Brian Deneke Skate Park

[princessbaybay]

LOL....petie I have to laugh at your haves and have nots statement....and while I agree with it... I just want to enlighten people about cost comparison on the clothes deal...

These kids that dress "different" are looked at as trash and scum... and have nots.

My oldest sons jeans (wranglers) cost around $25.... keeps his hair at something like a #2 fade so haircuts were cheap.... the t-shirts cost about the same across the board. Shoes/boots... around $60 a pair.
His toys...trucks, four wheelers, hunting and fishing equipment.

My youngest... his pants are around $55.... his hair is longer requiring more product and more expensive cuts... he doesn't dye his hair but a lot of the kids that shop where he does do dye their hair and require MORE products... shoes/boots $120
His toys... music equipment....guitars, amps, switches and the list goes on...

Either way it goes...it all costs money and is probably pretty comparable had I kept detailed records on the cost of raising them both....if anything the "normal" one was less expensive.
So you are right petie...it has nothing to do with have and have nots.

We all need to learn to be more tolerant... people learn from each other...if we were all the same our growth would be retarded... and the lessons would be boring.

It has nothing to do with money and everything to do with attitude...the fact is if you stripped all of those kids nekkid... you would still have a bunch of boys that made really bad decisions that night.

But all this aside... Amarillo does have a larger than average issue with intolerance on several levels...not just with kids that dress differently.

[turnpike]

Petit, thanks for telling the other side of the story. I want to add a little bit. Andrew McCullough was the friend who was being beaten up with chains. Rob Mansfield was in the front seat. Elise Thompson was also in the car.

These were good kids that were at the wrong place at the wrong time. Justin will have to live it for the rest of his life. Bad split second events.

Elise was the valedictorian for THS that year and did her speech about tolerance. The topic was a surprise even to her mother. It was very moving. The Camps were sitting behind us and they were crying. Elise later was a Rhodes Scholar and received a full ride scholarship to UT.

Rob was an excellent student also getting a football scholarship to Princeton.

This event was lifechanging for many in that class or those that went to the parking lot because they heard something was going to happen.

I just wanted to say this because both groups of kids have been portrayed in terms of black and white. I am sure it was not a clear cut incident of intention vehicular homicide. It was a mistake for all.

[catsmeow]

Thanks for adding that information, Turnpike. It's a sad, horrible situation for everyone involved.

Turnpike, you need to come around more often. You've always got a lot of good scoop on "Amarillo."

[petiepanzer]

Turnpike,
You are correct. I inadvertently mixed Andrew McCullough and Rob Mansfield up with one another. Please forgive me as it has been a long time and my memory is a little fuzzy.

I knew all of those kids because they were friends with a relative of mine. In fact, the reason I knew a lot about what happened is because the same relative was there when everything happened. I don't want to give out any more info, but it is the same relative that is currently finishing up Med School.

If I was to form my opinion based purely upon the way the media presented things, I would have probably come to the same conclusion as most other people. The various media outlets only told one side of the story, though, and that is why so many people were outraged. If anybody noticed, the one thing the Dateline's, City Confidential's, 48 hours, and 20/20 downtown's of the world failed to do was to get the opinion of anybody that was in the supposed "prep" or "white hat" group. I know nobody in the media ever made any attempt to contact my family member, even though they had originally been subpoenaed to testify. This was irresponsible, yellow journalism at its very worst. They only presented one side of what happened and instead decided to interview people like Stanley Marsh and Keith Graves, neither of whom were even present at Western Plaza that night. They also swallowed everything said by Chris Oles like it was the gospel truth, when he was the ADULT that instigated the whole confrontation and should have been prosecuted for various acts. Also, people were mad at Warren Clark for what he did during the trial. Well, he was a defense attorney and it was his job to do everything in his power to defend his client. If people really want to be angry, perhaps they should direct more of their anger towards that little geek John Coyle, who did such a sorry job in this case.

[turnpike]

I also had friends and relatives that were and and were not there, only by the grace of God. Everyone knew that something was going to happen.

And thanks, Cat. I wasn't "Investigative Reporter" for nothing.