Black (US) Diplomat Attacked in Ukraine (by more than a dozen skinheads)

[truthpusher]

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-ukraine-us-diplomat-attacked,0,6600052,print.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

Black Diplomat Attacked in Ukraine
--------------------------------
By Associated Press
March 1, 2005, 10:55 AM EST
--------------------------------
KIEV, Ukraine -- An American diplomat said Tuesday he was attacked and severely beaten by a group of skinheads in the Ukrainian capital because he was black.

Robert Simmons, serving at the U.S. Agency for International Development in Uzbekistan, was attacked Saturday night by what he described as a well-organized group of more than a dozen skinheads wearing combat boots.

"I was attacked because I am African-American. They did not touch my friends who were there with me but were not black," Simmons told The Associated Press in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent.

"They beat me in turns, it looked like training for them," Simmons said.

complete story: http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-ukraine-us-diplomat-attacked,0,6600052,print.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

[The Backlash Cometh]

1. Yo, Robert., it ain't going to get much better over here...

[Blue_Tires]

4. afraid not...

stories that i hear from eastern europe are getting consistenly worse

[hector459]

23. Guess who is in charge in the Ukraine? US supporters that's who.

so does this surprise anyone? Bush has made Fascism fashionable and politically correct. Just look around the US.

[The Backlash Cometh]

24. I think you may be right.

There have been several incidents. Not just the recent beating of a gay person, but the killing of a judge's family. That needs to be looked into. I sincerely believe there are people out there, like Ann Coulter, who condones these kinds of things to warn other "liberals." Just like the Kent State massacres.

[tom_paine]

2. Sound's like Comrade Putin's version of "Free Republic" as already hard

at work.

Google "Nashi" to see what Comrade Putin's version of "Free Republic" is.

[Trillo]

3. Just yesterday, a similar story about a gay being beaten in the U.S. nt

[oscar111]

5. AFTER nazis herded ukraihiahs into churches and burned them,

there oughtnt be any nazi lovers in the ukraine.

were these immigrant skinheads?

[gottaB]

7. Saw a story about Russian skinheads. Similar dynamics, I'd wager.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=116&topic_id=8910

[Hobarticus]

9. Too young to remember....

History is fickle.

[XemaSab]

16. I thought

a lot of the Ukrainians fought with Hitler just to get rid of the Russians, who'd sent half of them off to Siberain gulags.

[pinerow]

39. For the record...more Ukrainians sided with the Nazi's, and welcomed their

so-called liberation from the Soviet "Bear"...read and understand yer history...

[solinvictus]

41. Hitler or Stalin..

That was Ukraine's choice in WW2. There were millions who fought the USSR because of Stalin's state sponsored famines in the 1930's. Anti-Soviet partisans remained active in Ukraine until the 1960's and effectively controlled many rural areas. Ukraine is Russia's Ireland.

[Tempest]

6. This is what U.S. taxpayer's $65 million bought

Freedom to commit hate crimes.

Bush must be proud.

[seriousstan]

11. You are under some dillusion that with 65mill you eliminate hate and crime

Really?

Could you show some proof that any amount of money can do that?

[Tempest]

14. You must not have understood

I'm referring to the fact that Bush spent $65 million to put a rightwing government in place in the Ukraine.

The neo-Nazis committing these crimes are not Liberals, you know.

It's called empowerment.


Also, read post #13.

[Kimber Scott]

8. So, what did his "friends" do, watch? nt

[MrSlayer]

10. They didn't touch his friends. Did any of these "friends" help?

Sounds like they just stood aside. Who the fuck just lets this happen to their friend without getting in there and battling? I'd kick every one of their asses after I healed.

[Blue_Tires]

21. that is a good question

a lot of detail is missing from this story

[LisaL]

26. They probably were too scared to interfere.

The guy is lucky to be alive.

[0007]

37. Could this be a propaganda story by th U.S. to counter Ukraine's

pullout of Iraq? :shrug:

[MisterP]

12. was it UNA-UNSO?

they supported the Blessed Saint Haggis Face

[BrotherBuzz]

13. Bogus nationalism is considered anti-Russian and therefore democratic

<snip>
It is in the west of Ukraine that support is strongest for the man who is being vigorously promoted by America as the country's next president: the former prime minister Viktor Yushchenko. On a rainy Monday morning in Kiev, I met some young Yushchenko supporters, druggy skinheads from Lvov. They belonged both to a Western-backed youth organization, Pora, and also to Ukrainian National Self-Defence (Unso), a semi-paramilitary movement whose members enjoy posing for the cameras carrying rifles and wearing fatigues and balaclava helmets. Were nutters like this to be politically active in any country other than Ukraine or the Baltic states, there would be instant outcry in the US and British media; but in former Soviet republics, such bogus nationalism is considered anti-Russian and therefore democratic.
<more>

http://www.uvm.edu/~wmiller/ukraineca.htm

Thug are thugs. I can only assume these skinheads are from the same group....No?

