Shocking home invasion reveals generations of hatred
Philadelphia appears to be a simmering cauldron of anger. On September 9, dozens of teenagers carrying bats, pipes and at least one firearm descended on the Port Richmond community. The angry mob of black and Hispanic youths was looking for a couple of white teenagers who had allegedly pushed an African-American youth off his bike at a nearby playground a couple of hours earlier.
As the unruly mob entered the community, two fearful white teens caught in their path began running for their life, begging homeowner Mark LaVelle to let them into his house.
Just as LaVelle slammed his door shut, the aggressive mob surged up his porch. LaVelle yelled for his wife to hide their children in the bedroom and call the police.
The angry mob began banging on his windows and door. Someone shouted, “Something’s going to happen now!”
Then someone kicked the door so hard it slammed open, and some of the angry teenagers came flooding in. The scene quickly descended into chaos, as the Philadelphia Daily News reports:
“The first guy hits me with a pipe. The second guy knocks me in the face. All I’m hearing is my wife and kids screaming,” said LaVelle, who feared that the next time they saw him, he would be in a casket.
He said that he was able to push the attackers out the door, but then a third man—who had a gun—tried to extend his arm. LaVelle grabbed onto the gunman’s lower arm and shoulder so he couldn’t raise the weapon. Then, police sirens screamed in the neighborhood, and the mob turned and ran.
As reported by the Philadelphia Daily News, police apprehended some of the youths, and LaVelle was able to identify three of the attackers.
But, as if this assault wasn’t shocking enough by itself, the insanity wasn’t—and isn’t—over.
LaVelle said that the next day, the mother of the juvenile [with the gun] came back with some other people, banging on his door, screaming. LaVelle, who was at a charity sports event, was called back to the house by one of his sons.
When he got home, LaVelle said, the mother yelled at him, “You … got my kid locked up! You got my son locked up because he’s black, you’re white!” The mother claimed that her son had been “a witness,” not an attacker. To that, LaVelle said if that were true, it would come out in court. But the mother, according to LaVelle, then yelled: “If you make it to court! I know where you live!”
Wow. As if this man hadn’t gone through enough. He didn’t even know the white teens who were being chased two hours after the African-American youth was knocked off his bike. Now this man lives in fear that someone is going to kill him as revenge—revenge for the dastardly act of opening his door.
Look at this disproportionate act of violence. One youth allegedly gets pushed off his bicycle, and a mob descends on a nearby community with bats, pipes and guns. Philadelphia is simmering with hatred ready to boil over.
If the attack was racially motivated—as it seems certain it was—you can see where the teenagers took their cue from: their parents.
Multigenerational hatred is not only still extant in America, it is getting worse. For the Bible’s perspective on where incidents like this are leading, read “America: Why Race Riots Are Inevitable.”
