Cleveland veteran beaten on bus calls media coverage disgusting

Veteran assaulted in downtown Cleveland calls media portrayal of incident 'disgusting'
Northeast Ohio Media Group
By Brandon Blackwell
February 18, 2014

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Matthew Robinson, the 30-year-old Army veteran assaulted by a group of teenagers in downtown Cleveland earlier this month, said he loathes the media’s handling of the clash.

He calls the coverage “truly disgusting.”

Robinson’s altercation, first reported on Cleveland’s WOIO as the beating and robbery of a white disabled vet carried out by a mob of black “punks” and “thugs,” quickly made international headlines.

The sensationalism -- and focus on race -- ballooned with each Internet regurgitation.

Robinson said he was riding the RTA Healthline the afternoon of Feb. 7 when six to eight black teenagers surrounded him. The gang then followed Robinson off the bus on Euclid Avenue near East 6th Street and eventually began taking turns tossing punches at him, Robinson said.

While Robinson did his best to protect himself, a 16-year-old girl with the group recorded the attack on a cell phone. “Kill that white boy,” she screamed, according to a police report. “Knock that white boy out. … You about to be on TV.”

Robinson said he saw adult bystanders also recording the struggle. And not one person came to his aid, he said.

But the beating wasn’t savage. In fact, Robinson -- a former combat sniper who survived three tours in Iraq during his 10 years in the Army -- said it wasn’t a beating at all.
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