well well well, won't their parents be OH SO PROUD...real smart :(

What ever happened to "innocent until proven guilty"? Obviously, you must not know this family. If you did, you would at least give him the benefit of the doubt before you condemn him. Even if it ends up he is guilty, the parents do have a lot to be proud of. Everyone makes a mistake I am sure if they had a chance to change, they would.

They must be Republicans, on McCain's Hate Talk Express.

Maine's finest. SAT scores have nothing to do with intelligence.

Yes, searay185, Charlie is innocent until proven otherwise. How unfair to convict him in our minds without giving him the deserved due process, confusedmainer. And, like you shared,searay185, if he is guilty, then this is a hard lesson learned. But mistakes like this do not negate the good and the whole of any person. If he is guilty, I'm not suggesting the system "let him off the hook". But we all fall short and we all have the choice to redeem ourselves. Some make the choice to do so, some don't. If this student is guilty, I have no doubt he will.

I am willing to bet that the expulsion of these students will do nothing for them but to reinforce what they already beleive to be true. The problem with expecting people to change their racist attitudes is that they do not believe that they are wrong. Unfortunately too many of them will be voting next week. In the event of an Obama win, I sadly feel that these kinds of ignorant actions will only be exacerbated.

I can only imagine what the Merritt family is going through right now and my thoughts are with them. Charlie is a good kid and comes from a good family. People are arrested for crimes all the time and then found innocent when trial comes around. Charlie is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, not a court of public opinion. I can only imagine that this is a mistake or a misunderstanding, if it is true than I am honestly shocked.

This is just embarassing and aweful that in this day these small minded people still exist. and Knightcross, how dare you make this political, it shows your ignorance!

searay185: This was not a just a "mistake" that this kid made. He made a choice. A rather poor one at that!

BangorPam: If you consider this kid to be a good "character" then please tell what you consider to be a bad one?

I think a great punishment would be for these students to be sent into a predominantly African/American community and do community service. Maybe then they can learn how to treat people like they should be treated. As human beings.

elmerfudd,

Please Google CHARLES MERRITT QU and educate yourself before continuing to run your mouth. You obviously don't know Charlie or the situation and you've condemned him before he's even had a trial. Is that how YOU feel people should be treated?

A combination of a preachy attitude and ignorance is rather common; you've added to it the manly act of hiding behind a pseudonym, and you're coming off as a nauseating weasel.

Two of the victims of this hate crime have been quoted in the press as supporting Charlie, saying that they know he is innocent (his roommates). A dozen or more of his floor mates have said those 3 were the best of friends. He hung out with them all weekend. Would anyone do that if they hated them?

All of his floor mates and roommates went to the police station in support of Charlie and were ignored.

Dozens of others, including black students in Maine say they've never witnessed a single racist comment from this excellent young man and have nothing but high praise concerning his character. He can be a fun loving goofball; but that's not illegal the last time I checked.

I know his character and am not easily fooled by people and I will defend him to anyone.

I have no doubt that he will be vindicated and I will still support him if he isn't. I think that highly of him and his family. There is an explanation to this. I ask all to wait for it and give this young man the benefit of the doubt until you know more.

I'm not saying crimes weren't committed, I'm saying no one's been convicted and the one person who is closest to the victims is being charged because of pressure from those lacking the patience to proceed with intelligence. I feel nothing but sadness that this happened to such a good guy.

Well, someone in authority at the University believed something racial was said or written. And someone believed that those accused were/are the responsible parties. So now it is up to the appropriate parties charged with the investigation to determine the facts and to bring forth the evidence. IF thos charged are found to be the responsible parties, it will be a "in your face" reality check" that, even if made in jest - some things are not tolerated. If they - or others - don't understand why, it's about time they found out. There are consequences to be paid and those of small minds (not saying these young men or their families are of that nature) need to wise up and get with the problem - or stop calling themselves Americans.

