HOWLAND, Maine — Town leaders will hold a special public meeting Tuesday to allow residents to vent fears and outrage at the vicious fight on Aug. 17 that left two men with broken facial bones, broken ribs and missing teeth, Town Manager Jane Jones said Wednesday.
The public meeting to begin at 6:30 p.m. at the town office was scheduled because residents have been “galvanized” by the crime, Jones said.
“It has galvanized people who want to see Howland return to a peaceful, more secure community,” Jones said Wednesday. “There was a great deal of very legitimate outrage that something as callous and destructive of human beings could occur here. I have heard more expressions of just complete shock at this than anything else.”
Brandon T. Summerson, 21, of Enfield; Charles W. Gardner, 20, of Howland; and brothers John T. McKinnon, 21, and Henry R. McKinnon, 27, both of Howland, each have been charged with two counts of aggravated assault in connection with the fight, which took place down the street from where the brothers live.
The two victims, who are 30 and 31 and both of Howland, were severely beaten. The Bangor Daily News is withholding their names because they are the apparent victims of a crime and have not been charged with any violations. State police said in an affidavit that the fight started over money used to buy beer instead of drugs.
Bloody sneakers and an identification card left at the scene linked Henry McKinnon to the crime. The four men eventually admitted participating in the fight, state police said. The McKinnon brothers each posted $10,000 bail following a court appearance in which a judge set several bail conditions. Summerson and Gardner remain in jail on $10,000 bail. They are due to appear at the Bangor Judicial Center on Oct. 12, a jail worker said Friday.
The conditions bar any of the accused who are bailed from contacting the victims and each other, and from possessing alcohol or illegal drugs. The men also will be subject to random searches and testing and have a court-ordered curfew that requires them to be home between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m., the judge stated.
Penobscot County Sheriff Glenn Ross and state police Lt. Wesley D. Hussey, commander of the Orono barracks, have been invited to the meeting to discuss police response to the violence.
Howland has endured “a bit of a lawless summer,” Jones said.
The fight was the worst, but not the first incident involving drug activity in Howland. Much of it supposedly occurs in a park in the town center with complaints about drug activity there going back years.
Howland pays the Sheriff’s Department about $12,000 annually for extra patrols beyond what the town gets in regular coverage. The town has paid for extra patrols since the fight, Jones said.
State police also will patrol Howland or go through town on their way to patrol areas or calls. Lincoln police and other municipal public safety services also provide mutual aid on calls when needed.
The Board of Selectmen will likely discuss the fight at a regular warrant meeting at 1:30 p.m. Friday at the town office. The public can attend, Jones said, but she encouraged residents who want to discuss the fight to be at Tuesday’s meeting because that’s the meeting police will attend.
“The main focus [of Tuesday’s meeting] is to give people a chance to express their concerns, to innumerate some of the things that have gone on,” Jones said. “We will be trying to organize our thoughts [at Friday’s meeting] to go into Tuesday.”
Selectmen aren’t expected to vote to take any action Friday, but that could occur Tuesday, Jones said.
Residents should understand, Jones said, that police face many challenges in covering Howland. Sheriffs and state police patrol the state roads and unincorporated areas in Penobscot County, including towns such as Howland that contract for their services. That makes Howland a small town in a large area.
Police also face some technological disadvantages, Jones said. Criminals with cellphones or police scanners can instantly alert each other whenever officers are seen, dispatched to or report themselves in or on their way to town.
But the meeting can be a great catalyst for change because crimes like Friday’s can bring a community together, Jones said, in a way that other events seldom do.
Aggravated assault? You must be kidding; ; it was attempted murder, plain and simple; these people belong in an institution for the criminally insane, and if one of them was my son, I’d say the same thing.
In order to be attempted murder, the court needs to find that they reasonably intended to kill the victim. Based on what I have read, there is nothing to suggest this. Just seems like a beating taken way too far.
One of them isn’t your son, so its impossible to know what you’d say. If someone threatened to get a gun and shoot your kid and your kid and his buddies responded by preemptively defending themselves I think you might be singing a different tune. Of course, in this case it goes way past self defense when its 4 of them against 2 and they continued to beat the victims long after they (the 4 attackers) were in no danger once so ever. That’s no longer self defense, its assault. Anyway, I can say what Id do if a dog attacked me, but until it does, I simply cannot know how Ill react. That’s my point, here.
Anyway, I figure I should say that I AM NOT excusing their actions nor agreeing that what they did was okay. That is not my intention. At all. Send em to prison, not going to hurt my feelings.
It depends on state legalese but in my world a rock could be considered intent to kill if it was a large enough rock, attempted murder does not have to involve pre-meditation
I know how you feel, and a jury might feel the same way, but the defense in such cases is usually that if the defendant had intended to kill him, he would have killed him and he could have with the rock, but he didn’t.
I’d like to know how the defendants knew they already beat the poor guys within an inch of their lives and it was time to stop? Just because a victim fails to die doesn’t convince me there was no intent to kill him.
