Scenes from a "Vibrant" Neighborhood

In the aftermath of the last Thursday's early morning shooting at Fenger High School in Chicago, and the subsequent late afternoon riot in which 16 year-old Derrion Albert was beaten to death, neighborhood residents gathered to create a memorial to the victim. The resulting chaos says a great deal about the sort of people who live in this area and send their children to Fenger High. It also explains a great deal about why the unfortunate Mr. Albert is dead.

What began as a makeshift memorial for brutally slain honor student Derrion Albert teetered toward angry chaos Monday outside Fenger High School.

About 250 neighbors, Fenger graduates and self-proclaimed community activists gathered, with many shouting at each other during the vigil called in response to the Sept. 24 mob beating that took the 16-year-old's life.

One neighborhood activist calling herself "Queen Sister" chanted through a bullhorn and led a group of people to the school's front doors, demanding to be let in. At one point, the group -- apparently angry at a local politician for not doing enough to prevent community violence -- pounded on the doors and began shouting, "You're a killer!" The politician had entered the building moments earlier.

Well, of course. It couldn't possibly be the fault of the young people who chose to involve themselves in a street brawl, chose to knock a young boy down and beat him to death, and certain not the fault of the parents who "raised" the little savages in the first place. No, it has to be someone else's fault. Preferably, someone from the government, which, for these people, is the source of all resources. This is an example of the welfare mentality exposed clearly for all to see. It is also an excellent example of how a community with a low average IQ behaves when confronted with a problem of its own making. Ask yourself, do you see this sort of thing happening in poor Asian neighborhoods?

Some people stood nose-to-nose, arguing over whether the gathering should be in memory of Derrion or a protest of the violence that killed him. Chicago Police arrived as the crowd swelled.

"The mayor is out fighting for the Olympics, and our youth are here fighting for their lives!" Queen Sister bellowed.

But fighting who for their lives, Queen Sister? Your youth are fighting each other. And, clearly, that is a problem that the gathered parents, residents and "community activists" cannot solve. Unfortunately, since neighborhoods like the one around Fenger are growing all the time, eventually, this sort of thing will be everyone's problem.

Another "Vibrant" Neighborhood in Chicago

In Chicago, where multiculturalism is fashioning one hell of a city, a teenager was beaten to death with wooden boards (among other things) because he happened to inadvertantly walk into a street brawl between opposing gangs from the local high school.

Three teenagers have been charged with beating to death 16-year-old Derrion Albert, an "innocent bystander" who walked into the middle of a street fight between two groups of feuding teens last Thursday, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors said the fight -- with teens punching and kicking and swinging two-by-fours -- was related to a shooting outside Fenger earlier that day.

Charged with first-degree murder are Silvonus Shannon, 19, Eugene Riley, 18, and Eric Carson, 16, according to the Cook County state's attorney's office. All were charged as adults and all were ordered held without bond today.

At the teens' bond hearing this afternoon, a Cook County prosecutor said Albert was beaten by teens from both sides of the feud, which simmering rivalry between two groups of Fenger students, one that lived near the school and the other from the Altgeld Gardens housing development.

Carson, who was allegedly from the faction near Fenger, was the first to hit Albert with a railroad tie, according to Assistant State's Atty. Jodi Peterson.

As Albert struggled to stand up and escape the melee, Riley also hit him with a railroad tie and Shannon repeatedly stomped on his head, the prosecutor said. Both Riley and Shannon allegedly belonged to a separate faction that lived in or near Altgeld Gardens.

Everyone involved is black, so unfortunately for President Obama, this won't be a "teachable moment." Well, actually it is, but you might learn all the wrong things if you were to study it objectively.

Naturally, however, one of the teens arrested for the brutal attack had already created a nice resume for himself.

Records showed Carson is on probation for a robbery conviction. Shannon and Riley have no criminal records.

Carson is 16, according to the news accounts.

Not to worry, though. The Chicago police are on the scene and civil order has been restored.

