In case you haven’t heard about this rally, there ya go.

I woke up at 9am on New Year’s Day and this was the first thing I read about. The brutal attack and rape of an 18 year-old girl by a GROUP of males. It’s revolting, it’s inexcusable, it’s sickening.

I don’t know how to describe the anger I feel towards these boys. To be violated in such a way. To be beaten and left for dead. FUCK THAT.

Let’s gather as neighbors and as a community and let our presence be know. THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE.

From Niall on The Chainlink forum:

I read that resurrected thread about the Humboldt Park attacks for the first time only yesterday, and , since I live in HP and it seems like you have to go through a violent neighborhood to get anywhere in Chicago by bike, resolved to buy some pepper spray.  I spent much of yesterday wondering what I’d do in that situation, so my immediate reaction to the guy running onto Adams, holding what looked like a chair like a baseball bat, was you have got to be kidding… (continued)

Some of my cycling friends mock me for NOT wanting to ride through the West Side or around certain parts of Humboldt Park. But every time I hear about an attack like this, I am fucking happy to be a paranoid female who isn’t blind to the violence that does exist in our city. (With or without the hipster presence, you fucking hipsters.)

In fact, when I moved to the city in ‘05 after coming back from U of I, it took me some time to start cycling on city streets regularly. Not because I was uncomfortable on a bike (I’ve been on a bike since before I can remember) but because I was fearful of the exposure to elements beyond my control — whether it was batshit crazy drivers and their unpredictable reactions or actually getting the living shit kicked out of you. Irrational? Probably. Paranoid? Sure. But it’s my irrational paranoia that has kept me safe since my teenage years of drinking, drugs, etc. 

My parents still hate that I bike around Chicago, especially at night. All I can say is that my senses are somehow heightened while riding, I’m always looking ahead, and I always have my lights and helmet (ok, so maybe 2% of the time I don’t wear my helmet during the day on sidestreets, I’m bad and they don’t need to know that part).

Be safe out there, biking buddies.

(Thanks to Leah on Twitter for posting a link to this guys story)