Burned teen 911 call released: we’re all ‘snitches’ now

October 16, 2009 · Posted in News and Current Affairs

Family members hold a picture of Deerfield Beach teenager Michael Brewer, who was set on fire by a group of middle school classmates.

The vicious beat-down that killed an honors student in Chicago … the spray shooting of a party in Overtown that killed an aspiring nurse and a high school senior with a full scholarship letter from UCLA waiting for him at home … and now the unbelievable attack on a 15-year-old by six of his schoolmates, who doused him with rubbing alcohol and set him on fire, because he told someone that one of them tried to steal his father’s bike … there’s a pernicious, and I think it’s fair to say evil, unethical strain running through out culture, and if you dig into each of these shootings, you’re sure to find one word somewhere at the bottom of the barrell: “snitch.”

A snitch used to mean a guy who participates in a crime and then gives up his buddies to save his own neck. Now, the way the word has been popularized in American culture, it means anyone who reports a crime, even if they’re the victim. And there are sociopaths of all ages (even kids) walking around our neighborhoods with all sorts of pathologies and issues, killing, or attempting to kill, people because they’ve told the truth.

The audio below should be played for every teenager in America. And how ever many of us haven’t been completely stripped of our morality, turned into so many grubby Gosselins or hot air balloon publicity hounds or teabagging lunatics, should band together and pledge to “snitch” on every bastard who threatens to further destabilize our already unstable society. Listen, if you can get through it, to the screams of a kid who spoke up, and who still might pay for it with his life. Michael Brewer is 15 — and 15 is just a kid, as you’ll hear from his screams after jumping into a pool, on fire. **WARNING: This audio will make you cry (or at least it should…)

911 call: teen burned

Meanwhile, this writer states the obvious: forget the sociopaths … it’s time for all of us to start rewiring our kids’ morals…

Michael Brewer did right thing: He snitched

By JAMES BURNETT
jburnett@MiamiHerald.com

I don’t know Michael Brewer, but I can tell you that he is an upstanding kid because even though fearful, he did the right thing.

… in the midst of our sorrow for Brewer and outrage over the actions of his attackers, there is a double-edged fallacy that needs to be corrected: that “snitching” is only about alerting authorities to criminal acts in urban communities and that there is an epidemic of not “snitching” among teenagers so broad that it represents moral decay.

Snitching is also the act of calling out bad behavior, even if just for the purpose of condemning it.

So yes, there is an epidemic of not snitching. But it is in American society as a whole, not just the under-25 set and not just in the so-called ‘hood.

Discouraging snitching is as American as apple pie, baseball and politicians cheating on spouses — and then having religious experiences.

When police officers of all ages go bad, they pressure their peers to zip lips and not assist Internal Affairs investigators, a k a the “rat squad.”

When preachers pilfer from church funds, fellow ministers — even those known for being the squeakiest wheels — are often quieter than mice.

When a fugitive Hollywood director is jailed for dodging punishment over a criminal conviction related to drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl, the stars of Tinseltown remain quiet. They may not speak up for him, but they certainly don’t speak out against him.

When pro football player-turned-Special Forces soldier Pat Tillman was killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan, U.S. Army investigators reportedly had a difficult time closing the case because Tillman’s fellow soldiers and superior officers didn’t want to snitch.

When little brothers tell on little sisters in the perfectly manicured cul-de-sacs of Pleasantville, U.S.A., mommies tell those little brothers to stop being tattletales.

CULTURAL NORM

So when you consider that not snitching is a cultural norm that stretches far beyond the boundaries of the grittiest urban communities and has leached into every occupation imaginable, Brewer’s willingness to tell — to snitch — is that much more impressive.

If he lives, it will be one hell of a lesson.

Meanwhile, the gravity of the situation is apparently sinking in for at least one of the five accused would-be baby-faced killers:

Jesus Mendez faces charges of attempted second-degree murder; Bent, Shelton, Denver and Jeremy Jarvis were each charged with aggravated battery.

The only one to confess and show remorse for the act was Mendez, the boy who set fire to Brewer, authorities said. He allegedly told a Broward Sheriff’s Office deputy he made “a bad decision” and just wanted to see what would happen.

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Tags: boy burned, Crime, Crime and punishment, Florida, Michael Brewer, teen violence, teenagers

Comments

7 Responses to “Burned teen 911 call released: we’re all ‘snitches’ now”

Gwen Watson on October 17th, 2009 12:09 pm

YOU ARE INVITED to be my Special Guest on tomorrow night to meet 2X Superbowlers Dwight Dane & Future Hall of Famer Rod SmithWhen: Sunday, October 18, 2009Where: Fort Lauderdale Airport Hilton 1870 Griffin Rd Dania Beach, FL 33004Time: 6:00pWhy: Private Business ReceptionCost: FREEAttire: Business CasualTo RSVP Please Call or Email me…..BIG THANKS!!!Best Regards, Gwen Watson 754-366-3735
Joy-Ann Reid on October 17th, 2009 11:26 pm

Gwen, I'd love to come, and thanks for the invite. But I'm in an edit session all day tomorrow trying to complete a project on deadline. Please keep me in mind for next time!
Joy-Ann Reid on October 17th, 2009 11:26 pm

…and I know … working on Sunday is dead wrong, but a sista's gotta do what a sista's gotta do!
Gwen Watson on October 18th, 2009 5:48 pm

Totally understand….Will do! Thanks
Jackie Durkee on October 19th, 2009 1:51 pm

Michael is the half brother to Malissa Durkee, who is the half sister to my three children. My kids have grown up with Mikey and we all have been deeply affected by this tragedy. I’ve written a piece about this on my blog about the violence and my thoughts regarding teen violence, and angry teens. I’ve also include a website to help with medical bills. It is at FaithfulinPrayer.wordpress.com here at wordpress.
jreid on October 20th, 2009 7:30 am

Thanks, Jackie. Your family is my prayers.
Richard on November 6th, 2009 1:10 pm

Why isn’t the media making more of the savage attack made upon 15 year old Michael Brewer, the Deerfield Beach FL boy set on fire by five (5!) teenage thugs in retaliation for Brewer’s having reported their criminal conduct to police? The consequences of our having become an immoral, vulgar and gratification-crazed society are sending some mighty ugly chickens home to roost.

Are we in the last days of Rome or is there hope? Edmund Burke observed in substance that all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men and women should do nothing. John Kennedy told us that, in this world, God’s work must truly be our own. If I know nothing else, I’m certain we’ll get the kind of society we deserve.

If we have come to a time when children, observing the behavior of adults and noting (as children surely do), that execrable conduct by adults, though heartily condemned, is seldom if ever really punished, then we should expect teen gangs to take up the practice of setting alight anyone they feel has wronged them. Be careful, if some teenage thug thinks you cut him off in traffic, he’ll get your home address from the RMV and set up a time for your dousing with alcohol and being set alight.

This Brewer matter is most grievous. The implications for what is left of our society are as well.