The Issue: Two recent murders committed by teens and the reactions to them by American leaders.
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I have two questions about the tragedy in Oklahoma that ended with an innocent Australian visitor losing his life: Where is Al Sharpton now? And where are the people against stop-and-frisk now (“When Teens Kill,” Editorial, Aug. 26)?
No wonder the Australian prime minister is asking his citizens not to visit our country.
Our society is very sick. We can close our eyes to it and invoke racism, civil rights and other pseudo-social explanations for the disease. Or we can stop the excuses, political pandering and finger-pointing and take the bitter medicine that can help restore our sanity.
Safety, education and a return to much-maligned family values would be great places to start.
Marcio Moreira
Chatham, NJ
Where are the calls for justice and civil marches to protest violence against our most treasured generation of seniors?
Reading how two 16-year-old boys beat an 88-year-old World War II hero to death had me crying and is beyond all comprehension. Delbert “Shorty” Belton fought to defend our country and freedom in the Battle of Okinawa and lost his life in a horrific way.
Where are those who are so vocal for other injustices? When does this stop? Community centers and their leaders, grammar schools and churches should teach everyone to value, treasure and respect each life as though it is their own.
Cindy Marazo
West Long Branch, NJ
For those — I won’t call them animals because I love animals — who beat a WWII veteran to death, jail is too good. They should be sentenced to a four-year stint in the US Marine Corps. They won’t last long.
Jeffrey P. Smith
Brooklyn
Where is the outrage at the latest atrocity — the murder of an innocent young man from Australia, gunned down in broad daylight while doing nothing more than jogging?
Where are President Obama and Al Sharpton these days? Why aren’t they denouncing these three thugs who were so bored they murdered a visitor to our country?
Why aren’t they extending the sympathy of our country to the young man’s family?
Arlene Reilly
Coram
First three teens, two of whom are black, randomly shot to death a 22-year-old Australian student/athlete in Oklahoma because they were bored and wanted something fun and different to do. One black teen tweeted that 90 percent of white people are nasty and that he hated them.
Now two black teens in Spokane, Wash. beat to death 88-year-old World War II hero Delbert Belton in another random attack.
These incidents beg the questions: Where are the parents who should be supervising these kids? And why so much random violence among teens today? Something must be terribly wrong.
Kenneth L. Zimmerman
Huntington Beach, Calif.
The three Oklahoma teens who killed a jogger reportedly “practiced” on an animal. If those young men had received appropriate punishment, perhaps this tragedy could have been averted.
Medical experts and top law-enforcement officials agree: Cruelty to animals is a big red flag. Many serial rapists and murderers, including school shooters, have a background of abusing animals.
The link between cruelty to animals and interpersonal violence is undeniable. It’s vital that animal abusers receive intervention to prevent their violence from escalating.
Martin Mersereau
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
Norfolk, Va
Like Belton, my father-in-law is an 88-year-old veteran of Okinawa, and beloved by his family and friends. There is no punishment harsh enough for those responsible for Belton’s horrible death.
He could have been my father-in-law. Where is the Disaster-in-Chief now?Dennis Zielinski
Carlstadt, NJ
I wonder what the media and Colin Powell would have said if Belton pulled out a handgun and shot and killed one or both of his attackers.
Sam Birnbaum
Oceanside