When you do bad things, bad things might happen to you. That’s a lesson even a 12-year-old can understand.
One 12-year-old who didn’t was the unlucky boy who allegedly broke Margaret Matthews’ window with a brick. When she tried to pull him up about it, news stories say, the boy and his 13-year-old partner in crime tried to break her bones by hurling rocks and bricks at the woman.
One missed her knee; Matthews said the other struck her in the chest. The little hellions hadn’t counted on Matthews being armed with a handgun.
She retrieved it from her home and fired once, striking the boy in the shoulder.
The incident happened in Chicago last week. Police said they won’t charge Matthews, who’s 68. But they did charge the wounded boy and his luckier companion with aggravated assault.
Now, as you might have imagined, there’s a controversy. Some consider the woman a hero who defended herself and her home; others went instantly, almost reflexively, into what I call “sweet little dear mode.”
As in, “How dare that horrible, crazy woman hurt that precious, sweet little dear!”
The boy’s family members do, indeed, think he’s a “sweet little dear.” Their version of what happened goes like this:
The sweet little dear and his buddy were just walking down the street, minding their own business. That loony Matthews woman came rushing out of her house armed with a handgun and shot at them.
According to news reports, Matthews and her neighbors paint a much different picture of the boy. One of those neighbors is only 13 years old. Edward Hall, according to one story, had this to say about the 12-year-old and Matthews:
“She had a right to defend herself. He’s broken into homes around here, and he’s always raising hell.”
Hilda Brunt, another of Matthews’ neighbors, made these comments in an ABC News story:
“His name? As far as I know him, I call him the bad little boy. He broke her window. He set her grill on fire. He started a fire across the street last year at one of the row houses. I had to call the fire department.”
Frenchie Johnson, another of Matthews’ neighbors, was quoted in the same story.
“She [Matthews] talked to me on Friday and said, ‘Frenchie, I’ve done had enough.’ They set the garbage can on fire, her barbecue pit. This isn’t the first time they busted a window. It’s bad.”
Matthews summed up her feelings in three words after the brick hit her in the chest:
“I was terrified.”
That’s all the justification she needs for grabbing her gun and defending herself and her home. That won’t alter one iota the opinions of America’s contingent that think our juvenile offenders are just “sweet little dears” who need compassion, love and understanding.
I’ll concede many, maybe even most, need compassion, love and understanding. But some just need a well-placed foot up the derriere. Or a bullet to the shoulder will do just as well.
The anti-Matthews crowd use as their argument that the boy was “only 12.” My response is, “Your point is what, exactly?” Twelve-year-olds — or 13, 14 15 or 16-year-olds — having what can be best described as a ‘Lord of the Flies’ moment can kill you just as dead as an adult.
Homicide victims old and young have found that out the hard way. Matthews was determined not to be a victim, but has expressed hope for the boy’s recovery. I have a hope myself.
That she hit the little miscreant in the shoulder of his throwing arm.
Examiner Columnist Gregory Kane is a Pulitzer-nominated news and opinion journalist who has covered people and politics from Baltimore to the Sudan.
