The neighbourhood is different. The crime is the same.
Posted by Dalton48 on 19 Jun 2008 at 08:39 am | Tagged as: Current Events, Stuff, Toronto
Do you remember Tyler Roulston? What about Tristan Wright? Jonathan Rodrigues? What high schools did they go to? They were all shooting victims under the age of 25 this year in Toronto. One may have been known to police. Another was shot in front of a house party with dozens of witnesses. Another was killed at home. Unfortunately, since they all died in the “east end”, where shootings are apparently just another inconvenience of being poor, not white, and living in a high-rise, I can’t tell you much more about them.
On the other hand, I know a lot about Dylan Ellis and Oliver Martin. They grew up in Rosedale. They’d completed postsecondary education. Girls had crushes on them. They participated in organized sports. This morning’s Globe and Mail even tells me what one of them liked as a favourite snack. Did I mention they grew up in Rosedale?
And, it seems, the police also know a lot about the two. In some magical fashion, although the two were “not known” to police, Det. Sgt. Gary Giroux was almost instantly able to assert to reporters just hours after they were shot that they were “certainly not – and never have been – living any high-risk or criminal lifestyle”. It’s easy to see why this conclusion was easy to draw. As we all know, the wealthy are never involved in criminal activity.
A paragraph in the Globe clumsily highlights why this story has been the focus of so much ink, when random shootings of young men in the city are anything but unusual:
The violent crime shook the city and surprised many who struggled to understand why the young men from Rosedale were killed in a brand of crime associated with neighbourhoods very different from their own.
I don’t mean to be minimize the sadness of this situation. It just seems to me that the violent, random, untimely deaths of young men who had little are just as tragic as the violent, random, untimely deaths of young men who had it all. And it also seems to me that Martin and Ellis’ families now have a lot in common with many other bereaved families in neighbourhoods “very different from their own” — whatever the reporting around this story might suggest.
The other somewhat similar case from a few years ago was the very different treatment given to the murders of Chantel Dunn and Jane Creba:
http://watrvision.blogspot.com/2006/10/may-god-give-you-peace-i-have-been.html
I agree, the bias in the coverage has been revolting. My sister was a room-mate of one of the murdered for three years and I may have even on one occasion met him–can’t quite remember. That said, the papers are only feeding what their readers want. This was brought to my attention when I tried to argue with someone (actually, my mother, but we’ll leave that to one side) that the story didn’t make sense. Witness in the back of the car who has kept mum. Shooting two people dead through the front of a range rover window would require either amazing luck or skill. The pathetic excuse that they were just returning keys. My mother got all huffy about it and we agreed to disagree. I, however, missed the obvious point you note that the police knew quite a bit about these youths who were unknown to the police. Will bring this to her attention today. My godawful morbiphillic sis attended both memorials.
I agree with Posted by Dalton48 about how differently crime is treated when one skin colour is black and when one is underprivilleged. There is something really fishy about these two guys who were killed in SUV while they were returning keys. I think the cops know much more than what they are revealing. I dont believe that this was a situation of road rage.
The fact that the newspapers only print what will sell is obviously people that read the stories are the same ones that pass policy in city hall so of course your going to hear about their “communities” however they are only feeding their fear of what they dont understand. Meaning that if they walked through troubled areas and looked around they would see certain things that they wouldnt see even 5km from where they live why? B/C we in the “troubled areas” has accepted certain things that we are willing to live with instead of cause a scene and getting the community safe we let the minority run the majority. Majority of the families in low income housing (where lets be serious most of the violence is present) are only in those situations due to the income and not by choice so it all comes down to economics and the fact that in order to make things better in a bad situation things will get worst. Most of us living in these communities have forgotten what a community means it doesnt mean turning a blinded eye to violence or not snitching cause at the end of the day if you rape and kill people and your trying to set up shop next door to me either I would call the police or end up going to jail myself for taking the law into my own hands. And thats basically what is going on with the killings they are either revenge attacks or a small situation pushed over board by shit talkers and people who enjoy drama It is sad that the newspapers are more likely to sell when it is a “upscale” community that is hit with tragic events, however, the fact remains when someone in there community dies they are more willing to speak with police. And yes the distrust of the police is deeply routed in the low income communities due to the select officers who see us as lower then themselves thats why we dont speak with police because the one you think that you can trust will be the same to plant a gun or shoot first ask question at the funeral. Until we see a change in a system that is clearly leaving a huge majority in the backround while boosting and defending those who have a lot and have the ability to move away from troubled areas until that day you will see newspapers always basis towards “rosedale” style areas. Because just like we dont trust the police the police dont trust the rich they can get to them in the worst way….There paycheque… Just an opinion Canada entitles this to me so dont attack personal if you have an issue with the opinion by all means rebutt other then that Hi Haters