Eliyahu Reuven Jackson pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of vandalism and inciting a riot in connection with the mayhem that took over downtown Huntington Beach after the U.S. Open of Surfing on July 28.
Based on the Sunset Beach 20-year-old being accused of, among other things, damaging newspaper stands, hopes were high here at the Weekly that the killer of our Main Street box had finally been brought to justice.
But then we looked at the video on the next page …
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See also:
Hate Crime Against OC Weekly? Let's Go to the Video, Stu …
A Eulogy for the OC Weekly Rack Destroyed During the Huntington Beach Riots
Eliyahu Rueven Jackson, Wanted for Surf City White Riots, Turns Himself in to Police
Now, this is going to be weird, because in this country one is innocent until proven guilty, so until a jury or judge finds someone guilty of this metal-box murder–dare we say hate crime?–we must not rely solely on our lyin' eyes and use words in relation to “suspects” like “allegedly,” “accused” and “billable hours.”
So, in looking at the video shot by Alex Fairbanks and seeing the man later identified as Jackson participating in going all Chris Brown on the newsstand, it is clear that this particular suspect did not deliver the death blow to our particular newspaper box.
Heck, compared to the other dudes around him, Jackson is among the weakest offenders. Allegedly. What are those? Love taps with that skateboard? (Allegedly.)
This is just one piece of evidence, this was not the only property destroyed along Main and more video could complete the story (and case being built against suspects).
Jackson is also accused of damaging city of Huntington Beach public works trucks. A conviction could send him to state prison for up to four years, according to the Orange County District Attorney's office.
That does not give us here at Weekly HQ comfort. We will continue to experience night sweats until the main monsters who killed of our poor, innocent news rack are brought to justice. … We miss you, Racky.
Email: mc****@oc******.com. Twitter: @MatthewTCoker. Follow OC Weekly on Twitter @ocweekly or on Facebook!
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.