Hate Crime ʻjuvenileʼ Testifies
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Serving San Jose State University since 1934 Volume 146 • Issue 4 Serving San Jose State University since 1934 Tuesday, February 9, 2016 so Kavin Mistry dissects Are we too sensitive as a Puppies score touchdowns SPORTS P6:the Super Bowl OPINION P5: society? A&E P4: TRIAL CONTINUES BLACK HISTORY MONTH ANTI-SUPER BOWL Hate crime Group ʻjuvenileʼ protests testifi es inequality By Vasuki Rao with contributions from Raphael Stroud & Jose Munguia in San Jose Managing editor & Contributing writer & Staff writer By Yale Wyatt Staff writer A former floormate and a former roommate testified Monday at the misdemeanor hate Bay Area residents frustrated with the income crime trial on events that took place in 2013 in disparity between the wealthy and the poor and the SJSU dorms. the unfair treatment of homeless people led a Th e fi rst to testify was the fourth roommate peaceful protest around Plaza de Cesar Chavez who was arrested in connection to the incident Park in San Jose on Saturday night. and whose records were not made public due to Dozens showed for the demonstration dubbed his juvenile status at the time. the “Super Inequality Demonstration” which The first defense attorney who cross- was put on by a small group of protesters who examined the roommate was Dek Ketchum, organized the event through Facebook. representing suspect Collin Warren. Ketchum Th e small but vocal gathering circled the went over every detail regarding interactions Super Bowl 50 festivities in downtown San Jose between the roommates and Warren’s with homemade signs demanding justice and interaction with the black student who pressed equality with chants voiced over a megaphone. charges, Donald Williams Jr. Th e Facebook page for the event stated that Th e roommate said that Warren did not use any the group was coming together to “highlight racial slurs in general as far as he was aware. the socio-economic issues stemming from Ketchum then asked the roommate if he was income inequality in the Bay Area which are present during the controversial u-lock incident. compounded and emphasized with the arrival He said that he fi rst saw the u-lock on the bed of Raymond Baltazar | Spartan Daily of Super Bowl 50.” Logan Beaschler, one of the charged defendants. About 11.3 percent of Bay Area residents are When the witness saw the u-lock he told Beaschler The Pan-African fl ag, the City of San Jose fl ag, the California State living at or below the poverty line, according fl ag, and the American fl ag were raised at City Hall on Friday. about a scene in the TV show “Workaholics” to the report, “Poverty in the Bay Area” that when a u-lock is set around someone’s neck. was released by the Joint Venture Silicon Valley According to the roommate, Beaschler tested Institute for Regional Studies. the u-lock around Warren’s neck but added that San Jose raises The “Super Inequality Demonstration” they both thought it was funny. demanded giving one percent of the wealth A week aft er that conversation, the roommate generated in the Bay Area to be distributed put the u-lock around Williams’ neck and black liberation evenly. Beaschler locked the bars. When asked if “You think of the super rich in Santa Clara Williams had struggled or protested against the By Nick Avila County and there is a huge income gap incident, the roommate said that he “did not Staff writer between [the lower class],” said one of the struggle at all.” event organizers Michele Mashburn. “Th e Ketchum repeatedly tried asking the roommate As the sun set in San Jose on Friday, speaker John L. Burris, San Jose Super Bowl highlights who can aff ord to go if he thought the u-lock incident was racially the Buff alo Soldiers Motorcycle Club District 2 council member Ash and who cannot.” motivated but prosecutor Carolyn Malinsky helped raise the Black Liberation Flag Kalra, and District 1 council Th e old and the young gathered for objected every time on the basis of speculation. outside City Hall in honor of Black member Charles “Chappie” Jones. the protest including 16-year-old Bailey Th e long cross-examination then moved on to History Month. Th e speakers shared their thoughts Brinkman. He said that the Super Bowl and the incident of barricading the doors, the white An estimated 200 people on the importance of not only Black the following festivities are not fair. papers that were placed on everyone’s room door witnessed the fi fth annual fl ag History Month, but the history of “People pay millions of dollars to play sports except for Williams’, the post-it that was placed raising and listened to several on the closet and a sarcastic “apology” note guest speakers, including keynote FLAG PAGE 2 INEQUALITY PAGE 2 written by Warren, the roommate involved and