Fenger HS Coach Cassius Chambers Charged in Assault of Chicago Disabled Teen Darion Jones After Fight Over Flip-Flops

Fenger High School football coach Cassius Chambers charged with misdemeanor for doing nothing as group of players beat-up disabled teen Darion Jones over Nike flip-flops.

TRAVESTY: Fenger High School football coach Cassius Chambers was charged with misdemeanor simple assault because he watched as more than a dozen players on the team viciously attacked Darion Jones, a disabled teen on the front lawn of his Chicago home right in front of his mother. Why? Over flip-flops.

According to media reports, the charges leveled against Chambers stemmed from the October 1st incident, when about 20 to 30 players drove up to the home in two cars and jumped the teen. His mother told Chicago's NBC affiliate, one of the players had accused Jones of stealing his Nike flip-flops. The Sun Times said Chambers and one of his assistants, Roscoe Pitts, watched the mêlée, but did nothing to stop it. These two men shouldn't merely be suspended from their jobs. They should be fired.

It should be noted that Fenger is the same school where another student, Derrion Albert, was beaten, this time fatally, in a violent gang fight near the school.

Sir'mone McCaulla, Army Reserves Soldier & Post Office Stab Suspect Dead, Cops Say He Likely Committed Suicide

Sir'mone McCaulla, 28, an Army Reserves soldier has been identified as the man who fatally stabbed, Christopher Gutierrez, a young father outside the main post office in New York City, appears to have committed suicide. His body was reportedly found in his ex-girlfriend's apartment in Philadephia, slumped in a tub with a plastic bag over his head. According to the NY Daily News, sources have said that a cable box was found on his chest, which suggests he electrocuted himself.

The NYPD said a Philadelphia police officer recognized McCaulla, who was pronounced dead at a local hospital at at about 6:27 p.m., from their time together in the military. His family seems to think he was not the person who was photographed walking away from the body of Christopher Gutierrez on Sunday. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said three people also called the Crime Stoppers hotline to identify McCaulla, who was stationed in Kuwait at one point.

McCaulla allegedly plunged a knife into Gutierrez's chest after a seemingly minor altercation outside the James A. Farley Post Office on Eighth Ave. in Manhattan on Sunday. Kelly said the two men bumped shoulders and walked past each other, but kept exchanging words, then stopped and squared off. Gutierrez, 20, took off his jacket and assumed a fighting stance, Kelly said. McCaulla then strode toward him, brandishing a knife at his side. "As they get closer, the perpetrator lunges - four quick strokes or jabs - into the victim," Kelly said. Gutierrez, the father of a 1-year-old boy, collapsed on the post office steps. McCaulla, who lived with his mom, had three arrests on his rap sheet, including busts for burglary and robbery.

He had posted a video on his MySpace page in which he counts several thousand dollars worth of hundred-dollar bills, bragging to the camera about his wealth. "This is some people's bank accounts and this is what I use for sneaker money," he says on the video. "I'm addicted to it." Source: NY Daily News

It's a shame Christopher Gutierrez had to lose his life and if McCaulla is the killer, he took the easy way out by ending his life. This has left two families left grappling for answers and for peace. It seems that some of our young men are turning to a life of crime and violence rather than being productive members of society. Christopher Gutierrez, like Derrion Albert, was trying to do the right thing with his life and some hard-core thug ended his life too. There is a breakdown in the family structure of perpetrators such as this young man. While I understand the motivation behind President Obama's decision to go to Copenhagen to lobby for the 2016 Summer Olympics to be awarded to Chicago from a financial perspective, we have far more pressing issues in this country to address. There is something seriously wrong in the inner cities across this country and it speaks to more than a breakdown in the homes.

Photo credit: Sir'mone McCaulla, NY Daily News

Four Teens Charged with First Degree Murder for the Beating Death of Chicago Honors Student Derrion Albert, 16,

Four teenagers, Silvonus Shannon, 19; Eric Carson, 16; Eugene Bailey, 18, and Eugene Riley, 18, have been ordered held without bail for the vicious beating death of honors student Derrion Albert, 16. They have been charged with first degree murder and will be charged as adults. The four thugs allegedly kicked and punched Albert, who was an innocent bystander in a fight between two groups of students near Fenger High School, which is located on the South Side of Chicago. According to Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Jodi Peterson, the assault was caught on video tape and was not gang-related, but apparently arose from a disagreement between students who live in Altgeld Gardens and an area known as "Ville." Sorry, but this was a brutal attack on an innocent bystander and these scumbags need to be severely punished for this barbaric attack.

Derrion Albert Beaten by Three Teenagers (Family Photo-Sun Times)

Earlier Thursday morning, the fight between the two factions led to a shooting outside the school, Peterson said. That led to a brawl near the school after classes finished shortly before 3 p.m., Peterson said.

Derrion had been standing near the fighting at 343 W. 111th Street when Carson and an unknown offender from the "Ville" approached him, Peterson said. Carson struck Derrion in the head with a long wooden railroad tie and the unknown offender punched him in the face, knocking Derrion unconscious, Peterson said. When Derrion gained consciousness, he moved a few feet away from the mob and tried getting up. But he was attacked again.

Eugene Riley (left) and Silvonus Shannon (Chicago Police)

Soon, a group of five from the Altgeld Gardens faction descended upon Derrion. He was struck again with a railroad tied wielded by Riley as Shannon stomped on his head repeatedly, Peterson said. The video, shot by a witness, allegedly shows all three striking, punching and stomping Derrion in the head. Source: Chicago Sun Times

This is one victim too many who has suffered at the hands of a bunch of thugs terrorizing their communities. This young man was a honors student. That says a lot about his character and his ambition. This one of the most heinous crimes I have ever seen in recent times. It is a shame that black-on-black crime continues to be an enormous and troubling problem in many inner cities across the country. It seems that many of the young black men in the inner cities are filled with such rage and have a propensity to violence. It is a sad commentary when police officers have to patrol inner city schools. This is a travesty and these four young thugs should never see the outside of any prison walls again.

Sorry, but instead of President Obama making a such a rousing pitch for Chicago to win the 2016 Summer Olympics and his decision to personally get involved by sending Michelle Obama to Copenhagen to join the city's delegation, it would have been much smarter to address the crimes being committed in the Windy City. Sorry, but they don't deserve the Olympics on that basis alone, in much the same way as South Africa doesn't deserve the World Cup for obvious reasons. According to CNN, the White House confirmed Monday that President Obama will fly on Thursday to Copenhagen, Denmark, where the International Olympic Committee will be reviewing bids from several countries on Friday. It will be the first time that an American president has lobbied the IOC in this manner. Mr. President, are you oblivious to the crime wave in your city?

UPDATE#1:  Tamaray Shannon, Silvonus Shannon's mother, said there was a lot of tension at the school last week. In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, she said her son had been chased out of school and stalked between classes by teens from the Ville. Ms. Shannon, according to media reports, has not viewed the tape, but readily states that she doesn't believe her son would have stomped on Albert's head. Here's the usual line we get from the families of the thugs: "Silvonus is not a bad kid," said Shannon, 40. "He was protecting himself. Silvonus is not what they are making him out to be." Okay Ms. Shannon, your son can't be such a good person if he's being charged with murder.