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Subway Beating Video Update: Hey, That's My Daughter!
By
Jen Chung
Published Dec 7, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Dec 7, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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The police are continuing to investigate the video of a man being beaten by a group of girls on an A train. While there's still debate about whether the filmed attack was real or staged, this much is known: The teen who filmed the incident, Kajdera Holmes, has retained a lawyer to speak to reporters.
The Daily News has two articles about the incident. The News had asked its readers if they knew any of the people seen in the video, and apparently the father of one of the girls responded. Kevin Belvin, a public school teacher in the city, told the newspaper, "A father knows his child. One of those young ladies was my daughter." He says his daughter Kierra Brown is the one (pictured) who taunted the male passenger for much of the video. Belvin said that Brown's mother's called him to tell him about the video, and then his daughter got on the phone.
"She said the gentleman tried to accost her," he said.
He watched the video again, all 4 minutes and 18 seconds, and knew his daughter's explanation was false.
"The gentleman on the train, his voice is reasonable, his hands open in a peaceful gesture," Belvin said.
So Thursday, after spending much of the day talking about responsibility with his students, he made a decision, called the police and offered to bring his daughter in.
"I didn't want someone else to do it. I told the police I would bring her in. They said they had no victim. The man had not come forward, so there was no case yet," he said.
Belvin is asking for the victim to come forward, even though he could understand that he might be embarrassed about being beaten up by girls: "What we have done is not working, or she would not be on the video. Please, sir, come forward."
Yesterday, the Post noted how Holmes and a friend were arrested for attacking a woman on a J/M/Z train on September 3, and the Daily News spoke to the victim of that attack.
The 24-year-old who wanted to remain anonymous said Holmes and friend Debbie Rivera (who was also seen in the video, in a pink jacket and sitting - not participating in the beating) were harassing her, "She has the kind of mouth that will just go off. I ignored her. I finally said, 'I keep to my own business.'"
The girls didn't stop bothering her and their verbal assaults turned physical. The victim said, "They were just looking for some action, that's how I viewed it. People quickly pulled them off me. They only attacked me for a couple of seconds before the train stopped at the next station. I called cops from my cell phone." Holmes, who has denied any involvement in the beating, and Rivera are set to appear in court later this month.
As for the A train incident, which you can see at The Smoking Gun website, Holmes' lawyer Earl Ward said that she would be speaking to police soon. He also explained, "She was a passenger, she saw something happen on the train, and she had her camera available. If you are a passenger on a subway train and somebody is being assaulted, you have no obligation to help. She did not aid the individuals involved in the assaulting behavior. She had no culpability.” Hello, Kitty Genovese and the bystander effect!
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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