This week I have cut the stories down; there are more which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them, but I can't feature all of them, even all of them which are underreported. As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as "unceasing," "grudging," and "vengeful destruction."
I would like to send Tisiphone after a guy (the witnesses' description is of a guy) in Adams County, Colorado. Unfortunately I don't know his name. But I know he sloshed accelerant onto a homeless man, set him on fire, stabbed him several times (which accidentally put the fire out), but made up for that by dumping a burning trash can over him. The victim sustained burns over 60% of his body. You can help light a fire (pun intended) under local authorities to identify the suspect by signing this Force Change petition, where you can also read more details about what little is known. There is a description of the attacker and how to give information, in case you have any, in The Denver Post.
Then I need to throw in a quick follow-up before moving on to new stuff. The veteran who had his free Veterans Day meal yanked away from him (it was in #51)? He is now receiving death threats. Apparently because Chili's fired the manager there, and some people didn't like that. Another one for Tisiphone, who is mighty busy this week.
OK, on to new stuff. By "new," of course, I mean not yet reported here. This incident happened on Black Friday – well, that's almost within the last week – in San Antonio, TX.
Isidro Zarate dropped his wife off at WalMart to do some shopping. While leaving the parking lot, he saw a man who had grabbed a woman by the hair (head hair, all you Trump-gutter minds). He stopped the car within shouting distance and told the man to "get your hands off her." Teles Mandan Juarez did do that – he needed his hands to pick up his handgun and shoot Zarate, and, incidentally, a bystander in the parking lot, outside any of the cars. Zarate was hit in the neck, and died. Another woman in his car was injured by flying debris ("shrapnel.") Yet another case for Tisiphone. You will need reinforcements, my dear.
At least Juarez has been arrested and charged, and the current charges are expected to increase. Not that that is of any concrete assistance to Zarate's widow and four children (a gofundme page has been set up though.)
A couple of weeks earlier, on November 12, in El Sobrante, CA, a "census-designated place" in the east bay area across from San Francisco and near Richmond, a gifted 28-year-old musician named William 
Sims went to a Pool Hall where he often hung out. In the bar, he "encountered three men … who decided to rob, beat, and then shoot him to death, all because he was black." They left his body lying in the street.
At least they have one of the three in custody and identitles, including photos, on the other two. I won't be showing their photos, because, frankly, they are b**t-ugly. Sims, who played guitar, saxophone, violin and piano, and also sang, was much better looking. He was also quiet, unassuming, humorous, and always doing his best to befriend others. And this incident could go to Tisiphone too, but Megaera, help her out. She is overwhelmed.
And then there was the Mississippi woman who was knocked unconscious in a Kroger supermarket aisle by a male shopper whom she asked if he knew how to bake a pie. Yes, you read that right. First he walked away, screaming 
expletives, then he returned, shoved two other women there into the shelves, and punched Nia Jones, his questioner, three times in the face and once in the chest, leaving her unconscious. No employee or other shopper came to her defense or assistance, which, while in some ways not unreasonable, is still sad.
You may be wondering, why, if this happened in Mississippi, it's the Memphis, TN TV station which has the video. Well, Southaven, MS, is so close to the state line with Tennessee that it is considered a suburb of Memphis. That has to be rough. Megaera, please help the authorities identify the assailant from the surveillance video, preferably before he punches anyone else.
Finally – well, finally for this week, I trust no one thinks this stuff is going to stop – we go to North Carolina for the teacher who choked a five-year-old Muslim student. Yes. I said CHOKED. I also said FIVE YEARS OLD. Another teacher had to physically pull her off of the lad before she snapped his spine.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is, naturally, calling for an investigation here. The allegations, announced to the public just before Thanksgiving:
“During the first two months of the school year, [the Muslim student] was subjected to relentless bullying and harassment not only by his classmates, but by [the teacher]. For example, she would routinely single out [the student] from his classmates and require him to carry a heavy backpack throughout the day. The backpack contained a large textbook and headphones, which caused [the student] to develop significant back pain. . .[The teacher] would also treat [the student] harshly and reportedly called him ‘bad Muslim boy’ on multiple occasions. . .
“On November 16, 2016, [the teacher] reportedly approached [the student]. . .grabbed him by the neck and began choking him. [Another teacher] then separated the two and began consoling [the student] who was crying and extremely shaken.”
Tisiphone, this is definitely yours. Maybe Alecto can do some reconnaissance for you, maybe getting the teacher off her meds – or on to some. All I can manage to do is shake my head and say, "Poor child! Poor, poor child!"
And weep.
The Furies and I will be back.
Cross posted to Care2 at http://www.care2.com/news/member/101612212/4024924
20 Responses to “Everyday Erinyes #53”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
incidences like these are proof positive that when morons vote for and elect assholes, assholes come out of the woodwork.
Joanne – I truly appreciate your hard work in compiling these terrifying stories.
I don't know how you do it – they're so depressing that, in truth, some times I skim them. I only have so much serotonin levels in reserve!
Dear Nameless, I understand, and will not be hurt if you don't read them at all. I'm confident you have the resources to keep your outrage alive yourself. And I assume you will click on them to give the blog a hit, even if you don't read.
Oh dear Heaven – and the reign of King Trump hasn't yet begun!