[MisterP]

15. yeah, that's what UNSO stands for

here's their flag:
http://www.fotw.net/flags/ua}.html#onso

[XemaSab]

17. Wrong link

http://www.fotw.net/flags/ua}.html#onso

This should fix it...

[SlavesandBulldozers]

18. interesting

good post.

what strange bedfellows.

[TankLV]

20. Yeah - I guess it's wrong for Ukrainians to want to throw of the russian

colonialists yoke and do for themselves.

Shame on them for not worshiping their colonial masters.

[BrotherBuzz]

22. I wonder if it's more than that

I can't think of anything better than the Ukrainians seeking their freedom. But in this case, it might be one of those "out of the frying pan into the fire" thingies. The enemy of my enemy is not necessarily my friend, and I would choose to distance myself from this Ukrainian skinhead movement.

[TankLV]

40. Who is supporting the so-called Ukrainian Skin Head movement?

I support Yuschenko and his struggle.

He has nothing to do with any "skinhead movement".

Of course, why would you be supporting the russian skinhead movement?

And don't forget the russian mafia that supports his opposition?

And all the other thugs and criminals who support his opposition?

I do agree that only time will tell - but almost anything is better than being returned to colonialism as a colony.

[Barkley]

19. Can you image if this were Iran, N. Korea , VZ instead of the Ukraine?

It would be all over the news!

Bush would be threatening to invade.

[sea dee]

25. lets not degress from this issue.

lets not digress from this issue.

A US diplomat has been attacked because he is black.

[sea dee]

27. American Diplomat Attacked by skinheads in Ukraine because he's Black

Black Diplomat Attacked in Ukraine





By Associated Press

March 1, 2005, 10:55 AM EST

KIEV, Ukraine -- An American diplomat said Tuesday he was attacked and severely beaten by a group of skinheads in the Ukrainian capital because he was black.

Robert Simmons, serving at the U.S. Agency for International Development in Uzbekistan, was attacked Saturday night by what he described as a well-organized group of more than a dozen skinheads wearing combat boots.

"I was attacked because I am African-American. They did not touch my friends who were there with me but were not black," Simmons told The Associated Press in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent.

"They beat me in turns, it looked like training for them," Simmons said.

Police did not appear until after the beating, Simmons said. The U.S. Embassy said it would push Ukrainian authorities to find those responsible.

Such attacks are not common in Ukraine, but a November warning posted on the Web site of the U.S. Embassy in Kiev warned Americans of "reports of racially motivated incidents against non-Caucasian foreigners, including American citizens of African and Asian descent."

"In addition to incidents of assault, persons of African or Asian heritage may be subject to various types of harassment, such as being stopped on the street by both civilians and law enforcement officials," the message said.
Copyright © 2005, The Associated Press

[Name removed]

28. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

29. What is it you want people to say? Why didn't the people he was with...

...try to help him instead of apparently doing nothing?

[Name removed]

30. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[LisaL]

31. I presume they were afraid they would be attacked if they

interfere.

[sea dee]

34. that's my guess too.

that's my guess too.

still they singled him out because he was black.

[Blue_Tires]

33. it's a dupe being discussed here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1275339

[sea dee]

35. thank you Blue_Tires

thank you Blue_Tires

[NNN0LHI]

32. Google results for orange revolution+skinheads

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=orange+revolution%2Bskinheads&btnG=Google+Search

[applegrove]

36. Bush better be carefull who he 'gives wings' to. There are nut bombs

in every culture in the world looking for Beelzebub to return and lead them. Look at what the White Supremacists have done in the USA, yesterday: they put USA on par with Saddam Hussein's Iraq in terms of judicial intimidation. I think it time that the ***hole Bush stop with the triangulation of Republican voters and cut the racists off at the knees. Stop it with sending out multiple messages. Stand up and stand behind Affirmative Action. Like ALL THE OTHER PRESIDENTS HAVE DONE!

[TheLastMohican]

38. Wait a second! Why does it always have to be a skin color?

The guy didn't file any official complaint about being beaten. He didn't turn to the police, neither did his supposed "friends". I smell bogus here. Someone just wants to muddy Ukraine for racism.
There are quite a few blacks here working and living and you don't hear this kind of crime happening on a daily basis.
I want to hear a real story what is all behind this? Plus I know several folks from USAID, pure bastards, hanging in the clubs, drinking heavily and chasing women like crazy. What if this guy had it coming for doing something in the past? The skin color aside.

This piece of "news" would not make the newspapers if it was the white guy beaten for whatever reason. And I doubt the entire story.