Attacking Victims

One of my concerns with the lack of moderation of NOLA.com's comments is that I know, from personal experience, that the people involved in news stories, including crime victims, read the comments, which appear immediately after the story and get almost equal footing with the journalist's work.

There are a couple of classic examples on NOLA.com currently, concerning comments made by the mother of a murder victim, where the suspect was not prosecuted and is now charged with manslaughter for killing an eighteen year old woman in a recent car accident. Here is the relevant part of the story, by Laura Maggi:

Before he was booked with manslaughter for the car crash that ended the life of an 18-year-old New Orleans woman on Friday, Edward Augustine had twice been arrested in murder cases that were rejected by prosecutors.

In both cases, one in Orleans Parish and another in Jefferson Parish, prosecutors cited witness problems as a main reason for not bringing him to trial.

For Shawn Williams, the mother of 17-year-old Aaron Merlin Williams, the lack of witnesses was perplexing, because her son was killed during the day on a Saturday in December 2007. She heard that as many as 20 young people were on Tullis Drive at the time Aaron Williams was killed. Also, a young woman was wounded in the altercation.

But the family heard from prosecutors that even that woman refused to come to court, Williams said.

"I know one thing: I know my faith in the justice system is not like it was," she said. "It is a failing system. It really does need a serious overhaul."

But the commenters immediately attacked Ms. Williams, who will no doubt read these comments if she goes online:

dirtydma (posted January 10, 2011 at 9:16PM):

"I know one thing: I know my faith in the justice system is not like it was," she said. "It is a failing system. It really does need a serious overhaul."
What an incredibly ignorant statement. Try blaming the cowards that watched your son get murdered.

Jimmy Johns (posted January 10, 2011 at 9:45PM):

"I know one thing: I know my faith in the justice system is not like it was," she said. "It is a failing system. It really does need a serious overhaul."
A classic ignoramus statement if I ever heard one. News flash lady: Prosecutors can't force witnesses to do the right thing and without witnesses, you more than likely don't have a case. If these people want this insanity to end and make the justice system actually work for them, then this "don't snitch" b/s needs to end.

***

These are comments about a woman grieving the loss of her son and the senselessness of the fact that the man who she believes killed him was subsequently responsible for the deaths of others (a fact that I do not assume is true but which she understandably believes).

The clear thrust of the comments, like many comments on NOLA.com, is that the murder victims from poor communities are contemptible and ultimately accountable for the crimes that befall them and their loved ones. The underlying racism and classism that affords these victims zero sympathy, even mothers and families of victims, because they are assumed to be poor minorities.