Sean King
On October 22, 2015 a young mentally disabled high school student was sexually assaulted by his classmates on school property. The 18-year-old victim, who was adopted as a toddler, was one of the lone African-American students in the nearly all white Dietrich High School in Idaho. John Howard, 18, Tanner Ward, 17, and one other unidentified member of the football team lured the victim into a school locker room, promising him hugs, stripped him, forcefully inserted a clothes hanger into his rectum, then kicked it deeper into his rectum — causing internal injuries.
When this case was initially reported, and it was announced that John Howard was being charged with felony rape, the possible penalties were as severe as life in prison. It seemed like some semblance of justice was imminent. The school superintendent interviewed 30 witnesses and confirmed that the teen was sexually assaulted. Prosecutors agreed with their investigation — which also determined that the victim was also called “Kool-Aid,” “chicken eater,” “watermelon,” and even “n — -r” by students at the school.
In spite of all of this evidence, this week John Howard was given the break of his life. Instead of getting life in prison for what he did, he won’t be going to jail for 10 years or five years or a year or six months or even a day. Instead, he’s getting two years of probation and 300 hours of community service. With good behavior, the judge said his record could be expunged. He’ll also be allowed to do his community service in his new home in Texas where his family peacefully relocated.
Tanner Ward, who was said to initially insert the hanger into the victim’s rectum, was initially charged as an adult, but conveniently had his case sent to juvenile court instead.
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How in the hell did this happen?
John McGraw (c.) listens during his hearing on December 14, 2016.
(THE WASHINGTON POST/THE WASHINGTON POST/GETTY IMAGES)
How could a man who did something so heinous, so cruel and demented, so horrific and barbaric, get probation and community service for it? American jails and prisons are full of men and women who did far less and had the proverbial book thrown at them. For several years, I worked full time in prisons and youth detention centers all around Georgia and met thousands and thousands of middle and high school students who were sentenced to hard time in adult prisons for far less.
This sentence is the living embodiment of white privilege.
Such is also the case of John Franklin McGraw. At a Donald Trump rally this past March, while Rakeem Jones was being escorted out of the rally, surrounded by police, McGraw, who is white, walked right up to Jones, who is black, and through a vicious elbow right to his face, knocking him onto the ground.
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After throwing the blow, McGraw, in full view of police, walked right on back to his seat. Even though police witnessed the attack, they seemed to have no interest whatsoever in arresting McGraw for it. Later, in an interview on national television, McGraw openly said of Jones, “the next time we see him, we might have to kill him.” Speaking of the assault, McGraw said “You bet I liked it. Knocking the hell out of that big mouth. We don’t know who he is. He might be with a terrorist organization.”
John McGraw (l.) is accused of hitting Rakeem Jones (r.) as deputies were removing Jones from the Trump rally.
After a bystander’s cell phone video of the attack was released, and a national outcry for justice followed, police, days later, located and charged McGraw with felony assault.
Then, last week, white privilege struck again. McGraw basically beat it all — in spite of the assault being on camera, in front of thousands, including the police, and in spite of his death threat being filmed and aired around the world, the judge had mercy on McGraw. He was given “a suspended 30-day jail sentence and a year on unsupervised probation.”
Normally, as a part of such probation, someone would have to surrender their firearms, but the judge also “removed a provision from the probation that would have kept McGraw from owning a gun.”
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In other words, McGraw pretty much got everything he wanted, including extra provisions to keep his guns, in spite of the fact that he threatened to kill Jones on national television.
While Rakeem Jones was being escorted out of the rally, surrounded by police, McGraw, who is white, walked right up to Jones, who is black, and through a vicious elbow right to his face, knocking him onto the ground.
It’s all so damn ludicrous. That McGraw even felt the confidence and peace of mind to go up and assault Jones in front of police, then take his seat, tells us that he knew full well that law enforcement and the justice system would have little interest in holding him accountable for his actions. It turned out, McGraw was absolutely correct.
Again, I personally know men and women who are spending hard time in prison right now for doing far less, but McGraw was given break after break after break.
I’ve said it before, and I must say it again — this justice system is not broken. It’s functioning just the way it was designed and built to function. It’s firing on all cylinders. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/king-white-privilege-white-men-assault-black-men-article‑1.2917496