Does it take bruises in certain places before there’s any "evidence’?
And being pepper prayed is OK???
A 15 year old…at a Trump event? I certainly hope her parents didn’t let her go alone.
It seems to me there is a very likely possibility that she was groped but it is also possible there is no evidence. I do not think she would make it up but unfortunately, they probably cannot press charges without more proof than her word. On the other hand, I hope she is treated decently by the authorities. Her retaliation is on tape but if she is a juvenile, hopefully she is treated as one.
The real crime was the pepper spray and it seems likely a tape of the perpetrator will surface. Given what we know the whole incident seems like a real injustice to the young girl at the hands of hateful people.
Her statement is evidence. What they mean is no corroborating evidence. Obviously the Trump supporters who saw it aren’t going to corroborate her accusation anyway.
Anyhoo, I’ve seen the video and it’s hard to tell, but it does look like the guy held a hand up towards her, which may have accidentally resulted in him touching her in he wrong place, but for all the assholiness that these Trump idiots exhibit, this time it seems that part of it was probably unintentional what with the jostling of the crowd, etc.
Huh? Where does it say that? They’re looking for the perp.
Okay, all seems in line with the evidence here except that the characterization of her feeble slap towards the crowd that was pushing in on her (including, I might add, a can of pepper spray aimed in her direction, which was out and visible before she slapped) as a “punch” is something that started at the event amongst the always-need-to-be-the-victim Trump crowd and keeps getting incorrectly repeated. It is shameful for the Janesville police department to be not only echoing this mischaracterization but also acting on it with a legal charge.
That is not a punch. It is, at best, a slap. And if the old guy touching her breast doesn’t qualify as sexual assault (which I agree it should not) then her feeble slap should also not be counted legally as “disorderly conduct”.
The gentleman in the foreground in the red hat is the culprit
You can see in the video he has a bundle of papers that he was tapping her in the chest with as they were arguing, which is being a jerk but hardly sexual assault. After she starts shouting at him, he backs off with his hands in the air. It looks like she takes a swing at him after that, but it’s hard to tell with all the people around.
The phrase “no evidence of sexual assault,” regardless of context, places a great deal of stress on my belief in nonviolence.
Times have changed… In my place and time it was not uncommon for 15 year-old protesters braving gas and rubber bullets and throwing bricks at the police. Now in my suburban town, everybody is surprised that a 14 year old girl, that, after school walks alone (OMG) to her job (holy molly!).
I guess you need be really oppressed and hopeless like the kids in the West Bank to prevent the extended childhood that society is imposing on today’s teenagers.
Sing like nobody’s listening.
Love like you’ve never lost.
Mace like nobody’s cell phone has a built in video camera.
Religious conservatives the world over are fighting for a man’s right to pepper spray, or worse women. These people are true christianist Republicans.
My mom had a dachshund in the 50s that she named “Die Fledermaus”, because of his ears. Well, so long.
Her testimony is evidence. “Insufficient evidence to obtain a conviction in the opinion of investigators or prosecutors” is not the same thing as “no evidence.” “No video or forensic evidence” is not the same thing as “no evidence.” The regularity with which cops or DA’s or reporters say there’s “no evidence” when, in fact, they mean one of those other things borders on defamation because it imputes dishonesty or perjury to the victim.
Tom, it was a clenched-fist punch at the face of a specific man. Feeble, yes, but it was a punch.
None of the video I’ve seen indicated that it was out and visible. The sprayer brought his arm up and extended his hand and the can toward her after the punch.
She’s on tape throwing a punch at somebody who has backed off from her and was behind somebody else (she had to throw the punch over another person’s shoulder. If he wants to press charges, the evidence is strong.
Don’t excuse her for doing something stupid, just because it was at a Trump rally and she caused no real harm. Law enforcement needs to send a message of zero tolerance for violence at these rallies, or things will get out of hand quickly.
Which is why she’s been charged and the guy with the pepper spray hasn’t?
She popped his head back a little. She definitely punched him. Not enough to cause him real harm, as he’s seen laughing after the fact.
Or because, according to this report, they haven’t located him yet.