BrendanHealey: If he is not guilty then he is not guilty. However, someone is and it is always easy to say "Oh, it can't be him" or "My child would never do that." Sometimes we don't know people as well as we would like to think that we do. After working in law enforcement for a number of years, I know enough that when someones bail is set at $100,000 and others is only $2,500 then that means there was substantial evidence against him! I am sure the evidence will speak for itself and a full investigation will be done. And, BredanHealey, if you think that making a general comment, of what a good punishment would be, to be running my mouth? Then so be it. A crime was committed no matter which way you look at it and someone is guilty of it.

ElmerFudd: You said "these students." That's not a general comment. You had them convicted and you doled out their punishment in your comment. Don't try to dance around it. If you had said the "guilty party" should be sent to a black community, I would've accepted it as the wisest thing you said out of the load of crap you were spewing.

I will take you on your word that you were in law enforcement as it burns some people out and leaves them jaded with nothing good to say about anyone, even those you don't know. I hope your second career was something less stressful like the food service industry.

ANOTHER hate crime occurred at Quinnipiac U today. Who will they blame now that Charlie is no longer there?

Wow, BrendanHealey, you accuse me of of judging someone and not knowing anything about them yet you have done the exact same thing. I would love you to meet some of my buds that are still on patrol and have you tell them that they are "jaded." If anyone here sounds "jaded" it is you towards law enforcement. Let's just hope they are on your boys side. And, by the way, I am retired.

elmerfudd,

You are correct, it is a poor choice, like I am sure you have made and I know I have made. It is also always easy to say "it is him or her" if you do not know the person. You are again correct that we do not always know the person as well as we like to think we do, but people who do not know him at all should not be assuming he is guilty right from the beginning.

I have not worked in law, but, doesn't the severity of the accusation make a difference with the bail amount? Wether or not it is severe enough to be considered a felony or not?

I have also heard that this school has had hate crime issues in the past and BrendanHealeys last post mentioned it has happened since Charley has left. One might begin to think that since the college itself and local law enforcement cannot get this under control that Charley might be being used as a poster child so the public and others may think they are getting this situation rectified. I would have to think that where you have worked in law enforcement, you know mistakes happen and when the pressure is on to close out an issue that is potentially making someone not look very good, that rash judgments are made to try to close it out as fast as possible. It is also amazing how public something like this gets and when an officer of the law working at a local school gets accused of sexually harassing some teachers and now cannot work at any of the schools, there is nothing in the papers about this. My biggest concern is it seems like the college and others have Charley guilty already. Why couldn't Quinnipiac U have suspended Charley until this is flushed out instead of expelling him immediately? This is the future of a 19 year old young man that is at stake here. Even if he is proven innocent, because of the severity of the accusation, this stigma may stick with him for the rest of his life. Here is a 19 year old getting ripped publicly before he is proven guilty and an officer of the law gets their situation handled internally and very quietly. My point here is it is very easy to say "My child would never do that." It is human nature to protect who is close to you, whether it is a child or a co-worker or a lover or whatever. Of course people who know Charlie and his family are going to doubt this until more facts are out. But at least we know them and have something factual to base our comments on.

If Charley is guilty, nail him hard because should be no place in society this day and age for this. But lets wait to get all of the facts before we start hammering the nails.

Elmerfudd, if you had a career in law enforcement, then you, as much or more than the average person, should appreciate the innocent until proven guilty concept. You are hanging someone out to dry before he has been proven guilty. If it is proven that Charlie did do what he is accused of, then proper consequences are in order. I don't think anyone would disagree with you on that. However, if Charlie acted as accused, then you also know that intent always factors into the equation in finding the truth. I don't know any more details about what allegedly happened that what is being shared in this forum and in the news. If what BrendanHealey shared with us all is true about the rallying of not only the victims but others as well, it is quite possible that what took place certainly was a "mistake". It surely was a bad "choice" as well, a really, really bad choice. But if the victims themselves are supporting Charlie, then their support clearly indicates to me that they did not interpret what was allegedly done by him as malicious, hateful or hurtful to them. It is entirely possible that what took place was banter gone wild and out of control---over the line. There are too many "ifs" to consider. And you know, Elmerfudd, that there is always more to a story than just what is released to the media. So with respect to Charlie and his "character", I will reserve judgment based on this event and continue to see him as I have known him, a student with good "character".

