Holy shit. Are we so desensitized to this that not one person at least called the cops? Hell, they could have called it for disturbing the peace or something.

"It shows another person walking up, observing what's going on, then turning and putting up the hood of his sweatshirt."

What. The. Fuck. Did he think they were having consensual sex? That doesn't even matter. This is so infuriating I can't begin to wrap my mind around it.

And is that guy's name really Rage?

Oh. My. God. I'm with UltraMagnus. I am so angry and appalled that I am speechless. I literally can't see anything but red right now.

this is horrifying. i wish they could prosecute the people who just stood by and let this happen. but more than that, i wish i could understand what on earth happens to people to make them not even pick up the phone when something like this is going on.

And with that I have officially given the fuck up on humanity.

I can't believe I'm reading about another Kitty Genovese. I'm glad this woman survived the attack, but to know that there were plenty of people around who could have helped her and didn't? How do you feel safe again after an experience like that?

I believe that one of the most important things to take away from stories like this is the realization that, if witnessing an emergency, whether of a criminal nature or not, you should act: intervene directly or indirectly, but do something. Because the likelihood of someone else initiating action is dangerously low.

I was going to comment on that, ankathry. How it must have felt to be going through something like that, and to see someone just walk away and abandon you to it. I can't even imagine the damage that would do, on top of the damage from the rape itself.

I suppose I can imagine being afraid to interfere directly (although I don't think I could have held back), but not even calling the cops? It's criminal to allow something like that to go on right in front of you. Especially the women! How could they do that?

My father's a cop, and he says he gave up on the basic decency of the human race years ago. I'm starting to understand how he could feel that way.

"Ibrahim denied to police that he tried to rape the woman, saying if he wanted to do so he would have done it in the apartment, according to the complaint."

Whew. Thankfully we know if he wants to rape women, he'll do it inside from now on.

Wow. Becase a phone receiver or a cell phone is just too fucking heavy to pick up if you hear someone being attacked. Nevermind the fact that you have to--gasp!--lift a finger to dial THREE FUCKING NUMBERS???

Un-fucking-believable.

How do you not call and report a rape/attack!?? Even if you are too scared to go out of your apartment, you can call from inside!

This reminds me of that woman who was stabbed and DYING in a convenience store and no one helped her, and some disgusting waste of space actually took a picture of her with their cell phone! And didn't call the fucking police! Yes, she died.

This is because people are trained to "Not get involved." I don't know these people, and I think it's terrible that nobody tried to help this woman, but people get scared- especially if he was in uniform. I'm not excusing it, by any stretch, but I think it's worth noting that the bystander effect isn't unusual. There have been a number of studies about it, and the results tend to show the same thing: People in groups (and a bunch of people living in an apartment where they know other people are will act like a group) tend not to act to help individuals in danger. Whether it's because they're afraid or because they panic or because they think someone else will instead...

And, again, this guy was a cop... that makes things even harder.

What a horrible, horrible situation for this woman. I can't even imagine... these are her neighbors.

RoymacIII, the rapist wasn't a cop. I almost mis-read the headline that way too. The article writer was just emphasizing that the police are making the claim that he raped her (rather than the article writer stating it as a fact themselves). The post title is a direct copy from the article about the crime.

People in groups (and a bunch of people living in an apartment where they know other people are will act like a group) tend not to act to help individuals in danger. Whether it's because they're afraid or because they panic or because they think someone else will instead...

I read about something like this in Phillip Zombardo's The Lucifer Effect, if there is a large group of people around then they all as a collective might believe/wait for someone else to make the first move. If there isn't a lot of people or just themselves then they'll believe it's up to them to act (sometimes they will, sometimes they wont'. That depends on the person).

Still, I'd at least like to think that if this happened outside my apartment doorway I'd call 911 if anything for the disturbance. Hell, call the landlord or something.

I can't find a free full-text copy of it through Google, but if anyone has access to scholarly databases like Ovid, Darley & Latane (1970) kind of pioneered the concept of diffusion of responsibility (i.e. when witnessing an emergency, an observer's likelihood to intervene is inversely proportional to the number of other observers nearby). The phenomenon (to me) seems to emerge from a combination of a) people's tendency to privilege the response of crowds over their own judgment ("well, this seems off to me, but no one else looks concerned, so maybe I'm missing something"), and b) their innate reluctance to get involved in aberrant situations & deal with the consequences (e.g. embarrassment, physical harm, etc.).

