An earlier diary told the story about a young woman and her brother, viciously attacked in a Chicago park last weekend. As of Friday, no arrests had been made and the young woman questioned whether any headway was being made in her case.
Fortunately, four arrests have been made.
Arrests aren't convictions, and four arrests don't account for the substantially larger number of people allegedly involved in the assault. So, a number of questions remain about whether additional arrests will be made and most importantly, whether charges are brought and for what violations. Among other things, the victim alleged that they were assaulted based on race, and accordingly, hate crime enhancements should be charged. The prosecuting attorney will have to sort out the evidence to see what charges are supported and there will no doubt be conflicting evidence about how the assault started, what was said, etc., but there is no question that the victims sustained serious injuries that likely could have resulted in their death.
In the prior diary, several people questioned whether the victims should have been in a park late at night, in a predominately white/Hispanic neighborhood. This is no different than questioning a rape charge based on the victim's clothing. Everyone has a right to be free from assault 24 hours every day of the week, every day of the year, in every neighborhood in this country. It's just a lucky circumstance here that the victims survived and were able to give the police enough information to track down at least some of their attackers.