# A brain for a tooth - Deserved? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 1, 2002, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brain-for-a-tooth-deserved/130451 "2002-10-01T21:42:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2002, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brain-for-a-tooth-deserved/130451/1 "2002-10-01T21:42:53Z")
[Jesus](http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,64535,00.html), its getting stranger everyday. Looks like its the last time this schmuck will punch a kid. I don’t know if he got what he deserved, but that fucker should’ve kept walking. Maybe next life. ---
**Author:** ![Profane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47774/32.png) [@Profane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Profane)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2002, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brain-for-a-tooth-deserved/130451/2 "2002-10-01T21:50:22Z")
I’m having a hard time feeling any sympathy for the guy. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2002, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brain-for-a-tooth-deserved/130451/3 "2002-10-01T22:29:33Z")
Err _deserved what he got_ ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Maximino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e95f7d/32.png) [@Mighty\_Maximino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Maximino)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2002, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brain-for-a-tooth-deserved/130451/4 "2002-10-01T22:39:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by World Eater \* > **Looks like its the last time this schmuck will punch a kid. I don’t know if he got what he deserved, but that fucker should’ve kept walking.** Um, we don’t know why he was chasing the 10-year old in the first place. It _could_ be that he was saying something like, “Give me your name so I can tell your mother you just threw an egg at me for no reason.” I’m also not so sure that this mob of teenagers was up to good, considering that they procured these weapons out of nowhere. I see no reason why he should have been beaten to (near) death for what he did, which seems mainly to consist of being upset about being assaulted as he walked down the street, and then that the mob should keep beating him even after he was no threat to anyone and trying to flee for his life. Truly, he shouldn’t have got involved in a fight, but geez, show some empathy here. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2002, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brain-for-a-tooth-deserved/130451/5 "2002-10-01T23:31:05Z")
If a 12 year old throws an egg at me (I’m 29) I might yell at him, but punching out a tooth is a bit excessive. How the hell does someone get beat up like that by a bunch of little kids? He was 36. What a fucked up story. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2002, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brain-for-a-tooth-deserved/130451/6 "2002-10-01T23:40:24Z")
A bunch of little kids? They say they have 9 youths in custody from ages 10-18, and there could be more who were involved, as about 20 were standing around initially. I might call age 10 a “little kid”, but a single one of the teenagers could easily be taller, stronger, and in much better physical shape than any random 36-year-old. Give them weapons like “rakes, shovels, and baseball bats” and yeah, they could beat the hell out of someone. ---
**Author:** ![im2evil4u](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5ac83/32.png) [@im2evil4u](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/im2evil4u)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2002, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brain-for-a-tooth-deserved/130451/7 "2002-10-02T03:30:57Z")
he’s dead, ya know. did he get what he deserved? ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2002, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brain-for-a-tooth-deserved/130451/8 "2002-10-02T04:18:05Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m having a hard time feeling any sympathy for the guy. > [@](#): > > Err deserved what he got Uh, what? OK, he _probably_ shouldn’t have punched the kid. However, we can’t say for certain; a 14-year-old “got between the two and Young punched the older boy”; I’d imagine the other 14 kids, ages 10-18, were around as well. If I’m in that situation, surrounded by a group of 16 wild teenagers, and there’s a lot of shouting and threatening going on, then I’m definitely feeling intimidated, and yeah, if I felt I had to, I’d probably punch a kid (who might easily be taller and bigger than I) to try to get away. And I don’t think this is “deranged old man brutally attacks choirboy”; I think it’s “36-year-old throws punch in panicky self-defense, is killed by pack of wild animals masquerading as human teenagers.” And OK, let’s assume the worst: Even if he did start it; even if the kids were politely apologizing and asking him to please forgive them; even if the guy punched the kid in a drunken rage; how on Earth can you say that knocking a kid’s tooth out merits being _beaten to death with “shovels, rakes, baseball bats, a folding chair and other items”?_ No freaking way, folks. I hope those kids are tried as adults and locked up for a long, long time. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2002, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brain-for-a-tooth-deserved/130451/9 "2002-10-02T04:42:32Z")
