Murder

Homicide is the killing of a human by another human. Murder is a homicide that breaks the law. Some categories of homicide/murder are negligent, voluntary, vehicular, etc. One case of homicide that I found was the murder of five people by Shawn Michael Bentler. On October 14, 2006, Bentler shot and killed his parents and his three teenaged sisters with a shotgun. The apparent motivation was to ensure that he inherited the family fortune in its entirety. According to reports, Bentler had trouble keeping jobs, and was having difficulty paying his bills, including child support for two children conceived by two different women. He was sentenced to five consecutive life sentences on June 17, 2007. The media reports emphasize how shocking this crime was to the community and to the people who knew Bentler and his family.

The first media documentation of homicide that I found was a TV show called Homicide: Life on the Streets. This series, which aired from 1993 to 1999, was about a police homicide unit in Baltimore. The second was a movie called Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. This movie starring Johnny Depp and directed by Tim Burton, is based on a Broadway musical.

 

http://murderpedia.org/male.B/b/bentler-shawn.htm

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106028/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0408236/

Mob Violence

Mob violence is when a group of people become single-minded against some person or thing (building, institution, etc.) and become violent. One example would be a group of people who gather to protest in front of a bank, and end up throwing rocks at the building. Another example would be fans of a losing sports team who start throwing rock in store windows and burning cars. This type of violence exists partially because people can become deindividuated when they are in a large crowd. When one person in the crowd starts vandalizing property in certain situations the rest of the crowd will follow suit.

                One news story I found about mob violence was of a riot at Iowa State University in 1953. After the university’s football team won a surprise victory at the homecoming game, students began demanding to have classes canceled the following Monday in celebration. The riot quickly became violent as students started burning lawn ornaments. The mob was eventually dispersed by police, who had to resort to using clubs and tear gas.  However, the riots began again the next night as students demanded Tuesday off. This article views the rioting students as the offenders, and the university and the university’s president, James Hilton, as the victims.

                The first bit of media documentation I found is a picture of riot police standing in front of a sign that says “Stop mob violence!” Another image I found is of a flyer, probably from the early 1920’s, that proclaims lynching as “the shame of America”. This flyer, by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, is to gain support for the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill.

http://www.iowastatedaily.com/special_sections/article_263243a8-f213-11e1-96d1-0019bb2963f4.html

http://alieninliberia.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/mob-violence.jpg

http://historymatters.gmu.edu/mpimages/mp210.jpg