However, I don't think that an explanation of the mechanism at work morally exculpates passive bystanders who have not only enough information to understand what their witnessing, but also the safety and means to intervene. This particular incident seems like it should have been fucking clearcut enough for someone to at least arse themselves to call the damn cops.

That is just sick. I wish the police would try to prosecute all those witnesses who couldn't even pick up their damn phone. It may be somewhat (ie legally) ethical to not do anything, but you're still a horrible, terrible person. And I'm sure that it IS (or damn well should be) a crime not to report a crime-in-progress.

This story made me so, so mad, and sad.
People are so well trained to keep out of "other people's business." Except when it comes to women's reproductive options, of course. /snark
Anyway, haven't there been enough 20/20 hidden camera specials about stuff like this? Actors enacting partner-abuse situations in the park while dozens of people walk by pretending not to see... Domestic violence and sexual violence are not "other people's personal business." They're crimes.

If you watch the video there are even two other bastards supporting that mother fucker and saying he's innocent. Those stupid jerks probably watched it take place, too. I hate people.

He's worried about his situation?? WHAT ABOUT HER SITUATION!!! THAT HE PUT HER IN!!! AAAH!

Faerylore, you're right. In Minnesota, it's a petty misdemeanor to not report this sort of thing. Unfortunately, these people will probably not get charged with anything:
Walsh said it's unlikely police would pursue charges against witnesses in this case because the burden of proof is so high -- authorities would have to show that witnesses knew the woman was in extreme danger.

There is a larger problem at the root of this story and that is the relationship of the Somali community and the police here in St. Paul as well as in Minneapolis. It's not good, to say the least. There is also the issue of how domestic abuse or abuse of women is treated within the Somali culture here. It is often viewed as "normal" for men to beat women, and that could be a major factor at play as to why no one reported the attack. Mind you, I am not making excuses, just trying to take a look at some of the other factors involved with this case.

There was a recent case in which a Somali man was sentenced to 17.5 years in prison because he beat his wife so badly that she can no longer take care of herself, let alone her 17 month old son. Here's the LINK to that story.

LindsayPW, the man at the beginning of the video and later seen walking with the rapist is named Omar Jamal, who is the executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center. Great, huh?

My point is that there are a TON of issues at hand, the number one being that the Somali community here is in need of more education in the domestic violence department. Hopefully things can be resolved or made better so this sort of thing does not happen in the future.

Hopefully this all made sense. I need more coffee before I ramble even more.

How horrifying. As Ultra pointed out, people assume someone else will intervene and do nothing.

I think one of the problems is people don't know how to intervene, and when they do, sometimes they are punished for it.

I'll give you an example - 3 times in the past year I've had to intervene when it appeared that a woman was being assaulted on the street (yeah.. I live in LA).

In the first case, a man was pushing up a woman against her car and wrenching her wrists. As soon as I physically intervened he backed off but continued to be verbally abusive. Turns out she had a restraining order against him.

The second time a man was forcing a screaming woman into a car outside my apartment, and 2 of his friends were watching. Everyone either just completely froze (people in cars stop, people on the side walk stopping and not moving) or hurrying quickly away. I ran up to the car and forced it open while they were trying to leave. But in the end the woman didn't really want help - basically telling me I had no business interfering in her personal fight with her boyfriend.

A similar thing happened the third time. A guy and girl were fighting out in the middle of the street. When I went up to intervene, the girl was livid, and throwing stuff at the guy. I completely didn't know what to do, because I had simply assumed they guy was the aggressor. I just stood there feeling pretty stupid for a couple minutes as she turned her aggression on me, not really sure what to do.

My point is, people aren't trained to intervene, people freeze when they see things like that, and they don't always assess whether something is happening that needs intervention, and when you do intervene sometimes you are punished for it. You never know how you are going to react in a situation like that until you are actually faced with it.

...but she's freaking unconcious by the time police respond. That's not a normal consequence of consentual sex. Isn't that just another tad bit of a tip off that Rage is a lying rapist piece of dog shit?

