HA! A would-be rapist gets what he deserves, but the guys who beat him are gonna get punished? That's just...backwards.

"Doucherific". Best. Word. Ever. Thanks, Pete! :)

The probably got charged because once the guy wised up and decided to leave they opted to chase him down.

Are you serious about the cigs up the shoot?

Pete Kotz said:

Yeah, Cheryl, they actually got extra charges for the anal smuggling of cigs thing. Who wants to even smoke a cig after that? And wouldn't they be pretty well mangled? Then again, it could be that we're just not as resourceful as they are.

The "heroes" were vigilantes with enough foresight to know they would be arrested and the experience to know how to smuggle contraband. Before labeling them heroes it would be interesting to know about their assaults or whatever is in their past.
These dummies happened to save a woman while having a whopping good time and preparing for the consequences. Surely these 2 could have restrained the third man and held him for authorities. There is more to the story but it looks like an incident involving 3 thugs and one very fortunate woman.

Ohara, I knew someone would post something similar to what you just said. If I were the girl in that position (being only 5'1", having mostly guys for friends, and not sleeping with any guy that wants it) if any of the male was around, I would assume they would act the same. Just like if anyone were doing that to my little sister, I would beat the ever-loving crap out of them until they couldn't move.

They saved a girl from getting raped - at least give them some credit.

Pete Kotz said:

You're probably right in terms of there being more to the story, O'Hara. And it sure sounds like these guys have been to jail before. But I'm still happy they stepped up when a lot of other men wouldn't. Call me old-fashioned, but I'm a pretty happy camper when a rapist takes a beating.

This was somebody's sister/mother/daughter. It may be brutish, but I'm not sure it's good to abdicate vengeance in these cases. The world was a lot safer when men stepped up and made their own neighborhoods safe instead of relying on the cops for everything.

Well said, Pete. There is definitely a difference between vigilanteism and not being scared of people who try to terrorize your community. I have always had the theory that if we actually let these people know that we weren't afraid of them, their acts would change. What kind of thug wants to be in a neighborhood he can't rule?

Pete,

First off, "ducherific"?!?!?! Where do you come up with these words?!?! I agree with rachel, that's about the best word ever!

And yea, maybe they did go to far, but it seems to me that if more people (not just men) stepped up to the plate and defended others, then maybe the criminals would get a clue! I mean, that woman got raped by a 15 year old and no one stopped to help her. If just one person would have at least shouted "are you ok?" then maybe she would have been saved.

I say, give them a pass. That woman is probably thanking her lucky stars for those two.

The whole cigarette thing, though? That's just nasty! I enjoy a cigarette as much as the next person, but one that came out of someone's hershey highway? Yea, I'm gonna have to pass on that one!

Marie, that is hilarious! I would probably pass on it too.

I am female, a survivor of sexual abuse and am extremely glad the young lady wasn't raped. God works in mysterious ways.

I especially like the next post. This poster remembers a time of honor, fairness, solving our own problems and families willing to admit when one of their own crossed the line. All of that has changed and our justice system is a joke. Nobody comes out a winner.

For more than 200 years we have been passing laws that put us more under the thumb of government. There is precious little to give. When the state becomes the victim in a rape case the true victim is forgotten. I am a big supporter of mediation where a victim has a say in what vindication means to her.
We see this all of the time in NFL and NBA cases where vindication means a few million dollars but I am talking something else. A sincere, face to face apology would be at the top of my list. Where it goes from there depends on the relationship with the abuser. If this is her elderly , demented grandfather, a hoodlum younger cousin or a stranger that appeared from nowhere the path will be different. She needs to feel safe, the safety of others must be insured but the feeling of vindication is in her own mind and deserves input.
Instead, she gets pushed aside, speaks only if allowed and often finds a plea bargain has been made without her knowledge. It's business as usual.
If some little bastard breaks the windshield out of my vehicle I want him to work and look me in the eye when he gives me my cash. If someone steals $500 from me I want to face him and know that he will work his ass off to repay me Serving time due to a faceless victim and not being required to make immediate restitution is a loss for everyone. We don't have such choices because we gave them away.
The lady got out safe. 3 people got arrested. All 3 will probably walk.