It’s very hard to tell what really happened, or what the situation was at ‘ground zero’, and in the heat of the moment. But one chilling image stands out, because I’ve seen it a few times before personally - a person attacked by a pack of teenagers. This time, beaten to death. It seems to me that there is a lot of possible ambiguity as to how exactly this 14-year old got a tooth knocked out. But not nearly as much as to the behavior of the pack. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Maxxxie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f14d63/32.png) [@Maxxxie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maxxxie)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2002, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brain-for-a-tooth-deserved/130451/10 "2002-10-02T05:09:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\*“Just to come home to trouble every night gets kind of tiresome,” said Erinn Payne, 22, who witnessed the attack but walked by, thinking the children were beating an animal. “People are always fighting or arguing, there’s always something going on.” \*\* Am I the only one bothered by the fact that this guy had no problems accepting these kids beating an animal? Yeesh, what a place to live! I’ll be moving there tomorrow I think! So long as it’s just a dog getting a beating, who cares? _grumble_ Max ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2002, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brain-for-a-tooth-deserved/130451/11 "2002-10-02T06:09:05Z")
In days gone by, you didn’t **throw** eggs at adults, or pull any shit of that nature on an adult. Rightly or wrongly, you feared retaliation. You didn’t fuck with a grown-up. > [@](#): > > Police Chief Arthur Jones said as many as 20 young men who had gathered Sunday night prodded a 10-year-old to throw an egg at Young. > > \ > > “They were pounding on him and hollering, ‘Hey, let me use that.’ It was like a game to them,” said Anthony Brown, who lives in the house. Doesn’t sound like they were beating on him because he punched a kid. Sounds like they threw the egg because they wanted an excuse to beat on someone. I have a hard time feeling any sympathy for the hellsp^H^H^H^H^H^H^kids. Good-looking cat he was, too, BTW. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2002, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brain-for-a-tooth-deserved/130451/12 "2002-10-02T07:37:25Z")
From [here](http://www.gomemphis.com/mca/nation_and_world/article/0,1426,MCA_454_1453356,00.html): > [@](#): > > “They were pounding on him [with the various “weapons”] and hollering, ‘Hey, let me use that.’ It was like a game to them,” said Anthony Brown, who lives in the house. And: > [@](#): > > Young managed to briefly escape into the house, but the mob dragged him back outside and beat him until police responded to a neighbor’s 911 call, the landlord said. And from [here](http://europe.cnn.com/2002/US/Midwest/10/01/child.mob.ap/): > [@](#): > > They chased him onto the porch of a house on the city’s north side and pummeled him, leaving blood spattered from floor to ceiling, police said. Just good, wholesome fun until the big, bad, 36-year-old bully comes along. Uh huh. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2002, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brain-for-a-tooth-deserved/130451/13 "2002-10-02T07:47:26Z")
Oops, didn’t see that **Rilchiam** beat me to one of those. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2002, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brain-for-a-tooth-deserved/130451/14 "2002-10-02T09:42:05Z")
I’ve been attacked by a gang of kids in that age range, in a park in Glasgow. I was feeding ducks there, with the girl I was dating then. They were a mixed group of kids, perhaps 20 in number, getting smashed on cheap booze that the older kids had got them. I’m not sure why they attacked, I’d guess at peer pressure as it was the younger ones who came up first, jeered along by the older kids. First came abuse, then a couple of bottles were thrown, then the whole gang just mobbed us. After they attacked, I hit all manner of them, kids who were no more than 10 and kids who must have been close to 18. When a situation gets fucked up like that it’s all you can do. In the end I was lucky - the police were called by some good samaritan, and got there quite quickly, in what felt like hours but must have been less than ten minutes. Of course by that time I’d been stabbed twice, back and arm, and my girlfriend had been knocked unconscious with a bottle, but I do appreciate it could have got a lot worse - and on the plus side I know that I managed to get some good damage in on them too, just to account for myself. If you view that as shallow or petty I don’t care - I challenge anyone to not want to hurt someone after they’ve just carved your arm open with a stanley knife or smashed a bottle off the back of your head. You want to hurt them, as hard and as dirty as you can. So I did. So I’d like to give a big “FUCK YOU” to World Eater, who appears completely fucking naive if he thinks that a gang of kids who beat a man to death were viciously provoked by a guy on his own. I’d love to see what you’d do in that situation, you dumb fuck. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Elvis_Rojo)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2002, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brain-for-a-tooth-deserved/130451/15 "2002-10-02T09:56:10Z")