Even if, by some bizarre mistake, those observers thought it was consentual, wouldn't they still call the cops? I mean, it's sex in a public place, and definitely not something you're okay with, right? I mean, if it were my building, I'd call the police, ASAP.

i have a sticker in my office that says "i'm making domestic violence my business." i still don't see why this is a crime where people will sit back and witness without wanting to help. ever.

a while ago i was communicating with a woman who had some questions for me about someone we both dated. that person was physically abusive with her and wanted to know some things about how our relationship had been. i was amazed that whenever i mentioned this to people i knew, i received responses like "what does it matter? don't get involved with that. tell her to leave you alone."

wtf? who am i to judge what she thought she would need? a few questions won't kill me but it could help her a lot! and it did, thankfully.

on a brighter note, i was walking down my street one day when i heard this elderly lady yell "you better leave her alone!" i turned to look where she was screaming and saw a couple who looked to be arguing. i stopped for a minute to see if he was putting his hands on her and didn't witness anything that i thought was in any way threatening (i'm not sure what the woman saw). but still, i thought it was pretty bad ass of her...

Seriously?

That is ridiculous. The LEAST they could have done was go back inside their apartments and call the police. I can understand not wanting to get physically involved, but not even making an attempt to stop it?

If you ask me, the people who watched and did nothing should be charged for the crime too. The least that they could have done was call the cops.

At least this person felt compelled to respond. And she couldn't even really see what was happening.

http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_082307WAB_sodo_sexual_assault_TP.6340d154.html

This brings back bad memories. It was on the day I was moving out of my old apartment, in a really bad neighborhood. A car drove up and stopped a couple houses down. Some guy got out and opened the passenger door and was dragging a woman towards his apartment. She was kicking and screaming (and it was the kind of scream that puts chills in you).

I was so shocked. I considered yelling something, but I was alone and I didn't know whether he would come after me. While he was dragging her into his house (and she was still screaming), I DID take the time to run down, get the address, and call the police. I waited until they got there and I pointed out the house, and then I booked it. It was three months ago and I still have no idea what happened to that woman.

Shame on all those people who saw what was happening and did nothing. I have nothing but disgust for them.

Fuck. Omar Jamal is a very well-respected person in the Twin Cities community, and until now I always thought he was a good person. Now I say, fuck him. Yes, Omar Jamal, fuck you. You're a scourge on the Somali community, and you should rename your stupid little organization the Somali Men's Justice Advocacy Center, since you obviously don't give a shit about what happens to Somali women, to your mothers and sisters and daughters. If I were Somali, I would be livid that this is how Jamal is presenting my community to the public and how he's supposedly "supporting" them.

Furthermore, I don't really buy the whole theory about the Lucifer effect. When the I-35W bridge collapsed here a few weeks ago, tons of people jumped into action independently of each other, and it's not as if that situation wasn't dangerous -- at least one person died helping save people.

But when it's violence against women, oh no, we'd better let it happen because you know the damn bitch deserved it, at least according to most people. A few months ago, I was beaten up and mugged by four people on a main street downtown, and a bunch of white guys in the area didn't intervene to help me. One guy even refused to help me afterwards, saying he didn't want to "get mixed up" in anything. And then he drove his big-ass SUV away. And that's the most terrifying part of the whole thing for me, that people stood by and watched some crackheads beat the shit out of me and did NOTHING. I used to feel safe walking on busy streets, but now I realize that having people around does nothing to keep you safe, because most of them would be more than happy to watch a woman get beaten up.

I'm so sorry to hear that happened to you, p & r.
I think so many men are wrapped in their privilege, which allows them to say, "not my problem" when they witness something like that.

"i still don't see why this is a crime where people will sit back and witness without wanting to help. ever."

Too many assholes think that when it happens to a man it's a crime and when it happens to a woman it's a culture.

"You're a scourge on the Somali community, and you should rename your stupid little organization the Somali Men's Justice Advocacy Center, since you obviously don't give a shit about what happens to Somali women, to your mothers and sisters and daughters."

Exactly.

"I used to feel safe walking on busy streets, but now I realize that having people around does nothing to keep you safe, because most of them would be more than happy to watch a woman get beaten up."

That sounds horrible :-(.