Obviously, then, the prosecution will want jurors who think like you if these guys are indicted for attempted murder.
Please understand that I’m not on the defendants’ side. I was just telling you what the defense to attempted murder is in this type of case, not that it will always be successful. The assailant’s criminal intent is always a question of fact based on all the evidence, and reasonable jurors sometimes come to different conclusions.
Oh here we go, devildude has got all the answers. What are you going to do about all that as a citizen?
Do about what? I never proposed a needed change nor that anyone need do anything.
If you repeatedly kick a man he will die. That’s how you kill somebody. That could easily be construed as murder.
Yep. A boot can do as good a job as a gun or a knife. All you need is a little bit more patience and
a few good blows to the head.
They are most assuredly NOT insane. They are evil and should be treated as such.
Have them booted… Nothing but trash…
send them,,,, where do you live again stevey_Dee?
Next door to you neighbor..
Must be nice having the whole town hate you…
Not quite sure what you mean by this post, but if you’re looking for sympathy for a bunch of punks, saying the whole town hates them, you’re in the wrong place. These guys have given reasons all their life to have people in town hate them. This here is just the icing on the cake. . .
It won’t let me “LIKE” this comment 1,000 times… so this will have to do!
You’ve got me all wrong, I’m all for a lynch mob…
i think its a great idea for the town to assemble,, maybe folks will come together and have a neighborhood watch or something like that. my guess is,, a lot of folks won’t show up for fear of retaliation. i certainly would hope not, but given the ignorance of these pukes it’s not far fetched.. and yes,, i’ll be there..
Fear of retaliation? You act like these 4 wankers are the mob. They are not, just some punks. You have nothing to fear by assembling.
LOL. You gonna be there bringing all your wisdom and crystal ball?
LOL U SO FUNNY. No, I wouldn’t have been. Not my town, not my concern. Was merely pointing out that irrational fear is not healthy nor required.
Now go away.
If the town showed up in force, like anybody that can, it would send a strong message. Send a strong message.
Kudos for residents of Howland. Hopefully, all towns/Cities in Maine will do the same.
Kudos for the town’s people for coming together to discuss the situation. They may want to look into the process of Restorative Justice (RJ), a philosophical approach to making community safer. RJ is an approach to justice that focuses on the needs of the victims and the offenders, as well as the involved community, instead of satisfying abstract legal principles or simply punishing the offender. Victims take an active role in the process, while offenders are encouraged to take responsibility for their actions, “to repair the harm they’ve done—by apologizing, returning stolen money, or community service”.Restorative justice involves both victim and offender and focuses on their personal needs. In addition, it provides help for the offender in order to avoid future offences. It is based on a theory of justice that considers crime and wrongdoing to be an offence against an individual or community, rather than the state. Restorative justice that fosters dialogue between victim and offender shows the highest rates of victim satisfaction and offender accountability.
Victims? As far as I am concerned they asked for it. All SIX of them are low life scum. I have No sympathy for any of them.
The philosophy may work if you stold my cookie jar. What is the offender so suppose beat himself to death at town square. If someone beat me almost to death ( 40dollars is 40 dollars and I do not condone drug use or have I ever used drugs.) I would never want to exchange dialogue with them ever again. I dont think 8 hours of community service fits this crime. I support restorative justice but not in this scenerio. If this man dies in the hospital, will your philosphy change?
“philosophical approach . . . needs of . . . the offenders . . . instead of simply [punishing the offenders] . . . by apologizing . . . or community service . . . focuses on their personal needs . . . help for the offender . . . fosters dialogue between victim and offender . . . ”
Get real. Not with these guys, never in a million years.
Good on ya Howland, this is exactly how a community should come together. You’re too late of course, judging by previous comments these four turds have been tormenting your village for years, but better late than never
Cool! Yer from Oz…………….
You’re a bit out of line here, don’t you think?
I love the Aussie dialect and what they have done with the English language, that’s all I meant with my comment. They use the phrase in Ireland as well. Good on ya, Frosty!
wait a minute… what does beng a republican have to do with this?
Why bother asking. Someone always sticks nonsence in this blog site.
You go Howland! Keep your town safe. It may be time for hiring your own officer or two.
– deleted –
Silly Mainer14.
Yeah republicans are the only bad people in the world? You must be getting ready to go back to school soon on the bus.
The four should have been at least charged with elevated aggravated assault.
(17-A Maine Criminal code 208-a. I believe the rock could be considered a weapon.
Similar incident years ago——-someone almost beat a man to death with billiard balls in bag.
So hopefully, the charges can be upgraded.
I have heard(again hear say) This incident was over the 2 victims owing money over a 40 dollar oxycodone pill and the four were collecting their debt. Gee Whiz
It’s to my understanding the Mckinnons have quite an inheritance.
I presume or predict that at least 1 of victims will be a chronic pain patient.( I detect a law suit)
I see the inheritance dwindling.
Inheritance!? I would be worried if I were the person who leaves the inheritance. Watch your back with these two. Unreal. They do not deserve anything until they can show they are productive citizens. Holy cow.