Oh these poor people – what is being done to the vicious and psychotic teacher (not to mention the others) that tortured a tiny innocent child for the love of God! A stay for life in a locked ward in a psychiatric establishment and never EVER to be let out sounds appropriate!
Joanne, compiling this (and seeing all the other horrific stories) must be so painful. I hope that you can get some of this out of your system so that it doesn't wear you down – can you paint or cook or garden (I know not really at this time of year) or meditate or something?
I knit, for myself and a couple of friends, and do some of the designing. And I also play downloaded HOPA computer games which often have Trump-like villains whom I get to defeat utterly. I find that extremely satisfying.
Joanne – I've just remembered to look at yesterday's article and responses and saw your kind offer re Gravatar – you are so kind, but I don't have access to my Care2 page and haven't for many months, though it is nothing that I have done I cannot solve the situation. However, TC and Lynn know my home email address – could you send something there perhaps?
Thanks so much for your help!
As staff here,. JD and Lynn have it too. I just spent quite a while looking for a copy of your C2 avatar, but could not. You no longer exist there.
I found the address and cut and pasted my original message – and added to it – I hope I won't tire her too badly
Did Pat have a picture at Care2? I don't remember. Her profile still exists, at least – http://www.care2.com/c2c/people/profile.html?pid=647926319
Thanks. It's for PA now. Her original content is gone.
ARGH! I just lost a very long comment and am just too pooped to retype the whole thing. In summary…
I want to PUKE!!
I don't blame you. I hope you have barf bags and some of that stuff from today's cartoon.
Thanks!
I accessed your profile page and left a comment for Care 2 to reinstate you!
The list of despicable acts by contemptible individuals seems to be getting longer each week, Joanne. Are we and/or the media getting more sensitive or is this a sign of the times? It the latter is the case, then soon you'll need to start publishing more often each week. Don't even consider doing that though, it would take too much of a toll on you. I expect doing all the research and deciding which ones to run with is bad enough.
It's admirable that you managed to engage the furies on the following with empathy for the victims but without overstatement or ranting, Joanne: Setting a defenseless man on fire and stabbing him just for the hell of it, sending death threats to a veteran because the manager who took his free meal away from him was justly fired, a caring citizen gets shot and killed for coming to the defense of an abused woman, a young man was robbed, beaten and shot dead because he was black and it seemed a good idea, a black woman is beaten unconscious because she asked another shopper a question ("Can you bake a pie?") which apparently upset him terribly and finally a teacher almost chokes her 5-year old Muslim student to death after bullying (well torturing, really) him since the start of the school year. I'm quite sick after just reading it and typing these nauseating events out; you and your furies must have gone through quite a few barf bags to dig these out from among others.
Keep up the good work, ladies, but make sure you keep your sanity about you and pace yourselves.
When I started the column I kind of had to look for them. Then, later, enough appropriate stories were showing up in my regular on-line reading, so all I had to do was fact check a little (often, people commenting whom I trust have done much of that for me.) For about the last two months, maybe a little longer. I am bookmarking 6,7,8 each week. So now my research consists of reviewing and elimintating. Greater sensitivity is probably part of it, but I also believe there is an increase in behavior which is – deplorable. there were actually two more this week. One I put into a comment in yesterday's Open Thread, because it was pertinent there. The other I just didn't use – no one was killed or knocked unconscious. Trumps' name, however, was mentioned. Also, If I see any follow up information I try to squeeze it in.
I was hoping I'd have space for one with a happy ending, but no. The full story is here: https://www.gofundme.com/stand-strong-against-racism?viewupdates=1&utm_source=internal&utm_medium=email&utm_content=cta_button&utm_campaign=upd_n though you sort of have to read it backwards, through the updates. The video that started it is there. Yes, it's a gofundme, but it is closed because $32,058 (the goal was $400) was raised by over 2,000 people in seven days, and greed was never the idea.
Nice to see so many people donate towards a good cause.
Perhaps it's a good idea to put some of the money raised aside for psychiatric treatment of the ranting woman who started all this. She is in desperate need of hospitalization and a heavy dose of pharmaceutical treatment to prevent her insanity escalating into violence towards others or herself. I don't think too many people would have a problem with the latter, but hey, we go high when she goes low, right?
Geesh, The Veteran getting death threats? W.T.H.?
Read about Mr. Zarate's death, it was on the news here. So very sad.
That poor sweet innocent!! Why didn't the school pick up on this teacher who harassed/physically abused this little one?? for months @a time????!!!! I can't believe another teacher, parent, or a staff member didn't see or hear something being said in the classroom….Someone isn't doing their job there…from the top on down. They need to be jailed too!!
While the Furies have a lot to contend with, maybe assembling an ARMY of them would help? Remind them to get bigger shields too, as they are going to have to deflect the hardness of hate that is within these people who do these acts.
Thank you, Joanne for posting.
All of these are deplorable, disgusting, and infuriating, but the teacher choking the child made my blood pressure go dangerously high! Surely, that person has been fired, and also prosecuted!
If I get any follow up information I will share it in a future column. Thanks to several indefatigable commenters, I do have the teacher's name, but right now that is all I have. I had the same reaction. Thanks.
But, you know, every time horrible things start happening, there also are people who rise to meet (and confront) them. Here is the image that Faithful America is making available as a 3' x 8' vinyl banner to churches/institutions at roughly cost, and as a bumper sticker to individuals for free.