Um, yeah, I admit that he shouldn’t have punched the kid, but from my understanding, this wasn’t just a group of kids hanging around, it’s pretty much a gang. The’d been terrorizing the nieghborhood for some time now, so this could have been about the twelf tim that these kids did shit to him, and he got fed up. That doesn’t excuse punching a kid, but what should have happened afterwards is the parents sued his ass, took him to court where he was forced to pay the dental and medical bills, plus a little extra, and perhaps a few nights in jail…not to be run down through the streets and beaten to death by a bunch of kids. I once worked at a Summer Camp, which I called a day care because all teh kids were just a bunch of little turds. I remember hearing one of the admins talking to one childs mother about her daughter. Apparently, her daughter (we’ll call her Kelly), who was about six, was talking with this one girl, they got into an argument, and Kelly picked up a stick and hit the other girl. The mother’s response: “Well, that little girl needs to realize that that’s what happens. You yell at my daughter, you get hit with a stick.” I have a feeling these kids were the products of similar “guidance”. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2002, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brain-for-a-tooth-deserved/130451/16 "2002-10-02T10:02:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by World Eater \* > \*\*How the hell does someone get beat up like that by a bunch of little kids? He was 36. \*\* I remember ranting about a Rhode Island teenager who commited a brutal double murder at the tender age of 14. At that tender age, he was 6 feet tall and weighed close to 300 pounds and meaner than a snake. And I’ve known more than a couple 36 year old men that were not very large or very mean. Their ages mean absolutely _nothing_. ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2002, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brain-for-a-tooth-deserved/130451/17 "2002-10-02T10:48:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by El Elvis Rojo \* > \*\*Um, yeah, I admit that he shouldn’t have punched the kid, but from my understanding, this wasn’t just a group of kids hanging around, it’s pretty much a gang. The’d been terrorizing the nieghborhood for some time now, so this could have been about the twelf tim that these kids did shit to him, and he got fed up. That doesn’t excuse punching a kid, but what should have happened afterwards is the parents sued his ass, took him to court where he was forced to pay the dental and medical bills, plus a little extra, and perhaps a few nights in jail…not to be run down through the streets and beaten to death by a bunch of kids. > \*\* FUCK THAT! What the fuck do you think he should have done? I don’t know if you have ever been jumped or mugged, but when the chips are down its time to play. I ain’t about to spend any time “reasoning” with some little fuck-ups to “talk them out of” beating me with weapons OR fists. A 14 year old knows the difference between right and wrong and also knows that if you fuck with the bull your gonna get the horns. I think the guy was right on punching the little fuckers tooth out. If some gang of shitbag degenerates circled me ready to attack, you better believe I am gonna take some of them out with me with no apologies. ---
**Author:** ![45\_70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/5f9b8f/32.png) [@45\_70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/45_70)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2002, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brain-for-a-tooth-deserved/130451/18 "2002-10-02T11:09:32Z")
They weren’t children, teenagers or misguided youth. They were ferel animals. They should be dealt with accordingly. ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2002, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brain-for-a-tooth-deserved/130451/19 "2002-10-02T13:39:31Z")
Remind me not to visit that neighborhood. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2002, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brain-for-a-tooth-deserved/130451/20 "2002-10-02T14:06:49Z")
I’ll side with those who believe the pack of youth thugs were in the wrong. The guy made a mistake in punching the kid…not because he should not have punched the kid, but a tactical error because he was way outnumbered. These packs walk around as if they’ve immunity conferred by numbers and intimidation. They were looking for a reason to fight. The guy foolishly gave them one. [warning, hyperbole approaching] What would be deserved is for the pack to be put down like rabid animals. [hyperbole over] [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brain-for-a-tooth-deserved/130451.md?page=2)