Teen Says He Was Beaten
A teen from Staten Island (NY), Ali Kamara, is reporting that he was beaten by four white guys with a baseball bat on election night. The men, says the 17-year-old, said “Obama” before attacking him, but gave him no other warning of impending danger. You can see a video of Kamara talking about the incident here.
Steve Huff, from True Crime Report, posted about the story today and it got my attention. Huff links to a story that made news just before the election–the story of Ashley Todd. Todd cried foul before the election saying that she was robbed/beaten because of a McCain/Palin sticker on her car. She said the perpetrators carved the letter “B” on her cheek (though it was oddly carved backwards). Naturally, it is not a surprise that Todd later confessed that the story was a lie. With that, Huff cautions it pays to be skeptical of stories like this. I agree with Huff.
Then I went to look at the video of Kamara. It is possible someone could be attacked for a a variety of reasons so it should not be ruled out, but one needs to give it a good look before simply believing.
Read moreKamara says about the beating [WCBSTV]”I was on the floor, beating me with a bat. They started beating me, beating me, beating me. They got back in the car, chasing me.”
I find it interesting how Kamara’s tense changes from past tense “got back in the car” to present tense “chasing me”. When we recollect stories, we usually keep our tense in past tense. We don’t switch back and forth between present and past tense.
Kamara also leaves off the pronoun [they (were)] in the first sentence, and talks about being on the floor instead of the ground which is unusual. He also is quite emotionless considering the ordeal he tells us he went through.
These oddities raised my eyebrows so I looked a little closer. What is interesting is in the link provided above, if you click on the video on the right, you will see Kamara walk three different times in the news segment.
When the video launches at time marker 0:16, Kamara is walking straight towards the camera. Notice how he is not favoring either foot?
Now go to time marker 0:41, and watch his movement. Kamara now has a notable limp. As the camera pans down, notice it seems to get even worse? Another time Kamara is seen on the video is when he is pointing out the fence he supposedly jumped over, and here I do not see any limp.
Are Kamara’s injuries the type that come and go? What type of injuries do that? Does anyone know?
I also find it interesting how Kamara told his mother than he was dying: “Mama, four boys, white boys jumped me, beat me with baseball bat. I’m bleeding, I’m dying, I’m dying,” says Janeba Ladepo, Kamara’s mother.”
This will be an interesting story to watch unfold…I have to wonder if Kamara is exaggerating his injuries, or if there is more to this story.