In a recent canyon running thread, I made a comment about how legitimate racing enthusiasts can get painted with the same negative broad brush as people who do bad things. I made the connection of how the Hell's Angels and "The Wild Bunch" didn't help the esteem of the motorcycling sport.

Just now I opened my computer up to the http://www.usatoday.com homepage and one of the lead news story headlines was:

SUSPECT: Gang did $10M Arson: Street racing, racism alleged.

So I clicked onto the story at http://www.usatoday.com/news/n...x.htm where there is a 14 paragraph story about an arson situation in Maryland where some people had burned some new homes in a development and the police had arrested some young people in connection. After some interogation, there was a list of possible reasons that this had happened including gang activity, disgruntled workers and people who did not get hired there, environmental extremists, racism, etc.

In the 13th of 14 paragraphs, was the statement:
"Several of the men were interested in street racing and may have been members of an informal racing club, according to a law enforcement source who spoke on condition of anonymity."

So I am sorry that this has occurred and the bad guys should get caught and properly punished but it really bothered me that the street racing connection that rates the bottom of the article was chosen above even racism in the headline choice for the homepage news item for USA Today. I am a journalist by training (BS in Journalism/Public Relations and Marketing) and it bugs the crap out of me when the modern media picks a societal hot button like street racing from the lowest end of the story (and it is only speculation of anonymous law enforcement of how some of these people knew each other) just to get people interested enough in it to take a peek. Is steet racing a more important problem than racism and the rest of the story that it gets top billing?

Rant off.


Edit- The journalism major used "peak" instead of "peek". DOH!


Modified by CRX Lee at 2:02 AM 12/22/2004

 

burn down houses or street racing it's all the same thing to sensationalist pieces of ****

 

Very well written Lee. I completely agree wit you!

 

i have looked into working with the courts to make punishment for street racers to go to the local track and to do community serves there and show them there is a place to do it legally.

But the judges either say "well that will make it worse they will want to race even more". or they say "with most of these kids its actually the thrill of getting caught and getting in trouble that keeps them street racing."


I dunno which ever it is but with me still driving a modified honda on the street i freaken HATE IT when i get labeled as a street racer.

 

Having a Honda you always run the risk of being called a "Street Racer" or "Ricer" it just comes with the territory. Many people do not understand nor would they ever take the time to understand what the difference is between racing on the street and on the track. Street Racing is not just a gang activity nor is it to be blamed on my generation. Many of the people that street race are of all ages, I have seen some old people in there hot rods drag there cars down the street as well as some young import kids. Is it that easy to pay $200 to take it on the track or street race? Many of the Autocross in and around Cleveland no longer have Solo 2, so what do you do? Drive 2 hours away to the closest place in 7am? Not many street racers all tell you that much. Scca already thinks my generation is a lost cause by eliminating the discount for younger guys (speed Freekz). I wasn’t a teenager not to long ago I can understand street Racing even though that wasn’t my seen, because what else is there to do? its cheap you get a rush and you have fun. Street Racing didn’t start after the Movie Fast and Furious its been around for long time just like gangs. So could the parents been involved in this since they did it in the past? Most of the Younger Street racers get the money to fund these projects from there parents so I guess you could say they are involved.

So what is the Answer to help stop Street Racing?

Why didn't the author in that article suggest the Scca or Nasa? Instead of telling us the obvious that street racing is wrong. Everybody knows street racing is illegal, but how do you help those who are putting everybody on the streets at risk. Again where are the parents, Most of the mods put on these street racing cars are out of the parents pockets, so who should be responsible?

Punishment?

Again who do you blame for street racing? Does community Service really work in rehabbing people? I don’t think so; people are going to do what they want to do. You can higher all the police in the world to stop Street Racing, but it will never stop its gone on for years and years. The press is just exaggerating it making like its new fad. I would say get the parents involved but a lot of kids who do the street racing are older, so sending them to jail or ticketing, is it really doing the job?

I think it in bad taste those ignorant comments in the article about car clubs and gangs encouraging street racing. That makes all of us a part of a gang and street racers which in the Auto XX and RR section we kick out and make fun of those who street race. Many other car club sites don’t encourage nor let people post about that crap as well.

Ignorance is just a part of life; it starts with the education, the press, and politics in America. Something that is only changed by those who want to learn not listens to the mind numbing press.

 

The problem with street ricers is all in their mentality. They do it for the "glory" and "respect", most of which comes from movies and the excessive media attention. I've been bothered by more than enough of them to know that there's no point in wasting your time on 95% of them... they are quite ignorant and very very determined be little thugs, so that's what they'll continue to be. I really don't think there's any helping them; you just have to wait... most will eventually mature, hopefully before they kill someone.

The few who can be convinced to try real racing are the ones who are already being somewhat smart and responsible with their illegal activities on the street, so they aren't really part of the problem and they rarely get caught.

