She Mentioned No and Tried To Stroll Away. He Then Attacked Her as His Mom Referred to as Her the Bully

The video leaves little to interpret.

On Monday, April 20, a 15-year-old lady was strolling on a sidewalk in East Harlem when a 14-year-old boy adopted her. She tried to get away. She informed him to go away her alone. He grabbed her from behind, lifted her off the bottom, and body-slammed her onto the pavement earlier than allegedly kicking her within the head as folks off-camera egged him on.

She survived, however her mom, Lucinda Arroyo, informed The Put up she was hospitalized for two days and was solely starting to stroll and eat once more after struggling a concussion, bleeding, potential mind harm, splitting complications, and a twisted neck.

She was reportedly heading to squash observe on the time. The ninth-grade student-athlete had allegedly been coping with the boy’s undesirable consideration for weeks earlier than the confrontation, which reportedly adopted her refusal to provide him her cellphone quantity.

The boy was arrested and charged with assault. His mom later spoke to reporters.

What His Mom Mentioned

“She was being a bully to him, that’s it.”

The boy’s mom informed reporters her son had been complaining in regards to the lady for a while, alleging she despatched him messages, pushed him, and that faculty directors failed to handle the state of affairs after she introduced issues to them.

She denied that her son was making an attempt to get the lady’s quantity and as an alternative described the confrontation as retaliation.

“He don’t provoke no person,” she stated.

She additionally described her son as “humble” and Christian, including that he allegedly didn’t wish to attend college due to the way in which the lady handled him.

The video still circulating online exhibits a woman trying to keep away from a boy on the street earlier than being grabbed from behind, slammed onto the concrete, and kicked within the head.

A 14-year-old boy in East Harlem body-slams a 15-year-old lady to the bottom after she refused his cellphone quantity — then stomps on her head whereas his pals snicker and report.

She ended up with a concussion.

The Logic Buried within the Protection

Put aside, for a second, whether or not any of the mom’s claims about prior incidents are true. Take the framing significantly and observe the place it leads.

A woman reportedly refused to provide a boy her quantity. She later tried to get away from him on the road. Within the mom’s telling, the boy was wronged first, and that context is supposed to alter how the general public sees the clip.

It doesn’t.

There isn’t a model of “she aggravated him,” “she rejected him,” “she messaged him,” or “she pushed him earlier than” that explains grabbing somebody from behind, slamming them onto the pavement, and kicking them within the head whereas others watch.

This isn’t a brand new argument. Related defenses seem nearly each time a woman or girl is attacked after rejecting male consideration. The boy’s habits will get a cause. The lady’s boundary will get handled just like the provocation.

The character reference isn’t new both. Quiet. Humble. Christian. These phrases could also be true. They might even be irrelevant. An individual’s religion doesn’t erase what’s seen on video.

What the Lady Was Doing

She was on her strategy to squash observe.

In response to her mom, she had been coping with the boy’s undesirable consideration for weeks. When he approached her once more after college, she did what women are sometimes informed to do. She tried to stroll away and informed him to go away her alone.

She didn’t escalate the state of affairs. She tried to finish it.

What occurred subsequent is on video. What occurred after that, who will get labeled the bully, whose character will get defended, and who will get framed as the actual sufferer, is what has fueled outrage on-line.

It lands on each younger lady already being informed that saying “no” too firmly is impolite. It additionally lands on each younger boy being proven, by instance, that rejection is one thing another person is meant to handle for them.

The College Query No one Can Skip

The boy’s mom stated she introduced her issues to the college principal and that nothing was completed. If true, that’s value inspecting. Colleges that ignore ongoing conflicts between college students can create situations the place conditions escalate.

However investigating complaints isn’t the identical factor as shifting blame.

If there have been prior arguments, messages, or harassment claims, the college had a accountability to handle them appropriately. That also doesn’t make a woman’s refusal to provide out her quantity, keep away from somebody, or stroll away an act of bullying.

That’s the line many individuals really feel this story retains making an attempt to blur.

Women don’t owe boys their cellphone numbers, consideration, time, or explanations for saying no. That isn’t a radical place. It’s fundamental private autonomy.

The 15-year-old lady on that East Harlem sidewalk appeared to know that.

She tried to stroll away.

Her head hit the pavement as an alternative.