elmerfudd,

i picked the name bugs bunny because in the cartoon elmerfudd was a dumb ass and could never catch bugs bunny, just like what you say will never hold up enough to convict charlie, and also in real life you're a dumb ass. You know nothing about the case except what the media decides to put out there for the ignorant people (like yourself) wants you to believe. I see that you are a former officer of the law; now i know in your infinite wisdom of eating donuts and sitting around all day doing nothing useful you have gained a 6th sense for being able to tell if the suspect is guilty or not without even looking at the evidence or knowing who the suspect is, but if your child was the one accused of this crime would you still believe in your philosophy of "guilty until proven innocent"?????? For some reason, i dont think you would and i think that you wouldn't want the media or other cops telling everyone that your child is guilty before you get to a fair trial. I just hope you know that it is people like you that make me proud that we have a judicial system in this country that is not based entirely on the opinion of a cop so that people that hide behind names on the internet are not the ones that make the decision that can ruin an 18-year old's entire life. Oh and another thing, in your extensive police work, have you even come across a case when someone can physically be in the two different places at the same time? Because what you don't know is that Charlie was with the victims when they received their threatening phone calls and i don't know about you, but if someone is standing next to me threatening me on the phone, i think i would be able to tell if it was them, maybe they didn't teach you that skill at the academy? So if this was charlie, then i dont think locking him up will do much because he is obviously superman and would be able to get out whenever he felt like it. Just because the Hamden police officers are like you and too ignorant to believe the victims themselves when they went into the police station that it can not physically be charlie, does not mean that they are right and should continue putting the people close to the Merritt family through such pain. And last but not least, you said you are retired..are you really retired or did you get fired for trying to ruin people lives based on your horrible judgment? You can come out and tell us because we dont know who you are, i promise i wont tell anyone.

I went to high school with Charlie for 4 years and was very good friends with him. He has always been a very popular and well liked person, and he would never be someone to do something like this. He was also very close friends with 2 black students at school with me, and they have said as well as jsut about anyone who has ever met him that there is no doubt in their minds that Charlie is innocent.

Guys, I could sit here and judge you as you are doing with me but I won't (well maybe I will with bugsbunny who sounds like a spoiled little punk who should have his @#%& kicked). I made a statement of what I felt like a good punishment to be. Should I have also included the words "if found guilty?" Yes, I should have.

searay185: In answer to your question, "doesn't the severity of the accusation make a difference with the bail amount?" Yes, it does however, so does the evidence itself. There are 3 students that have been accussed and charged of committing the same crime and normally the bail would be set equally. However, as it turns out, after I contacted a buddy of mine in Conn., these were two seperate incidents. Charlie was charged with a number of hate crimes and disorderly conduct. The two girls were charge with threatening bodily harm. My buddy also told me that Charlie confessed to doing this. At this point, even if he is innocent, his confession is going to go against him. In answer to another question, "Why couldn't Quinnipiac U have suspended Charley until this is flushed out instead of expelling him immediately?" This is the norm with many schools given the severity and the fact that there was an imminent threat against other individuals. "Written slurs included a racial epithet and a drawing of a Nazi swastika" and causing bodily harm is not something that should be taken lightly. Let me ask you this; If these threats had been made against Charlie, wouldn't you feel that the students who allegedly did it should be removed as so he would not have to live in fear? I do agree with you though, that they should have suspended him and not expel until all of the evidence is in. As far as the similar incidents going on at this school, I am sure that it has happened. I wouldn't believe that this was an isolated incident.

bugsbunny: It's AMAZING how little punk asses like yourself will judge a cop (or ex-cops) as donut eating, lazy people until you need their help. Let's hope for you that you never do. And, no I was not fired as you would like to believe. I am very proud of the time that I put on the force. Bugsbunny, let's hope for you that I don't find you because when I do, you may want to hide your carrots since I don't like sweets.

elmerfudd,

You must have been an aweful police officer. Every time you comment you bring up new things that you either know nothing about or only have part of the story. Yes technically Charlie confessed, what you aparently dont know is that charlie was interogated non stop for seven hours and denied a lawyer. Also what the police are calling a "confession" was not. They asked him to apologize to his roommates and he said he would. That is what they considered confessing. I dont know about any of you reading this but if i had been interogated for 7 hours i would be more then willing to apologize to someone, wether i was innocent or guilty. Especialy since there was no way charlie could have known that the police would consider him agreeing to apolagoize as a confession of guilt.