 

We just had something happen like that here for three days all the local news would say is that it broke up " the largest car theft ring ever".
They raided a local shop which housed three business and a few Racers who rented stalls to work on their cars. According to the news stations they were stealing cars to re power plant local street "ricers" and were running a very large meth lab. Now that every thing has settled the meth lab was a small bag of something that may have been meth in a customers car. ( no charges were filed). the theft ring was one motor turned up hot that a customer had dropped off with his car to install. ( the motor was confiscated). The car that started the whole thing was owned by one of the mechs there that had been in a wreck and was installing a new front end on his car at the shop.
The street racers were drag racers ( legally) and three SCCA auto Xers.. Two of the shops are now out of business and more than likely couldn't get a customer again and the media went to find some other trash to cover.. No retractions or any thing..
I now hate reporters more than politicians because at least you throw out a bad politician..
I hope hell has a special place for reporters and politicians they deserve one another....

By the way Lee good job on helping out that stranded kid with the broke trans..
Your a good man.
...

 

I suspect that they picked street racing very deliberately. There has been a rash of teenagers getting killed in Maryland the past few months. Something close to 20 death, IIRC. So they knew that street racing would be good copy in the DC area. Of course, it was in USA today which is a national paper... Anyway, just my $0.02

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/....html - need reg.

Here's the article:
Fires Were Notoriety Ploy, Defendant Says
Club's Leader Was Planner, Men Say

By Eric Rich and Sari Horwitz
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, December 22, 2004; Page B10

One of six men charged in the arsons that ravaged a Charles County subdivision told investigators that the fires were intended to raise the profile of a local car club known alternately as the Family and the Unseen Cavaliers, federal authorities said yesterday.

Michael E. Gilbert, 21, who was arrested late Monday and charged with arson, told federal agents that the club's leader, who also has been charged in the case, approached him a month ago with "a plan to make the Family bigger and more famous," according to a law enforcement affidavit made public in court yesterday.

Gilbert, of Fort Washington, told investigators that the plan "had to do with setting 'something' on fire and . . . would be big," a federal agent wrote in the affidavit.

The alleged leader, Patrick S. Walsh, 20, was arrested on an arson charge Saturday. According to the affidavit, Gilbert and another man who was arrested Monday evening, Roy T. McCann, 22, have identified Walsh as the main instigator of the arsons at the Hunters Brooke subdivision near Indian Head. Officials have called it the biggest case of residential arson in memory in Maryland.

Drawing attention to a car club is the latest of several possible motives that authorities are known to have considered since the conflagrations destroyed 10 unoccupied new houses and damaged 16 others. Authorities said that the club's name refers to the Chevrolet model that Walsh owns, a Cavalier, and that one of the club's main activities is street racing.

In the affidavit made public , Special Agent Christopher J. Trainor of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives wrote that the club is "a gang operating in Charles County." Other authorities said the group regularly meets in the parking lot of a Wendy's restaurant in Waldorf.

Unseen Cavaliers, however, advertises itself on its Web site as a car club that meets Wednesday nights at the Wendy's and is open to anyone "looking to chill with other cavalier owners."

Attorneys for Walsh and Gilbert declined to comment on the affidavit yesterday. A man and woman who came to the door of Walsh's home in Fort Washington also declined to comment. Gilbert's mother, Christine Gilbert, would only say, "My son's a good boy."

Law enforcement sources said yesterday that they have not settled on a single motive for the arsons and that a combination of factors might have been at work.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Donna Sanger said in court yesterday that some of the suspects have referred to the arsons as "payback." One suspect was a security guard with a company hired to protect the subdivision who felt that the company had treated him poorly, according to an earlier law enforcement affidavit. Another suspect had been turned down for a job by the Hunters Brooke developer, Lennar Homes Inc.

Sanger's remark came during a detention hearing for the former security guard, Aaron L. Speed, 21. Arguing against his possible release on bail, Sanger described the arsons as "nothing less than an effort to wipe out" the subdivision and a calculated effort to draw attention to the club.

"It certainly has done that," Sanger said.

The defendants are white, and Sanger mentioned in passing that many of the people planning to settle in Hunters Brooke are black. When Magistrate Judge Charles E. Day asked whether race was a factor in the crime, Sanger responded that the government is "trying to be very conservative in ascribing" motives.

Speed's attorney, John Chamble, said his client, a father and husband, is "highly releasable." Noting that the torched houses were unoccupied, Chamble said, "As arsons go, if we want to keep it real, this is as benign as it gets."

Day ordered Speed to remain in jail pending resolution of the case. Gilbert, Walsh and McCann are scheduled for detention hearings tomorrow, as are Michael M. Everhart and Jeremy D. Parady, both 20. All are charged with arson.

