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Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Update on 2011's first shooting: Of gangstas and angels


The victim of Plainfield's first shooting of 2011 is clinging to life, I am told.

I have also been told the incident is gang-related, which comes as no surprise concerning the circumstances.

Any time two guys approach someone pulling into a driveway and shoot him nine times, you can suspect more than idle gunplay.

Sounds to me like the victim was set up to be bushwhacked.

It is jarring to have a gang-related shooting set cheek-by-jowl with Mayor Robinson-Briggs' comment that
'too many of our angels have seen their lives cut short', which she had just made as my cellphone went off with text messages about the shooting.

Is it time for Plainfield to have a serious conversation about the relation of 'gangstas' and 'angels'?

Or putting police in the untenable position of being seen as a force for law and order and by some as disrespectful occupiers by others?

Will Mayor Robinson-Briggs, our conversationalist-in-chief, lead such a palaver?




-- Dan Damon [follow]

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5 comments:

Bob said...

Don't hold your breath hoping Sharon will start anything constructive related to gang violence.

Rob said...

I don't know what Plainfield you live in Dan, but I am going to start living in Mayor Sharon's Plainfield. The one with no gang problems, visits from "dignitaries" like Rev. AL and all sorts of new exciting vibrant business growth further building the tax base of a safe sublime little city outside of Manhattan...that's the Plainfield I am going to live in!
The only problem is, I am not sure their is enough sand for all of us to bury our heads in like Mayor Sharon.
WHY HASN'T SHE PRINTED MORE FLIERS!! STOP THE KILLING NOW MAYOR SHARON..Get Kinko's on it !

Jackie S. said...

People ask me if I'm worried about being a pedestrian type and living in Plainfield. Well, I'm a bit worried these days about stray gunfire with all that's going on.

I know that anytime someone is shot nine times, they want him dead. I don't believe anyone wants me dead in town. It's odd that as an older middle-aged female pedestrian that I'm SO not a target of crime. That's a good thing.

However, I can't control the other passerby on the streets and whomever may have conflicts with them THAT can be scary.

Anonymous said...

Why get tough on the criminals in the streets when the courts only turn them loose with a slap on the wrist?

Anonymous said...

I think the fact that Sharon is refering to gangsters as angels is exactly the problem. The people getting shot have choosen to live a certain lifestyle, one that too often ends violently. To paint them as angels and victims is naive and unproductive. They are criminals and until we in Plainfield start viewing them as criminals and treating them as criminals, the violence will not end.