I commend these guys. Sure there may be some skeletons from their past but they made a right decision to help someone. Hell in Boondock Saints, the priest makes a mention that the greatest evil isn't evil men it's the indifference of good men. These guys may have taken it too far but the woman wasn't raped due in part to them stepping up to the plate.

It could have ended where she was raped and the whole community kicked this guy's ass. I do recall that all charges against the community were dropped by the police
http://www.feministing.com/archives/015880.html

Ohara I see your point and you make a good one but let's talk about these poor women who go through it, if all the feelings of hatred and shame and embarrassment then why would they want their faces all over a court room or how about the television? And I'm not tryin to be an asshole but it sounds like your still angry and putting that into all of your messages on the subject. If looked at for what it is these men were hero's, not to long ago a crowd of about 30 watched three teen men rape and almost kill a 16 year old female, obviously everyone wouldn't do what these two did.

my god.. i grew up with both these guys.. we all did drugs and acted stupid.. funny thing is i grew up and left marco and got my stuff together.. apparently justice was finally served after all these years.. travis was ALWAYS a bonafide tool! hahahahahahahahahah thats whats cha get dumb ass!

It's bullshit, the DA may drop the charges. Don't talk to the police if they are questioning you.

"It appears both shoved cigs up their rectums so they could enjoy a celebratory smoke while cooling in the slam."

Im intrigued, how does one insert a cigarette into a rectum without breaking it? I certainly hope it was just the one cigarette and not the whole carton.

Jenn,

Thanks! I admit at times I can be funny, but I still think the award for funniest word/phrase is Pete and "doucherific"! Oh I love that!

Alex,

I don't think I wanna know how they got it up there! But then again, you have to wonder, did they insert the whole thing? Or just up to the butt, of the cigarette I mean! Maybe they did eachothers? Ew ok, I'm kinda gettin grossed out now!

People don't just keister cigarettes to hide them, it's for the rich earthy flavor it gives them, you call it an anus, I call it natures humidor. You can even vary your diet to change the taste of your smokes!

Come to my ass, it's flavor country.

Sentencing has been used in the past as a tool for setting examples and delivering a message to the citizen populace. If you destroy property in a riot during a period of civil unrest, you can expect to have the book thrown at you, in order to deter would-be destroyers of property.
These men have been charged but if they get sentenced it will be a tragedy for the U.S. legal system. The message sent to the civilian populace will be: 'if you see a woman being raped it is probably best to walk on by lest you fall foul of the law.'

That 15 yr old who raped a woman in front of others and no one helped....Maybe they didn't help because they figured something like this might happen?

Damn good point Matt

I have to say, when people like the two who saved that woman from being raped get arrested for doing so it gives people the idea that its better not to do anything at all. Like those SOBs who did nothing while that woman got raped on the street.

We preach to people to do the right thing, yet we punish them for doing so. Thats not right. Thats not justice. Why should a would be rapist get justice?

I have a feeling the assault charges with be dropped once its infront of a judge. As for the smuggling of the cigarettes - well... thats just strange and gross and thats coming from a cigarette smoker. They may not get away with that but I mean... they can't get in too much trouble for that, can they?

So Cheryl your saying it was alright for that crowd to watch a girl getting raprd and basically tortured because they figured they would get in trouble? I call that being a coward I'm not sure I could live with myself knowing I sat back and watched that happen no matter what kind of jail time I was looking at, but I highly doubt it was fear of the law that kept people from stopping it because I'm almost positive it was reportred some were cheering them on while others video taped the whole incident.

I lived in that little Island town in SWFL for 15 yrs. I knew and went to school with all three of these guys. Ballinger was and as I see now still is a scum bag. As for Purkey and Bern they are good guys that have had there fair share of trouble but Travis had it coming to him! The whole thing with the smokes? Umm no comment! The cops on Marco are like the Gustapo or SS they think its Downtown Miami or something on their little 5 X 7 mile Island!

Cigarettes. In their asses. OMGWTFBBQ!!!!1! I don't think smoking something that's been up my ass would be in any way "relaxing" but hey, that's just me. Different smokes for different blokes...