According to Trainor's affidavit, Everhart told investigators that the plan to burn houses at Hunters Brooke began to take shape as early as August. Everhart described an episode at a Denny's restaurant in Waldorf that month with Walsh, Gilbert and McCann, Trainor wrote. Everhart told investigators that the group, seated in an area called "the pit," was talking about "how they wanted to burn things down and light fires," Trainor wrote.

"Everhart subsequently overheard Patrick Walsh talk about a plan to burn down homes at the Hunters Brooke development," Trainor wrote. The affidavit states that Everhart acknowledged being at the development on the morning of Dec. 6, but said he left before the houses were set on fire.

According to the affidavit, McCann told investigators that "a couple months ago at Denny's Patrick Walsh stated that he was going to go off and just start blowing stuff up." On the night before the fires, McCann told investigators, an acquaintance alerted him that Walsh was planning to do "something stupid" at the development, according to the affidavit.

According to the affidavit, Gilbert told investigators about a conversation that he said he and Walsh had Dec. 3. Gilbert quoted Walsh as saying: "You know something's going down, and it will probably be Sunday. I want you to know that this is your last chance. Do you want to be in on it or not?"

Gilbert told investigators that he declined, according to the affidavit.

According to an affidavit made public Monday, Walsh gave investigators permission to search his two cars, one the Cavalier. Agents asked what would happen if a dog detected accelerants. Walsh replied "with words to the effect of 'then I guess you got me,' " the affidavit states.

The following day, according to the affidavit, "the canine alerted to the [presence] of accelerants in both vehicles."

Older court records suggest that there was hostility between Parady and two of the other suspects, Walsh and McCann, and that Speed was once the subject of an emergency mental health commitment to a treatment facility.

In September, according to Charles County court records, Parady alleged that McCann and Walsh had threatened him. He said the two had followed him in cars and "pointed cylinder objects that appeared to be handguns at me." A judge ordered McCann, but not Walsh, to stay away from Parady until March 2005.

In 1999, a judge ordered that Speed undergo a psychiatric evaluation at Civista Medical Center in La Plata. The order was granted after a Charles County's sheriff's deputy reported that Speed "has demonstrated violent behavior to family and school staff and made threats of suicide." The report said he had earlier been treated for bipolar and personality disorders.

 

ohhh...I see so much sensationalism even in that article. And for sure, the author had to pull the racism card out too! A car club for Cavaliers?

Back to the topic on hot-button street racing, Friday night I was watching 20/20 and there was a story on a kid who ran over a young woman in a residential neighborhood, killing her. The car was a modified Eclipse, graphics on the side, clear tail lights, lowered, fancy wheels, etc.

The kid was on trial for criminal charges, saying he was a reckless driver because he failed to stop at a stop sign, which resulted in him traveling at 30 mph through a corner and hitting the woman. At one point in the interview, while talking about the incident, the 20/20 report asks the cop, "Street Racer?" Cop responds, "Sure looks like a street racer."

The cop's tone said it all, if he looks like a street racer, he must be a street racer.

The entire story had nothing to do with street racing, nor was there any talk of the kid doing any street racing, but they still felt it should be brought up. Bugged the hell out of me when I heard that.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Shmeek &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ohhh...I see so much sensationalism even in that article. And for sure, the author had to pull the racism card out too! A car club for Cavaliers?
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Ok, so you're not from around here (here being Washington DC), so you don't understand the racial situation. If you want I can try to explain it to you in private. Suffice it to say that is could easily be motivation for the arson. That may turn out NOT to be the case but it is certainly a reasonable speculation.

If the Unseen Cavaliers is a car club then the Hells Angels is a motorcycle club. I think the word the author was looking for was "gang".

All in all the whole thing was just too weird, esp. on top of a bunch of other arsons in the DC area in the recent past. Like the two resturants in College Park that burned recently.


Modified by JoelG at 12:28 PM 12/23/2004

 

I can't even drive my almost now stock looking hatchback in THE OC without being looked at funny by cops or pulled over or profiled or harrased when i get out of my car.

quote from oc sherrifs deputy: "If i were you i'd just sell my car"

me : "uh ok"?

him : "It sure will keep you street racing kids out of trouble "


So in other words it cam off like sell your car or i'm going to keep pulling you over whenever i see you.

ok so becasue im driving along obeying all traffic laws in a honda civic im automatically doing somehting wrong and a street racer wow thats is simply amazing the ingnorance that runs rampid in todays law enforcement.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JoelG &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

If the Unseen Cavaliers is a car club then the Hells Angels is a motorcycle club. I think the word the author was looking for was "gang".


Modified by JoelG at 12:28 PM 12/23/2004</TD></TR></TABLE>

Looks like they carry themselves as a car club to me. http://unseen-cavaliers.webspace4free.biz/