Like a lot of others, I viewed the video of four punks beating up the soldier stationed with U.S. Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base. I doubt I’m the only one who experienced visceral disgust. Sgt. Johnny Aparicio was walking near the base after his car broke down about 3:30 on a Monday morning. I was cringing and seething at the sight of four predators kicking and robbing this lone individual.
Three teens have now been caught. One was a Robinson High School student. Another reminder that this is more than an appalling crime. It’s a pathology.
At the risk of sounding terminally naive, what the hell was a Robinson High student doing out at 3:30 a.m.? Is it ingenuous to wonder where a parental presence was? Or is it racist to not, frankly, be sufficiently shocked? There’s only so much police and Derrick Brooks can do.