The recent editorial “Public shaming feels like punishment enough for bigot of Caldwell Woods” expressed the idea that it is futile to send Timothy Trybus, 63, to prison because there are many people who do the same thing.
I have to disagree. As a 17-year-old female of color, the fact that some believe bigots like Trybus should only get a slap on the wrist because of prior media coverage is startling and terrifying.
I agree that public shaming can in and of itself be its own prison cell, but I feel that only applies when the offender did not commit a crime.
In the video captured when Trybus was harassing a park patron, he told her, “I have nieces and nephews that would go down on you,” in an attempt to intimidate her by threatening violence.
He threatened acts of violence from his nieces and nephews solely because the park patron wore a shirt with the Puerto Rican flag.
The fact that no one was physically injured does not change the fact that laws were violated. Trybus was found guilty of a hate crime. Physical wounds aren’t the only way to hurt someone and inflict fear.
A person can injure someone else psychologically and that is not less hurtful. Sticks and stones may break bones, but words can leave wounds that may never completely heal.
Alicia Badillo, Hillside
SEND LETTERS TO: letters@suntimes.com. Please include your neighborhood or hometown and a phone number for verification purposes.
President Trump, reconsider reckless Syria decision
President Donald Trump’s decision to completely withdraw American forces from Syria will be an action that the world never forgets.
Not only will this blatant retreat “live in infamy,” as President Franklin Roosevelt once said regarding the Pearl Harbor attack, but it will breed infamy.
By unleashing ISIS’ brutality and resource acquisition, aided by third-party interventionists Russia, Iran and China, the freedom of millions is thrown into the hands of pure evil.
The horrifying death grip that the Turks will hold on the Kurds risks creating a perfect storm that poses the gravest of threats to mankind.
By abandoning our friends, we send a message to the world that America is on the run. Our enemies will become brazen in their efforts to stomp the boot of tyranny upon those who march against it.
After the Arab Spring, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons and barrel bombs against his own people for exercising their inherent right to freedom of assembly.
America defended the Kurds, who fought valiantly beside the Syrian Democratic Forces and our American heroes. Every day, they put their lives on the line to capture ISIS fighters and stand tall for freedom.
Once we withdraw, the Kurds will be forced to release those ISIS fighters. Once possessing land equivalent to the size of Great Britain, the ISIS caliphate will return.
We are faced with an escalation of war that threatens world peace.
Just as we must strategically disengage with China and stand behind Hong Kong in its fight for autonomy, so must we provide the extra muscle to support the noble Kurds.
Every American understands that our true friends are our fellow countrymen and people around the world who are willing to sacrifice life and limb for the cause of liberty.
America will never leave our own, or our friends, to die.
President Trump, please reconsider this reckless decision.
Henry J.H. Wilson, Barrington
