When silence is a crime

When silence is a crime

It should be the easiest crime of the century to solve.

There were dozens of witnesses on the scene. There are hundreds, even thousands, of potential witnesses by virtue of televised and on-line viewing of a videotape of the crime.

And yet, Warren police have gotten only limited cooperation in their investigation. Police say even family members who have the phone on which video of a vicious attack on 15-year-old Verdarell Lowery is recorded have been less than fully cooperative. Police believe they know the identity of the young man who sneaked up behind Verdarell and smashed him in the head with a baseball bat during a street brawl, but, understandably, they want to be sure.

It is difficult to say which part of this story is more shocking: the craven indifference of the young thug who assaulted Verdarell or those adults and peers who know who the attacker is and participate in a conspiracy of silence.

The video of the attack, a bit shaky and not of the best quality, has been shown on all the Youngstown channels and can be seen on Vindy.com, WFMJ.com and other TV station web sites. Many of the young men, boys and girls in the video would be instantly recognizable to the adults in their families, who should take responsibility for seeing that justice is done. To do any less sends a message of cowardice that almost rises to the level of the attacker himself.