stop him and call him 'cracker' and ask her why she's not with a black guy," Milligan Sr. said.
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Two days before the attack, Fletcher said she was shot with paintball pellets by the same group of neighborhood aggressors.
"I'm afraid to walk the streets," she said. "Those guys are still out there."
Police "are making good progress in the case," said DeGeorge, the police spokesman. Investigators are still trying to determine if it should be declared a hate crime.
They have asked members of the community to call police if they have any information.
When Milligan was taken to Erie County Medical Center, he was unconscious and suffered blood on the brain and brain swelling as a result of the beating. He will see a neurosurgeon on September 10 to be evaluated, said his father.
He is now recovering at home and remembers nothing about the attack, which has made the police investigation even more difficult.
The story has touched a nerve with several members of Buffalo's African-American community, including a local pastor who leads a predominantly black church in Buffalo.
"At first, it didn't affect me the way that it would have if I heard it was a black teen attacked," said the Rev. Darius Pridgen, who spent years fighting for civil rights for African-Americans.
"But after I saw his father on TV pleading with the community to find the assailants, I decided I had to go after the people who beat this kid."
Pridgen said he felt that the community has turned a collective blind eye to the beating. So he gave a fire-and-brimstone sermon at the True Baptist Church on a Sunday after the attack, appealing to his congregation to help find the culprits.
"He didn't deserve to be beaten this way," Pridgen recalled saying at the service. "If you believe this, put your hands together."
If it was a black teen, Pridgen said, "We would have been protesting with flags and everything else."
Rod Watson also addressed the issue in his column in the Buffalo News. Watson, who is black, pointed out that interracial marriages are nearly 10 times higher than they were in 1960, according to U.S. Census data, but still those couples have a tough time being accepted by society.
"If blacks in Buffalo in 2009 are acting like whites in Selma in 1959, this society has big problems, despite electing a president who is himself the product of an interracial union," Watson said.
Judy Milligan, a community activist and Brian Milligan Jr.'s great-aunt, said she has been overwhelmed with support from her friends, both black and white.
Mary Woods, a member of Buffalo's African-American community, reached out to Milligan to offer her support.
"I don't care what color you are, when something like this happens, justice must be served," Woods said. "There had to be someone who saw something, and they should come forward."
Milligan Sr. has criticized the Buffalo Police Department for spending too much time "trying to prove this crime wasn't a hate crime instead of performing a solid investigation."
But DeGeorge said the department is pursuing the attackers with the same vigor as it would any crime.
"People tend to want crimes solved yesterday," DeGeorge said. "We are performing a thorough investigation and that takes time."
He expressed optimism that Buffalo residents would come forward to help bring the perpetrators to justice.
© 2009 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved

[Chocoholic]

If this was the other way around, can you imagine the outrage?

[*Pleasant Tomorrow*]

Yeah...they're right, it's as if blacks now are acting how whites were in the 50's. Do they not realize two wrongs don't make a right? Sounds like a hate crime to me, and I hope those people are charged for it. It's nice to see that both blacks and whites are trying to seek justice in the effort.

[MickeyMac]

Sadly there is a lot of black on white crime that people dont upset about as they should. Ever notice whenever there is deliberate black on white crime Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are nowhere around??

[Darren J.]

The father is 100% correct. It's most definitely a hate crime and it needs to be treated as such. Reverse the situation and it's considered a hate crime and Al Sharpton would be there within an hour.

[Brieannas21]

Originally Posted by *Pleasant Tomorrow*

Yeah...they're right, it's as if blacks now are acting how whites were in the 50's. Do they not realize two wrongs don't make a right? Sounds like a hate crime to me, and I hope those people are charged for it. It's nice to see that both blacks and whites are trying to seek justice in the effort.

That is a broad statement. You need to add the word "Some black people" in your post.

[browneyes106]

Racism is an universal condition. Growing up here in New Mexico I saw a lot of racism towards whites from Hispanics. I'm Hispanic and I have several relatives that have racist attitudes towards whites. They really don't like my current boyfriend because he is white. There have been various hate crimes towards whites here but law enforcement and state government systems have swept stuff under the rug.