Also the racil epithet and Nazi swastika were written on the wall, congratutlations you got something right. However you left out the part about them being written on the wall outside the vitcims dorm rooms. Hmmm outside there dorm rooms, oh who else lived in that same dorm room with two of the victims. Thats right charlie merrit. I suppose useing your great police skills you think it likly that charlie would draw a racial epothet and swastika outside his own room.

The only evidance the police have againts charlie is that phone call that made the threating phone calls was charlies cell phone which, according to charlie he had left in his room. Charlies story was backed up by two of the victims who were with charlie at the time they recived the calls and said that he didnt have his phone with him all night.

elmerfudd If your going to act like ur a judge and know what you are talking about try to educate yourself alittle more. We all know charlie is innocent and your are going to look like an ass when he is found innocent.

all of you should check out the facebook group supporting chuck. In the 2 days since the group was started over 700 people have joined to show there support for Charlie. All them know him and know he is innocent. Tell me how many people do you know who could gain that much support for them if there was even a chance they were guilty.

take a look the link is bellow

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=33344773892

supportmerrit: You know what buddy you can take whatever the evidence is and shove it up your ass for all I care at this point. If the kid was denied a lawyer then the confession will be thrown out in court. You sound like the exact same little punk ass bugsbunny. And, I am sure that YOU know all of the facts don't you. Get a life punk and let the law (that includes the court system) handle the rest. Even if your bud is found guilty, and there is substantial evidence to prove it, I will bet that you and others will continue to profess that he is innocent! WHO will look like an ass then? Oh, that would be you!

yea i do know what the evidence is charlie is my friend and he informed us what the evidence is against him so yes i do know all the facts. I am going to let the law and court system handle this, i KNOW they will drop all charges within a week. You need to take your own advice and rememeber that everyone started fighting with you because YOU were the one making judgements and coming up with sentances. You jumped to conclusions based on little to no information, kinda like the Hamden Police department. Just admit you were an arrogant dumbass trying to sound smart and tough and everyone will leave u alone

supportmerrit: Let's see, could you possibly be Tim?

whos tim?

elmerfudd,

do u realize that you are an ex-cop that just threatened a kid? Wow you cops are real responsible

Actually supportmerritt, that tells me that you don't know everything if what you consider to be what your pal is telling you "as everything." I hope he told you that the police department concluded the investigation into the threatening phone calls after they traced it back to his cell. They are still investigating the Nazi swastika and racial epithet on the boards. And, by the way, if you look back from the very first comment on the boards, I was not the only one that made a judgement. The difference is that I am an ex cop and right now you guys that are related to and friends with Charlie hate the cops because you feel that they have done him wrong. While you may call me a dumbass now, in the end you will be the dumbass.

bugsbunny/supportmerritt or whatever your name is....... if you look at the words then you should be smart enough (but I wouldn't bet on it) to know that no threat was made. I made it clear that you should have your @#%& kicked. That can mean anything for one thing and another thing I never implied who should do that. But nice try guys. And, if you truly are a kid, then you should respect your elders a little more and stop trying to instigate. Maybe you were never taught that in your lifetime?

It was great to hear your views guys but may I suggest that you take the energy that you have spent here with your hating words and put that energy into posting on Facebook and fighting for your buddy. Good luck.

elmerfudd,

Thanks for clarifying my questions. I would want the accused to be removed until he/she is proven innocent or guilty but should be done in a way that if the person is proven innocent and wants to come back to the school, they could. With that being said, I am assuming Charlie cannot go back to QU if he is found innocent where he was expelled.