Someone needs to bond them out for their heroeism. If they were like the attempted rapist, they would have tried to finish what he started. Instead they kicked his ass. As far as the smokes go...ummm...can't touch that.

Tori, you are right. The cop should have given those two guys a medal. The woman was in need of help and the two guys responded. Thank god for small favors! Maybe the guy who had the knife was a little over the top but the guy got his butt kicked pretty good. I hope that guy learned his lesson.

If these dudes wanted a smoke later one of them must have packed a lighter.

Just another episode of "blame the victim", those gentlemen could have a civil suit on their hands, the law clearly states that you have every right to defend not only yourself from violence but those around you as well, depriving someone of that right is not only baseless in law, it's also just down right amoral. That being said, we must assume that the officers did what they thought to be the most appropriate action, the offender in this case was not let go, he was arrested and will hopefully be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, although it is an unfortunate occurrence for the men who were trying to help this woman we cannot allow people to beat others bloody by playing judge and jury, disarming an offender, isolating him from the victim and containing him until the police arrive are all perfectly legal actions, if the offender gets hurt in the process I can't say I have too much sympathy for them.
-The Archer
archersquiver.blogspot.com

My husband, who has been in jail back in the day says they wrap the cigs in cellophane and push them way up there. Just so you know. Haha!

I tend to think the guys who kicked his ass might not deserve to have been incarcerated in the first place.

This is why so-called civilization doesn't work. It just castrated/stops good men from doing what they natural do ... protect women from scum that have no right to live. The would-be rapist should consider himself lucky he wasn't killed , which would have been completely appropriate.

i love these cigarette-smuggling-in-the-a-hole heroes. they make me smile. pisses me off they had to enter a jail cell for even a second and didn't get to enjoy a celebratory cigarette over beers with me in a pub. (i'd hang out with them anyday, i'll bring my own smokes though). it breaks my heart that anyone would have a problem with a rapist being severly beaten, or even killed, "which would have been completely appropriate." (well said Patton, totally agree). all the rape cases i've known of personally have been horribly fumbled by judges and lawyers. I've learned one lesson after my 14 year old friend cried all night saying "i thought he was going to kill me" and is still traumatized to this day: don't even bother calling the **&*&^*7 cops. yeah, i'm all for justice, but you're not going to find it in a room full of lawyers who are there to win the case so they get paid the money to buy the summer cabin on a lake. maybe some of them really care, but unless they're more skilled at a professional argument than the defense lawyer, rapists often walk. call a lawyer to get "justice" in a divorce settlement. get a baseball bat, a few buddies and a balaclava when your friend is raped. she's 30 now and still doesn't smile. i've never heard her laugh. i don't think the rapist was even incarcerated due to not enough evidence. everyday i live with regret; i wish I hadn't been a quiet, shy little nerd myself back then and had been capable of finding the manpower to do the right thing. she admitted to me years later that she would love to have seen him beaten and analy raped in front of her. i believe it would have been great theraputic closure for her.
isn't it obvious that the courts can't figure out justice? the fact the preventors of a potential rape were incarcerated should prove how poorly things would have gone had the rape actually been committed, leaving the woman to tell the story to lawyers in hopes "justice" would be served.
it was 15 years ago and yeah i'm still emotional. yeah, i'm still angry. but i think losing your dignity, self esteem, sexual enjoyment, pride and virginity on your 14th birthday is kinda a big deal, she didn't get those things back. worth killing over if you ask me.

when you decide that you will not give a person their right to choose their sexual mate and violently, sexually force yourself on the person, in my eyes you give up your right for a "fair" hearing. i believe this is when it becomes fine and dandy for two random dudes to beat a rapist within an inch of its life.. or more! in this case, the more the merrier! :)

I sure hope they didn't have a lighter shoved-up there - it could have resulted in an explosive situation!

well put (the natural selector) rapists are a stain on society, stains should be destroyed! Those two men should have a parade thrown for them for stopping the b*****d, if it had been me i'd have wanted them to do the same!

However, i must say the cigs up the ass *puke* why would anyone want to smoke that after being up there? URGH!!!

Maybe you guys should know all the facts before you open your mouths. All his charges were dropped because the whole thing was bullsh!t. They tried to rob him and the rape was a cover up. Way to go douche bags