This morning Chicago police lined up in a show of force outside Fenger as students trickled into the school at staggered intervals. Most arrived on foot wearing their standard uniform of khaki pants and black shirts.

Police patrolled the area in squad cars and staged a visible presence at the school's entrance.

"We want to provide reassurance to the public that there's a police presence and they can feel safe in the neighborhood and kids can feel safe at school," said Morgan Park District Commander Michael Kuemmeth.

Today was the first day Fenger has been open since the fatal melee that swept up Albert, an honor roll student. All Chicago public schools were closed Friday for a staff day.

One wonders how often the Chicago police had to parade its officers and squad cars in front of Chicago high schools before they became so ... diverse. One also wonders exactly what it takes to get on the honor roll in that school.

In a related note, an arrest has been made in the shooting that sparked the meelee in which Derrion Albert was murdered.

A 15-year-old boy was arrested this morning after he allegedly opened fire outside Fenger High School on the Far South Side in what police describe as a gang-related dispute.

No one was injured in the shooting, which occurred near 113th and Wallace Streets about 8:15 a.m., according to Police News Affairs Officer JoAnn Taylor.

The target of the shooting, a 17-year-old boy, was on the street when the shooter opened fire while riding a bicycle, police said.

The teen was taken into custody but no charges have been filed, police said.

A member of Fenger's Local School Council said the shooting was in retaliation for a fight between rival gangs at the school on Wednesday.

"Kids were getting robbed: shoes, money, things like that," said the Rev. Victor Grandberry, who's been on the LSC for eight years. "This has been going on for some time."

Monique Bond, spokeswoman for the Chicago Public Schools, said the shots were fired after what appeared to be an exchange of words between two students. One of the students approached the other on a bike when the shots were fired, Bond said.

She said Chicago police and school safety and security officials are investigating. She said the school is on heightened security and crises counselors are on the scene.

Good thing the school has those crisis counselors. Sounds like they have a full time job. Remember, these children are America's future. Just like Whitney Houston said, right before she and Bobby started using the crack.

The Terrorist Merry-Go-Round

The recent discovery of a nascent Islamic terrorist plot to bomb New York reveals the enormous danger to which the current "open borders" immigration policies have placed the American people.

The lead conspirator in the plot, Najibullah Zazi, is an immigrant from Afghanistan. His father, who also immigrated to the US, and has been implicated in the plot, is, reportedly, a naturalized American citizen. Nevertheless, their allegance to their homeland - and Islam - is readily apparent.

The government has said in court papers that Zazi has extensive ties to Afghanistan and that his wife and children apparently live in Pakistan.

Zazi "and others" traveled to Pakistan in August 2008, returning in January 2009. While in Pakistan, he attended courses and received instructions on weapons and explosives at an al Qaeda training facility in one of Pakistan's northwestern tribal districts, federal authorities have said.

Pakistan is the nexus of Islamic terror. Virtually every Islamic terrorist who has been apprehended in the US or Europe has spent time in Pakistan, including the lovely little British-born Muslims who bombed the London subways. Why then, does the US - not to mention Britain - continue to permit people to travel back and forth between the US and Pakistan? Reason: political correctness. The US government, under Bush and now Obama, refuses to identify Islam as the source of the violence against US or in any way recognize the incompatibility of Western and Islamic cultures.

This obstinate refusal to see the stark reality before us means that the US and Europe blindly continue admit thousands of immigrants from a part of the world that harbors profound and lethal hatred of the West. These immigrants are then permitted to return to their homelands for refresher courses in radical Islamism and terror training. It is as if the governments of the West are actively working to help the terrorists.

President Bush used to trot out the intellectually bankrupt argument that the US had to "fight them over there to keep from fighting them over here," in support of the war in Iraq. In truth, we will have to fight them over here because we (and that includes the Bush administration) let them in.

If the US government wanted to keep the American people safe, it would forbid any immigration from, or travel to, Islamic nations associated with terrorism. But the forces of political correctness won't allow that, ever. And so that Zazi's the live amongst us will continue to plot and conspire, and, eventually, succeed.