I thought there were two separate issues that had happened. As far as his confession, I had heard what supportcharlie had mentioned above, that he was interrogated for hours without able to have a lawyer or contact his parents or anything. Can you imagine being a 19 year old and taken away to jail totally confused on what is going on and being interrogated for hours and being asked to apologize for something you believe or know or allegedly had nothing to do with? It sounds like law enforcement has had an ongoing issue with this and may have found an easy answer.

As far as the calls being made from Charlies phone obviously this is incriminating, but do they have proof that Charlie made those calls. My son had a buddy of his get a hold of his phone and changed the name on a number of one of my sons female friends to his buddy's name so whenever my son was thinking he was texting to his female friend, he was actually texting to his buddy. Innocent and funny prank. But if someone had used Charlies phone and thought this might be an innocent and funny prank. Not so innocent or funny. Cell phone have become such an integral part of us now and are taken for granted. Hopefully, this will make all of us think about keeping track of our phones and who may have access to them. People need to make a habit of locking there keys so if they do misplace or leave their phone lying around, it cannot be accessed.

On a general note to everyone posting, it is a little saddening that this issue in some cases has lost focus on Charlie's situation and has turned into people calling each other names, judging a career of someone they do not even know, a just being outright disrespectful. Not everyone has the privilege of getting a hold of all the information that is out there about this case. It is understanding on how everyone is being so passionate about this situation, but lets keep it civil. The discussion is great, everyone has the right to an opinion whether we agree or not. I encourage people to post factual information hear so we all can make an opinion on the same info., and the great thing about it, it probably can be interpreted different ways and there still will be a difference of opinions. Great to be an American.

Wow I cannot believe I just wasted my time reading these comments.. but since I have, I have to say elmerfudd, you are an idiot. if you would have just let this go you would have been able to stop all the comments that are putting you down but instead you keep arguing. You said "respect you elders" how can someone have respect for an "elder" like you if you have no respect for us "youngster's". I also have no respect for people who resort to name calling especially when they should know better. if you are retired you definately should know better.

This is getting ridiculous guys, while i know chuck is innocent, it is not going to help while having everyone fighting on these stupid boards.

searay185: I would be happy to answer any questions that you may have. You are definetly a level-headed adult. Something that I have to admit that I lost in a few of my post here. In answer to your first question: "I am assuming Charlie cannot go back to QU if he is found innocent where he was expelled?" If Charlie is cleared of these charges, Charlie could reapply to QU. I believe that many schools have students appeal to the disciplinary board even before they can reapply. Personally, I don't know about you, if these charges had been made against one of my kids I don't believe that they would have a good feeling about going back to a school that caused them so much turmoil. In answer to your other question: "do they have proof that Charlie made those calls?" Unfortunately, the burden off proof will lie on Charlie and his defense attorney to prove that it was not him that made those calls. Though, I am sure any good defense attorney will use this as a defense. However, the fact that these calls were traced back to his cell and that he confessed does not help him when this goes to court. Again, please let me point out like I did in an earlier post, if he was denied an attorney then his confession will or should be thrown out. If this truly was a case of someone pulling a prank on Charlie, then it's an unfortunate and costly one.

Please let me make this clear to the kids that have been posting in this forum. I will not be responding to anymore of your post that are directed to me. As someone that had to listen to and tolerate criminals be disrespectful for years, as a retiree I will not tolerate it from anyone. I hope you guys do remain passionate in your fight for Charlie.

searay185: I will be glad to answer any other questions that you may have in the future.

Charlie Merritt is an innocent man.

1. He was in the room with his roommates talking to them when someone called their cell phone claiming that he was Charlie Merritt.

2. The racist drawings outside the dorm room were not connected to Charlie.

3. His roommates, the victims, showed up to the police station to negate the charges against him, but the police ignored them.

4. Hundreds of people from Quinnipiac University showed up to the Hamden police station to negate the charges against Charlie. Again, the police did nothing.