"I'm so sorry to hear that happened to you, p & r.
I think so many men are wrapped in their privilege, which allows them to say, "not my problem" when they witness something like that."

On average, men and women respond the same in bystander-intervention situations, with an elevated likilhood of men responding if women are present.

http://www.apa.org/journals/releases/amp606581.pdf

Helping behavior +.13
Helping: Surveillance context + .74
Helping: No surveillance -.02

(.20 = small, .50 = medium, .80 = large)

The "culture" excuse is almost as lame as the "religion" excuse.

Neither entitles you to be a scum bag just because you imagine it does.

I know in prison they aren't nice to ex-cops and kid-touchers. What about rapists and woman-beaters?

Omg.
At the end of the article, the guy actually tries to say that it was just all a big "misunderstanding" and that he went after her because she was too drunk to drive. According to him, they were just fighting over him getting her car keys.

Uhm...
I don't think fighting over car keys could ever be mistaken as serious assault and rape.

Fuck him. What an asshole.

"Furthermore, I don't really buy the whole theory about the Lucifer effect. When the I-35W bridge collapsed here a few weeks ago, tons of people jumped into action independently of each other, and it's not as if that situation wasn't dangerous -- at least one person died helping save people."

I believe I've also read that the bystander effect is more pronounced during man-made events. While the bridge was man-made, its collapse I think falls more under the "act of God" rubric -- there was no malice involved.

An event like that (or like 9/11, which was man-made but nonetheless inspired several incidents of heroism even in those untrained to handle themselves in emergencies) would also be pretty nonambiguous and less fraught with cultural assumptions about gender roles and appropriate behavior towards women.

It's depressing, I know: drowning is unambiguous and warrants an intervention, but rape or physical assault gives people pause.

FTA:

Minnesota has a Good Samaritan law that makes it a petty misdemeanor not to give reasonable help to a person in danger of "grave physical harm."

Walsh said it's unlikely police would pursue charges against witnesses in this case because the burden of proof is so high -- authorities would have to show that witnesses knew the woman was in extreme danger.

The surveillance video shows them seeing her being beaten and raped. What more evidence do they need?

Furthermore, I don't really buy the whole theory about the Lucifer effect. When the I-35W bridge collapsed here a few weeks ago, tons of people jumped into action independently of each other, and it's not as if that situation wasn't dangerous -- at least one person died helping save people.

Ponies,

That was an understood disaster where people knew others would die, not a crime between two people where some people might not know the extent of the situation. I don't remember exactly when it happened but a while back there was that guy in NY or Chicago who jumped onto the subway tracks when a woman fell over and he saved her life. In the Lucifer effect Zimbardo talks about that about what, if I remember correctly, is the "hero" or "brave" response in people. Some people will jump in to help when they know for a fact that another's life is in danger, as in the case of the bridge or even 9/11, and for cases like this and the Kitty Genose murder they will freeze and wait to see what others will do in a group setting.

It's not exact but I do understand the inclination. However, I still think that someone should have at least called the cops for the public "sex" or disturbance of peace.

Yes, it is instinct to run/hide/avoid rather than help, but it's also a responsibility to make intelligent decisions over gut reactions.

When I was an RA in a HUGE co-ed building, incidentally it was also the "party dorm" on campus, I saw this a lot. Majority of the time, everyone including staff chose the "stay out of it" approach. I didn't, and I did end up having to file more police reports, but that was it. It's not like on The Sopranos where you're gonna be tracked down for calling the cops. I have always thought, "What are the chances they'll attack me? Pretty slim, right?" It's worked.

I'm horrified...there simply is NO excuse for not helping someone. Once, when I was in a club, I saw a woman sitting in a corner with her skirt pulled up, and about 4 or 5 men all grouped around her watching while one of them had his fingers in her. She wasn't shouting, but she looked distressed, and even though I was alone, and even though I'm only 5'1", I didn't even hesitate for a second. I rushed into the group and shoved the men as hard as I could so that I could get to her. I helped her stand up, and got her out of there. One of the guys kept saying, "That's her husband...that's her husband..." I said, "Ya right, she's MY friend, so fuck off...." etc... My heart was racing and I was terrified they would attack me too, but there was no way I was going to just leave her there.

As things turned out, it actually WAS her husband, and she was actually quite happy to be there getting finger banged in front of a crowd. WTF? I thought...

