Over the past few days I can not get out of my mind the horrors that are happening in our back yards.

Early Sunday, around 2 a.m a local Caucasian man living in the Broadway area was mugged by a group of five or six African-American males. The group of men were outside his residence early in the morning blasting their bass driven music while his two children slept in their beds.  When the man went outside to confront the men, he was struck upside the back of his head with a pipe, rolled over, and beaten relentlessly.  The man was stuck in the body with sticks and pipes, kicked repeatedly to the ribs, punched, robbed, and left for dead.  Meanwhile, his wife watched from the front door screaming hysterically.

The man suffered a severe concussion, bruised and cracked ribs, broken bones in his face, lost of hearing out of the right side of his head, and short term memory loss.  He can not go without the use of an oxygen machine that is attached to him 24/7.  His doctor has told him not to lay down for fear of a collapsed lung leaving him to sit up all day and all night long.  He is in and out of the hospital constantly and will be out of work for the foreseeable future.

Today, I was unpleasantly told by a customer of mine (who was also Caucasian) that he was a victim of a similar crime this past weekend.  He was walking home when he was robbed and beaten.  When the ambulance picked him up in the area of Memorial Blvd, his head was beaten so badly that he has sever memory loss about the altercation.  This person was "lucky" in that he was not as severely pummeled as the first gentleman.  I guess he was "lucky" because he only suffered a concussion and some bumps and bruises along with the memory loss.

I have been told stories of similar crimes, to which I do not know the validity, of a group of kids on bicycles doing performing the same types heinous crimes in the Memorial Boulevard area.

Many of you are reading this story and wondering why you haven't heard of these stories.  Why isn't this story on ABC6 or NBC10?  Where is the Newport Daily News or the Providence Journal reporting on these crimes happening here in Rhode Island?  I hate to think that if the races were reversed there would be two famous Reverends here in our city by the sea reporting on inequality, hate, and racism.  But instead, everything is quite.  There isn't a protest or a parade.  There are no celebrities visiting the victims and signing autographs.  We don't hear congressional hearings demanding a stop to black on white crimes.

Be careful out there.  Please, do not walk home alone.  Keep a cell phone nearby ready to dial 911.  If you have a complaint, call the Police, do not try to confront or interact in any way.  If you have information about a beating that you may have heard of or seen yourself, call the police and speak with a detective.

Lastly, please share any similar stories that you may have to warn others out there in our community of possible trouble.  Put an end to the violence, please!