5. Every person the press interviewed about Charlie said that he is not racist in any way.

6. In the years that I have known Charlie, he did not show one sign of ignorance or intolerance.

Hey elmerfudd: How dare you talk about Charlie like that? You make me sick! You don't even know him and you're judging him based on what you gathered from the statements made by the police? Don't talk about someone like that unless you ACTUALLY KNOW THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Besides, this wasn't "a choice he made," he was framed! Someone set him up! someone called that cell phone while Charlie was with his roommates! HIS OWN ROOMMATES, THE SUPPOSED VICTIMS OF THE CRIME, DIDN'T WANT TO PRESS CHARGES AGAINST HIM, BECAUSE THEY KNOW IT WASN'T HIM!!!!!!!!!!! AND SO DO ABOUT A THOUSAND STUDENTS FROM JOHN BAPST MEMORIAL HIGH SCHOOL, QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY, AND SEVERAL OTHER HIGH SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES!!!!!!!!!!! What are your other world views? "Oh I know for a fact that Obama's a terrorist because I saw it on Fox News!" or "I like President Bush because he's a guy I can have a beer with!" or "It was Dick Cheney's friend's own fault that he got shot in the face!" SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HEY! CONFUSEDMAINER! HE DIDN'T DO THIS! HIS PARENTS KNOW THE TRUTH! HE WAS SET UP! HE WAS WRONGFULLY ACCUSED! SOMEWHERE AT QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY, THERE IS AN IGNORANT RACIST WHO GOT AWAY WITH A CRIME THAT IS CURRENTLY PUNISHING AN INNOCENT MAN!!!!!!!!!!!! HE DIDN'T MAKE THIS CHOICE! HE WAS CHOICELESS!!!!!!!!! READ THE FACTS BEFORE YOU BADMOUTH PEOPLE LIKE THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FREE CHUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hey ctperry06, i completely understand your views and agree with them completely but instead of keeping this argument going lets just let it go. everyone is entitled to there own opinion and if these people want to believe this they have every right too. but arguing and creating drama on here isnt going to help free chuck.

Charlie's a good kid, always has been since I've known him. It doesn't seem possible that he could do this. My gut tells me that he is being set up.

Even if he did do this, he made a mistake and though he should have suffer the consequences of that, the ones that possibly lay before him now are harsh. Way too harsh.

Bottom line, I know he didn't do this. He's a good kid. I really think he is being set up.

My heart goes out to him and his family, and I am keeping them all in my prayers.

Please do the same.

Hey, here's a math equation: (370 words in this article) x (one picture per one thousand words) x (one person per picture) = 37% of a person is being shown in this article. If judgement is going to be made on this man's appearance, it would be helpful to see his face. My point: If you don't know what this young man is like, don't say what he is like.

Charlie is a great guy. I believe, as do over 800 other supporters, that he is being falsely accused. My prayers go out to him, and his parents. Keep the faith folks, Charlie is innocent.

my thoughts and prayers are with you today

There is an article on www.quchronicle.com entitled "There's no way to sugarcoat this," which quotes Quinnipiac University's president John Lahey as follows: "'"There's no way to sugarcoat how bad this week was," Lahey said. "I was embarrassed, as I hope you all were as well." He also defended the decision to dismiss the alleged perpetrators immediately, saying that it was irrelevant whether or not they had committed a crime. "

Who IS this university president that says that it's IRRELEVANT whether or not students that he expelled immediately upon being suspected in a campus crime ACTUALLY COMMITTED THE CRIME?!?! The outrage I am feeling is unspeakable - especially as I prepare to send a son off to college. Does this university president have any children of his own, I wonder? I have zero tolerance for the behavior and crimes which have been described as taking place recently at QU. College is a home away from home for a student - or certainly should be. Home is where one should feel safe and protected. I am convinced that several crimes have been committed here, not the least of which is the arrest of a completely innocent young man, whose life has been irretrievably altered. The victims themselves are not being allowed their voice to proclaim the innocence of their roommate, Charlie Merritt, a fact of which they are quite certain. Not only do they not believe that Charlie did what he is being accused of, they maintain they were actually with him when they received the offending phone calls - the VICTIMS! They, along with dozens of others (if not hundreds, by now) from his school (QU - there would be hundreds more from ihs high school!), are anxious to testify on his behalf. And yet local law enforcement - yes law enforcement! - refuses to hear them.