I can't stand neither Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson. Jesse's wife paid several visits to illegal alien Elvira Arellano who was hiding out in a Chicago church. Last year in L.A. there was a young black man named Jamiel Shaw who was murdered by an illegal alien. Jamiel was a good student and was being scouted to play football for several colleges. Neither Jesse or Al have supported the Shaw family. I agree with others if the case in Buffalo involved a black teenager beaten by white teens Jesse and Al would have been up there right way.

[TJL]

Whites are the only people allowed to be racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, and the cause of all the worlds misery and suffering.

Didn't you get the memo?

[Tweety]

Some comments that have been made show how stupid the idea of "hate crime" legislation is.

What this group of black kids did is a c-r-i-m-e... PERIOD. They should not be punished any more or any less than if the races of the victim and perps were reversed.

Whatever the penalty is, that's what these idiots should get...REGARDLESS of the skin color of the criminals or victims.

Hate crime legislation tries to assign a "motive" as to why the crime was committed. In this case, they think it's because the victim was dating an African-American girl. WHO THE HELL CARES ABOUT WHY THE ASSAILANTS DID WHAT THE DID??? The fact is, they DID it, and should be punished accordingly.

This "hate crime" crap means that if the same group of idiots had done the same thing to a black kid, it wouldn't have been as serious. Or if a group of white kids beats up another white kid, it's not as bad as it would be if two different races were involved.

A crime is a crime. O J Simpson is not a rotten person because he killed two white people...he's a rotten person because he killed two people. It makes NO sense to assign a greater value to one person over another solely because of the color of their skin.

A cool video

[spunkygirl]

He's right there is a double standard. If it were the other way around, there'd be lynch mobs after these people and Al Sharpton would be all over this

[Chocoholic]

I agree with Tweety. I think any crime committed against another person is done in hate. It doesn't matter what the skin color, religion, sexual orientation, etc. of the perpetrators and victims are. People who commit these crimes need to be punished.

What bothers me about this story is it's another example of the double standards we have in this country, especially against white people and Christians. If this was a group of white kids severely beating a non-white teen, there would be a major uproar.

[JamesG]

Originally Posted by Tweety

WHO THE HELL CARES ABOUT WHY THE ASSAILANTS DID WHAT THE DID??? The fact is, they DID it, and should be punished accordingly.

WHY is a very important thing to determine aka "the motive".

A person who did something with intent to cause harm is not treated the same as one who does something wrong on impulse.

An example is that this determines the crime of murder vs. manslaughter; the guilty act without the guilty mind.

[*Pleasant Tomorrow*]

Originally Posted by Brieannas21

That is a broad statement. You need to add the word "Some black people" in your post.

Yeah, sorry about that. I read back and realized it didn't sound right but I was kind of just copying what the article said.

[Lee]

Originally Posted by TJL

Whites are the only people allowed to be racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, and the cause of all the worlds misery and suffering.

Didn't you get the memo?

Ha Ha Ha Ha!

Thanks for lightening up the mood a little bit

[Lee]

Originally Posted by Tweety

Some comments that have been made show how stupid the idea of "hate crime" legislation is.

What this group of black kids did is a c-r-i-m-e... PERIOD. They should not be punished any more or any less than if the races of the victim and perps were reversed.

Whatever the penalty is, that's what these idiots should get...REGARDLESS of the skin color of the criminals or victims.

Hate crime legislation tries to assign a "motive" as to why the crime was committed. In this case, they think it's because the victim was dating an African-American girl. WHO THE HELL CARES ABOUT WHY THE ASSAILANTS DID WHAT THE DID??? The fact is, they DID it, and should be punished accordingly.

This "hate crime" crap means that if the same group of idiots had done the same thing to a black kid, it wouldn't have been as serious. Or if a group of white kids beats up another white kid, it's not as bad as it would be if two different races were involved.

A crime is a crime. O J Simpson is not a rotten person because he killed two white people...he's a rotten person because he killed two people. It makes NO sense to assign a greater value to one person over another solely because of the color of their skin.

I absolutely agree! Any crime of violence committed toward another
person for any reason is a hate crime in my opinion, race and skin color
does not make one bit of difference in the world.