others for Williams. Th e last incident brought up by Ketchum was the SAFER WALKING confederate fl ag that was hung in the living room that had the words “the South will rise again.” According to the roommate, Williams thought it Bike advocates plan for safer was inappropriate to be hung in the common area. However, the roommate said that he didn’t think the confederate fl ag should off end black people specifi cally because it relates to everyone. campus transportation routes He then added that he was willing to remove By Raymond Baltazar it from the living room if it bothered Williams because on the roommate agreement it was Staff writer decided that any decorations used in the living Bikers and pedestrians at San Jose students walking from class to class. Sociology major, Jerry Wilburn and room should not be inappropriate for anyone. State now have more room on campus Some students use other types of SJSU transfer Industrial Design major Both Chuck Mesirow and Sam Polverino, who to traverse as paths have opened up transportation, such as skateboards or Brandon Alvarado, two bike advocates represent Beaschler and Joseph Bomgardner from the completed construction. bikes to get to their classes quicker. continuously urge for bike paths and asked the roommate similar questions regarding However, with many bike issues “I think there is already some kind infrastructures to be created so students the nicknames and inched towards clearing from the past, one of which resulted of safety regulation on school,” Ye Lin, can safely travel and park their bikes. their actions as not racially motivated. in a fatality, bike advocates are trying an SJSU alumnus and former President “I now sit on PTAC, which is the The second witness testimony came courtesy to create a way to make paths safer for of the the Cycling Club at SJSU said. Park and Transportation Advisory of Sarah Fried, a floormate of the students both bikers and pedestrians. “When there are too many people, Committee (sic),” Wilburn said. “I used who visited often. During busy passing periods between you’re supposed to walk your bike.” to sit on that last semester, this semester classes, most paths and walkways on In the eff orts of creating a safer way for HATE PAGE 2 BIKE PAGE 2 campus tend to get congested with bikers to ride through campus, senior Special Sweetheart Shoutout - Grams 6HQG\RXUVZHHWKHDUWDIXQQ\RUURPDQWLFQRWHRQ9DOHQWLQH·V'D\ Stop by the Spartan Daily DBH 209-I to purchase your 6KRXWRXW*UDPIRU Word count cannot exceed 25 words. Submission deadline is Tuesday, February 9th, 2016. Please visit us between 1:30-4:00pm, Monday through Thursday. They will be published in the Spartan Daily Newspaper on Thursday, February 11th, 2016. Email [email protected] if you have questions. 22NEWS Thursday,Thursday, September January 28,3, 2015 2016 22 NEWS Tuesday, February 9, 2016 HATE from page 1 nickname, it’s not as clear if the three students never used it. CFA Strike According to Fried, who is Asian Fried, a frequent visitor to the dorm, also American, she was the one who came wrote vulgarities on the common dorm April up with the idea to nickname Williams white board, but she wasn’t the one who “Th ree-Fift hs.” wrote “quack quack n---a.” Beaschler was 13-15 Th e Th ree-Fift hs compromise was identifi ed earlier as the student who wrote 18-19 legislation that declared slaves and free the phrase down, but without the intention black Americans as amounting to a fraction of Williams or his parents seeing it. of whites when counting populations. Fried knew what had been happening in Fried said that while she knew it had a the suite before she witnessed the u-lock racist meaning, it had been something she incident, but she didn’t get a good view of came up with spontaneously. it being forced on Williams’ neck. While Earlier it was believed that the three she described it as rough housing, she did white defendants had come up with the not recall anyone following Williams to nickname, something Ketchum had his room to speak about it. described as sounding “better for the lawsuit.” While multiple testimonies Follow Vasuki identify Fried as the origin of the on Twitter @VasukiRao94 just typically not how things work.” INEQUALITY from page 1 Th e San Francisco Business Times and it’s just ridiculous,” Brinkman reported the City of San Francisco paid said. “None of that money goes to the $4.8 million to host the celebrations community. None of that goes to anyone leading up to the Super Bowl, but the City besides people that don’t really deserve it.” of Santa Clara did not pay because of an As to why a teenager would be out agreement with the NFL Host Committee protesting on a Saturday night instead of that would reimburse all city expenses hanging out with friends, Brinkman said, associated with hosting Super Bowl 50.