Feb 21, 2016 3 min read

On May 30, an atrocity occurred at the Wood Street ‘T’ station in downtown Pittsburgh. This month, it was compounded.

Following a Kenny Chesney concert at Heinz Field, an event which is known to attract an unruly, intoxicated crowd, five drunken white men in their 20s brutally assaulted a 54-year-old African-American man, throwing him onto the subway tracks, attempting to keep him from returning to the platform and repeatedly punching him in the head until he was unconscious. The victim has required and will continue to need expensive treatment as he seeks to recover. The incident was captured on surveillance video, bolstering the victim’s rendering of events to the extent that he can remember them. The police report indicates that one of the hoodlums asked what the fuss was about, given that the victim was simply a “n—er.”

To a reasonable person, the assailants attempted to commit homicide, and in fact, one of them was originally charged with the offense. To Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala, this notorious crime was not serious at all. His office negotiated plea deals, reducing serious charges to those which are nominal, and agreeing to sentences of probation and community service for offenders who have demonstrated themselves to be racist menaces to society. Even the sentencing judge, Jeffrey Manning, expressed his disappointment with the leniency that was dispensed as he chided the hoodlums for their lack of remorse.

I wanted to believe that the appalling bargaining down of these charges was engaged in by some oblivious underling of Zappala without his knowledge. But that was disproven as Zappala had the audacity to attempt to justify the plea bargains, telling the media he had no problem with them.

Zappala vigorously pursued prosecution of former state Senate leader Jane Orie, securing a multi-year prison term and an order that she repay $180,000 to the state and Allegheny County. A violent crime committed by a gang against an innocent man, though, somehow merits mere probation. The unwillingness to prosecute those who pose a threat to all of us is a more grave matter in light of Zappala’s bid to become attorney general, the state’s chief law enforcement officer. Suddenly, Kathleen Kane does not look so bad.

What was the rationale behind the unwillingness to punish those who committed a vicious attack? Was it the fact that the victim was unimportant? Is choosing to be drunk an excuse for depravity? Did one or more of the assailants have someone putting a thumb on the scales for them?

The people deserve answers and the district attorney refuses to provide them. Equal justice under the law? Ha! I hope fair-minded, reasonable voters of Allegheny County will not make the mistake of anointing as attorney general a man who does not understand the need to vigorously prosecute crimes against society.

Oren Spiegler is an Upper St. Clair resident.