Taken from today's NY Daily News:
ROCK-TOSS 'BIAS' BUSTBy Kieran Crowley
Ranting that his local mall had become "too black," an unemployed Long Island man hurled a chunk of concrete at a minivan carrying an African-American woman and four young children as they entered the shopping center, cops said yesterday.
Carl Graves, 20, who is white, was charged with a hate crime after allegedly shattering the vehicle's windshield and denting the hood with the 6-inch slab about 3:15 p.m. Monday. No one was injured.
"This was racially motivated," Nassau County Police Lt. Karl Schoepp said. "He was enraged. He worked himself into a frenzy over the fact that he thought the mall was becoming too black."
Kim McCandless of West Islip said she was pulling into the Sunrise Mall in Massapequa when Graves threw the concrete at her van.
"If this rock had crashed through the window, would it have fazed him that he hurt innocent little kids, or me? I could be dead," McCandless said yesterday.
"To know it's about a skin color bothers me even more."
Graves, of Amityville, and his buddies were hanging out near the mall, lamenting that some shops and the gaming arcade were closed, police said.
At some point, Graves picked up the piece of concrete and kept it in his jacket until he saw McCandless' minivan, cops said.
McCandless and the youngsters - her two children, a nephew and a niece, ages 4, 3, 2 and 7 months, respectively - were shaken but not hurt.
Cops said Graves "just walked away laughing" with a pal after the attack. Several witnesses followed him and flagged down a cop, who made the arrest.
Terrible, right? So why isn't it bigger news? Well, I changed the story around a little bit. Click here and maybe you'll understand why it's no big deal. (Hat tip to Lil' Jimmy)
Posted by Jim Treacher at June 7, 2006 12:17 PM