Hate crimes against the homeless

By: Robert Sanchez

Posted: 7/18/07

The headlines are more and more common. From Bend: "Teen hits, kicks, and stomps homeless man to death." From Keizer: "Homeless woman suffocated." From Corvallis: "Teens brutally beat homeless man to death." These incidents occurred in 2004, as detailed in a report by the National Coalition for the Homeless.

From 2002 to 2005, violence against the homeless increased by nearly 300 percent. Fatal attacks rose by 67 percent. Children as young as 11 have participated in these cruel and brutal acts, the majority of which are committed by teenagers. The youngest victim was only 4 months old, while the oldest was 74.

These attacks are hate crimes - crimes in which the perpetrator selects the victim based on a desire to express their negative opinion of a specific group.

One possible reason for the increased violence against the homeless is the "Bum Fights" video series. First released in 2001, "Bum Fights" portrays the homeless as alcoholic, drug addicted, and generally willing to do anything for a bit of cash. They encourage viewers to send in their own 'amateur footage,' and many teenagers serving jail time for murdering homeless people have cited the videos as the inspiration for their assaults.

The videos show people abusing themselves in horrific and degrading ways, yet they must be perversely "entertaining" since they have grossed millions of dollars. In one clip, a man known as Bling Bling is put into rehab for his drug addiction. He is chained to a lamppost and verbally and physically abused. As his withdrawal symptoms worsen, the filmmakers taunt him with money and crack that is just out of his reach. Eventually, Bling Bling is released and given crack after bungee jumping into a swimming pool from the roof of a building.

In another skit, the "Bum Hunter" pays tribute to the late Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin. The Bum Hunter finds homeless people and attacks them in their sleep, tying and gagging them with duct tape, and pretending they are animals, taking their measurements and commenting on their distinguishing features. Upon release, the homeless people are offered a few dollars or some other bribe if they sign a waver to make the assault legal.

The "Homeless Pound Transport" attacks people with stun guns, ropes, crossbows and snares. Upon capture, the homeless person is put in a straightjacket, locked in a cage in the back of a pickup truck, and driven around town while being mocked and abused by the filmmakers. This is the new entertainment: shocking and brutal enough to reach a desensitized and over-stimulated youth.

Other clips are equally disturbing. Several individuals attack a man's face while he screams in pain. A man drinks Windex for a dollar and is later shown vomiting. A homeless man runs into a sheet of glass and is shown bleeding. People step on each other while trying to reach a twenty dollar bill atop a slippery pole. A man who is drunk is given a "beer" that is really urine.

Mainly sold over the internet, major retailers like Tower Records, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Borders, Target, Best Buy, and Blockbuster once sold Bum Fights. Most have stopped due to protests from outraged citizens and human rights groups, but the fact that mainstream retailers would even consider selling these films says something about our culture.

Not only is Bum Fights accepted [it's free speech, right], it is growing in popularity. More and more bored teenagers are engaging in "bum hunting" and "sport killing." It makes me wonder what's next. Will we see Bum Fights on Fox TV? Who will be the next target of our unfocused frustration? How do we address this trend? What are our children learning, and is it what we want them to learn?

As horrifying as it is to me, I am forced to see that people think it's alright to kill homeless people. It is thrilling, it reminds people that they are alive, and the there is less risk than murdering someone with a job, with money, with people to watch out for them. It's also more socially acceptable. Bum Fights portrays the homeless as less than human, a kind of exotic talking animal, not deserving of the dignity afforded people simpley because they are people. I don't know where to begin, it so boggles my mind that people can find entertainment in brutality and cruelty.