Clearly, QU President John Lahey is embarrassed, as the article states. Unfortunately, he is embarrassed for all the wrong reasons. Unfortunately, regardless of the outcome of this gross and incalculable misappropriation of justice, his punishment for what he has done to this extraordinary young man and his extraordinary family will never be sufficient to match his own "crime" - not to mention the fact that the guilty party(ies) are still free to continue their harrassment and terrorization of the QU student body - which apparently was taking place long before Charlie Merritt stepped foot on campus, and if I understand correctly, has continued to happen since his arbitrary and horrific "removal" from campus!

Insofar as elmerfudd is concerned, given his input on this topic highlighting his zeal to convict without knowing any of the facts, his immaturity in general in discussing the various issues relevant to this specific story, and his utter dereliction of responsibility as an adult, let alone as a former law enforcement officer, I can only feel relieved that he is retired from this particular career. I would be far more fearful than comforted to know that someone capable of his rhetoric is still employed in that capacity (e.g., "This was not a just a "mistake" that this kid made. He made a choice. A rather poor one at that!;" No room for conjecture here, is there elmer? He made a choice - that's a pretty definitive statement! WOW - I am stunned by the absence of the words alleged and/or allegedly in both the article and in so many of the comments posted on this thread! Does the US Government know that you must be collecting several paychecks: chief prosecutor, judge, jury, executioner? "If you consider this kid to be a good "character" then please tell what you consider to be a bad one?" How long, exactly, did it take you to come up with this tidy evaluation elmer? Do you have any children? If so, I am left to wonder at the value system taught to them at their father's knee... "I think a great punishment would be for these students to be sent into a predominantly African/American community and do community service. Maybe then they can learn how to treat people like they should be treated. As human beings. " How do you know, elemerfudd, that this is not an exercise that the young man in question has not performed already in his life - long before this nightmare - and willingly, not as some doled out punishment for a crime not committed? How do you know that he has not been a staunch anti-hate crimes proponent both in high school - and in college, once he arrived there and realized that this type of behavior had been going on since long before he arrived there? Are you completely confident that in the space of one weeks's time, well over 1,000 people would come together to defend you (at your age now and not 18 years old) if you were wrongly accused of something?

With regard to your "buddy" alerting you to the fact that Charlie confessed, then perhaps he was actually there to witness the "confession?" And to report back that Charlie was held for over seven hours without being allowed to call his parents or a lawyer, once he realized that what began as his eager willingness to help out in the investigation had degenerated to an all-out firing squad. I am told that what is being considered said "confession" is an admission by Charlie that he was indeed sorry that this had happened to his roommates and friends, once again after HOURS of relentless interrogation and haranguing.

" bugsbunny: It's AMAZING how little punk asses like yourself will judge a cop (or ex-cops) as donut eating, lazy people until you need their help. Let's hope for you that you never do. And, no I was not fired as you would like to believe. I am very proud of the time that I put on the force. Bugsbunny, let's hope for you that I don't find you because when I do, you may want to hide your carrots since I don't like sweets." elmer - please tell me that that's not a threat! You complain whiningly and incessantly about being judged unfairly on this thread - REALLY? You REALLY don't get it? My husband and I have dedicated our lives to teaching our children to have a healthy respect for law enforcement, following this up with explanations and examples of their role and purpose in society to keep us all safe and protected. I can't begin to describe the disillusionment that I haev felt this past week with those of you in your former career. I must continue to believe, to force myself to believe, that the good guys far outnumber the bad guys.

Trust me when I tell you that Charlie Merritt is one of the good guys. There is no doubt in my mind that the truth will come out; however I genuinely doubt you will make it a point to seek out the "little punk asses" who were passionately defending their friend, to tell them that you were wrong, and that you were sorry. I imagine that will be a hard pill to swallow for your "brethren in blue" on the Hamden, CT police force, as well. This can't happen soon enough, as far as I'm concerned.

read the latest people, lest ye judge too quickly

http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/news_wtnh_Hamden_QU_student_arrested_for_hate_crime_200811142213