Point is, I had no idea whether or not what was happening was consensual, but I decided that if it WASN'T that I was going to help her no matter what danger to myself. Personally, when I see that sort of situation, I can't NOT take action. I would never be able to forgive myself if I failed.

There had to be a fear element involved. Here was an obviously violent man attacking someone in a hallway. If you call the cops and the man gets a slap on the wrist (entirely possible), you will then have to live on that same hallway with that same violent man who knows you ratted him out to the police. Pretty scary stuff. I am not saying that this excuses inaction, but I can at least understand how it might have happened.

""I've got a mom, I've got a sister. I wouldn't rape anyone."

Because no rapists have female relatives? "

Ugh. You know, whenever people are arguing against premarital sex, pornography,m strip clubs, someone inevitably will always say: "Would you want someone doing that to/looking at your sister/mother/cousin that way?" And rapists? They don't think, before raping a woman: "You know, she's a person with people who love her, and I really wouldn't want this happening to any of the people I love." This sort of attitude isn't as good as just plain: "She's a person and she can make her own decisions" would be but it's a start. That he's using this rationale for why he wouldn't rape AFTER already raping is just plain maddening.

That guy's probably got the most appropriate first name ever. Creepy.

I'm always amazed at the ability of some people to outright lie about something that they did, to people who saw them do it or regardless of the evidence at hand.

I used to know a lot of the guys down at the local day centre and one time, one of the less-nice guys stole my handbag when I was in the bar with friends and ran off. We caught up with him.

I was standing right in front of him afterwards asking him to give the stuff back, and he just outright denied that he'd done anything while HOLDING MY BANK CARDS IN HIS HAND. Even after I'd gotten the bits back and we were trying to find where he'd dumped my housekeys he was saying 2what've I done? I haven't done anything, why're you getting angry?".

I just don't get it, and to see that sort of behaviour from someone whose violated a woman like this is just disgusting and SO frustrating, I guess part of me wants to at least hear the guy admit he did it for the sake of the poor lass' sanity.

I wonder why this story got so little traction as compared to say the Duke Lacrosse story given so much corroborating evidence. Is it because lack, Muslim rapists cannot be called out for fear of appearing racist?

No, Farhat, it's because there are many dramatic sexual assault cases each week involving all sorts of different people, and most of them don't get as much attention as the Duke case. The Duke case got attention because it involved a bunch of the members of a big-name school sports team.

Hi Ninapendamaishi, but that doesn't explain that there was a similar case after the Duke case where a Duke football team member was accused of rape but got little attention.
The major difference was that the accused was black.

Again, there are things about this case that could spark a lot of discussion and soulsearching about how to prevent this. There is video evidence, there are multiple eyewitnesses and more. And then we have a community leader outright saying there was on rape? I wouldn't be surprised if she recants and the case is dropped.

Anyway, I noticed the lack of attention that this got on feminist blogs like feministe and others usually willing to write screenfuls of stuff on way milder stuff.

Am I the only one who read the AP story carefully?

According to the abovementioned AP story (in the third sentence) the police were responding to a call.

Unless they have mental telepathy or spider sense, somebody in the building called them.

Let's think a little before we jump to conclusions about people "standing by." Plainly someone didn't.

(If I hear Kitty Genovese's name I will officially go batty. The facts of that case are accessible to anyone who bothers to check. They aren't nearly as clear an indictment of the neighbors as legend would have it. For a good introduction, see www.snopes.com or better yet, Jimmy Breslin's book).

The guy who did this is a whack job who needs to be jailed, on that we can agree, I think.

(Before a bunch of people start flaming me calling me an apologist for a rapist. I am not. If you don't get that read the above sentence a few times).

Dammit, I am outraged about this guy as well, but f'r chrissakes lets get the context right for once. Outrage is easy.

Now, I am willing to stand corrected if anyone does any additional reporting here to check what the neighbors did or did not do. But as it stands, every person here who states that the neighbors did nothing is at best operating with incomplete information and at worst jumping to some very bad conclusions, based on the evidence presented here.

In America, we are innocent until proven guilty.

Just something to keep in mind while we read about this situation.

In America, we are innocent until proven guilty.

Just something to keep in mind while we read about this situation.