Michigan State Student Brutally Beaten in Anti-Semitic Attack

[Mosby]

A violent anti-Semitic hate crime took place early Sunday in East Lansing, Michigan when 19 year old Zachary Tennen was beaten unconscious and then had his mouth stapled by two men, according to his family.

Tennen, a sophomore at Michigan State University, was approached by the men at a party early on Sunday and asked if he was Jewish, his mother said. The men proceeded to raise their right arms in a Nazi salute and said “Heil Hitler”, before beating Tennen unconscious. According to Tennen’s mother, 20 people watched while her son had his mouth stapled by the two suspects.

http://www.algemeiner.com/2012/08/28/michigan-state-student-brutally-beaten-in-anti-semitic-attack/

[jwirr]

1. What a sick bunch of idiots. Hitler is nothing but a pure disgrace to the name of any of us who are

German (as I am) and these people should be punished throughly for their actions. Enough to make the next fascist think twice.

[atreides1]

5. I agree

But so far this is a one sided story...there are at least 20 other people who were there, and even though it was reported that not one of them did anything to help this young man...we won't know the entire story until the police find and arrest the two goons who did this.

With 20 eyewitnesses, it shouldn't take too long for local law enforcement to catch up with them!

[jsr]

2. "20 people watched while her son had his mouth stapled"

WTF

[HughBeaumont]

3. Gee, feel free to, you know, STEP IN ANY TIME . . . .

According to Tennen’s mother, 20 people watched while her son had his mouth stapled by the two suspects.

[Mopar151]

4. There are witnesses

About 20, per the OP. Amd the kid took a cab to the hospital... Did some skinheads crash a campus party? This 'll make 'em heros in jail....

[msongs]

6. at least 20 skinhead sympathizers at the party watching this too, evidently nt

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. There are enough psych studies

that show why these 20 people standing and watching is not that rare.

It takes ONE to break the spell as well.

[cali]

8. forgive me for approaching this story cautiously

but experience has brought me to that.

I've been reading the stories on this incident. The Hospital didn't report it. That's odd. They're mandated to report all attacks.


We have his word that it was an attack rooted in anti-semitism, and that may well be true.

There are certainly anti-semitic attacks in this country and anti-semitic hate crimes. I wouldn't deny that for a minute.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

10. As well you should...

The link in the OP does not appear to be a reliable source of information, and the according the Lansing State Journal, police do not consider this a "hate crime." Also very suspicious that the police were never contacted by the local hospital.

[cali]

11. yes, the Detroit Free Press also says they don't consider it a hate crime

However, the East Lansing Police Department said in a statement that its preliminary investigation indicated it was not likely a hate crime.

"Two witnesses have been located, and ELPD has identified a potential suspect. He does not live in the area," the statement said. "ELPD is making significant progress with the case. More information will be provided as it becomes available.

http://www.freep.com/article/20120828/NEWS06/120828010/MSU-student-s-mouth-stapled-jaw-broken-reported-hate-crime-attack

[Mosby]

16. Thanks for the link

Sounds like it is not clear what happened so we will have to wait for a police statement.

[FightForMichigan]

13. Not true, actually

If the victim is alert and capable of making decisions for him or herself, it is up to them whether to report it or not, in most cases. Perhaps the rules are different if there was a gun involved, but for regular old fist-meets-flesh violence, that is not the case, at least in Michigan.

I volunteer to meet with survivors of sexual assault when they go to the hospital. I have never seen a hospital worker take the initiative on contacting the police. It has always been up to the person who was assaulted.

As a matter of fact, I volunteer at the very same hospital this young man went to, and know many of the nurses in the ER there. I can double check the next time I am on shift, but that's two weeks off. But going on what I've seen in the past, it's just not true that police are always notified.

[cali]

15. I'm sure you're right, but the story still stinks to high heaven

[Initech]

9. If there's any group of people on this planet I truly despise - it's white supremacists.

I hate reading stories like this.

[cali]

12. the more I read, the more it appears as if this kid is making it up

that this is an anti-semitic attack.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

14. I suspect...

that based on the story in the paper, he went to an off-campus party with two friends who then left. He remained behind. It's possibly more likely that an altercation ensured (unrelated to the guy's religion) and he got the crap beaten out of him.

[cali]

17. I'm not even sure he got the crap beaten out of him or had his mouth stapled.

something seems to have happened.

[Mosby]

18. Updates

The suspect in the Sunday morning assault that left a Michigan State University sophomore with a broken jaw is an 18-year-old Farmington Hills man. East Lansing police interviewed him on Tuesday. He hasn’t been arrested or charged.

“We have a few more things, specifically some key witnesses to track down, prior to taking this to the Ingham County prosecutor’s Office for review,” said East Lansing police Capt. Jeff Murphy. “We’re hoping to take it there this week.”

http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20120829/NEWS01/308290061/Suspect-assault-MSU-student-Zachary-Tennen-questioned-not-arrested?odyssey=tab


Police say charges are expected against an 18-year-old Farmington Hills teen who is accused of hitting an Michigan State University student at an off-campus party over the weekend.

But East Lansing Police Captain Jeff Murphy said today that while witnesses saw 19-year-old victim Zachary Tennen of Franklin get punched and pull a piece of metal from his mouth afterward, no witnesses have confirmed any evidence of stapling or a hate crime.

http://www.freep.com/article/20120829/NEWS06/120829044/Zachary-Tennen-Bruce-Tennen-MSU-assault-anti-Semitic-hate-crime?odyssey=nav