"WHITE STUDENT BEATEN ON SCHOOL BUS; CROWD CHEERS" Gee I wonder what this WHITE boy did to get beat up?

"BELLEVILLE -- A Belleville police spokesman now says an incident where a white student was beaten by teen black assailants on a bus “may not be racially motivated.”

“It was premature on my part,” said Belleville Police Capt. Don Sax. “It was my personal and emotional comment after only seeing the video briefly.”

Sax said police interviewed the 17-year-old Belleville West High student. However, he said he was unaware of what the student told police.

Some of the students on the bus yesterday during the incident cheered the beating, the video shows.

Sax said a formal statement would be made available later today.

“After having reviewed the video, it doesn't strike me nearly as racially motivated,” Sax said.

The about-face came this morning as the story made national headlines. Although, Sax said it was purely his review of the video that changed his mind.

Belleville has had a long history of racial turmoil, with a past that includes police harassment of black motorists, cross burnings and discrimination in city hiring.

The divide began a century ago, in 1903, when a black man was lynched by a mob of 5,000 people in the town square, set on fire and dismembered."


http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/illinoisnew...