That inheritance will be long gone on drugs, cars, and other junk before a law suit can even be formed. . .What they [the McKinnons] should do with that money is pay back PenCAP for the help they received on their house before the inheritance. There is a lot that could be done with that inheritance besides blowing it all, more like pay medical bills, but. . .scum is what scum is and of course they’ll figure out a way to keep their money and still leech from the state.
The McKinnon MEN (tired of seeing the word BOYS..gimme a break) are not the ones that got the money… their MOTHER did. They are pennyless losers that don’t do anything but drink and drug themselves and terrorize others on mommy’s dime. I don’t know anything about the Gardner man, but this Summerson goon is something else too… I was reviewing his facebook page and he seems to think that it is HILARIOUS and SUPER FUN to beat up and terrorize people, he needs to be put away as well.
I know it was their mother who came into the inheritance, I assuming she must have been the one who bailed them out of jail. Just saying, there are better ways for the money to be spent, if she wants to coddle her kids while they are adults then she may as well pay for their actions right along with them.
I respect the Gardners for leaving Charlie in jail, instead of bailing him out, what I would love to know is how John and Henry are not contacting each other, when they STILL LIVE AT HOME!!! It’d be something to know they were breaking bail conditions and have them end up right back in jail!!
This whole deal is ridiculous, I really hope the victims can pull through and recover, though I doubt it’ll be an easy road, with the extent of the damages. Complete nonsense to have things be taken this far!
I’m sorry, I know I commented under YOU but I didn’t intend for the comment to be toward YOU, but more so that those that didn’t know the money wasn’t theirs… it is ridiculous, you are right! :)
Yeah I figured so and wasn’t commenting back to prove anything, lol. This whole thing just upsets me so much, especially being from Howland and knowing all involved. Just crazy knowing that the people you grew up with could have their lives ruined by such monsters.
Zeus (Summerson) is a beauty all right. Has a bright future ahead.
Will be interesting to see what comes of this, could be the start of something good for all our towns. Maybe we should all being talking about this in our town meetings.
Effing drugs.
Turds……
This is what happens when a town doesn’t have a police department of it’s own. This is a huge problem anywhere. No steady police presence is always a bad thing. :(
I am sure the citizens of Howland would argue that their taxes for a police department would do irreparable harm. Wonder how they would feel about taxes if they were the victim(s).
I’m not sure what the citizens can do here other than watch these four carefully and immediately report to the police when they violate their bail conditions, which they’re bound to do.
Geez no heads upfront sheriff Ross?? Oh that’s right this is just run of the mill drug stuff not child abuse an d molestation. Good for the town as the quote goes the only way for evil to flourish is for good people to do nothing. Holding this meeting is a great 1st step.
Alot of good the extra patrol money has and is doing in Howland.
I am a citizen of Howland and have been for almost 6 years. Our town has dealt with these 4 boys terrorizing our community far too long….. It truly saddens me that it had to come to this before any action was taken. We as a community have asked for assistance but we don’t have enough resources or sheriff/police in town to deal with each and every issue.
I am looking forward to this meeting and hope all in town can make it. We need to ban together as a community and stand together. Send a message that this will NOT be tolerated…
Since these 4 are known trouble makers it was really stupid on the part of the 2 in the hospital to mess with them.
Let’s not blame the victims. Just because they are apparently known to the locals as thugs does not mean that they are to blame for being severely beaten by them. The person who commits the act of violence is the person responsible.
So the two guys who tried to buy drugs and then made threatening statements about getting a gun, they are not responsible for what happened?
I think you’ll find both parties bare the weight of the guilt on this one, but, it just so happens that the pre-beating situation is hardly a concern for most, due to the nature of the beating itself. People easily forget all about why this happened to begin with and only care that it did.
Personally, I believe both parties are guilty and why the “victims” are not being charged for attempting to purchase drugs and making threats is beyond me. In any other situation they would be charged, but because they got stomped, lets pity them. Thanks, but id rather not. You put yourself in a dangerous position and something bad happens, you have only yourself to blame.
They are all guilty of something.
Good for you Howland! It take a village to raise a child but it also takes a village to keep civility. It’s time to stand united as a community and take your town back from these thugs and send a message that you will have no more of it.
One ought never to turn one’s back
on a threatened danger and try to run away from it.
If you do that, you will double the danger.
But if you meet it promptly and without flinching,
you will reduce the danger by half.
Never run away from anything. Never!
– Winston Churchill
This could be interpreted two ways: from the standpoint of the “victims” who didn’t run from the fight and thus maybe saved themselves further harm, or from that of the “attackers” who upon being threatened with gun violence decided to preemptively attack those who made the threat.
When posting quotes its helps if they correlate directly and leave little room for interpretation. This one does anything but. It could be argued to support either side of the story. I assume you only support one. Thus, despite being written by a brilliant man and being rather insightful, it is a bad quote in the case.
what the d.a will offer is a deal they want the top drug dealer and these men will get a shorter sentence if the rat the cartel
Cartel? Ha….. Hahahahahahahahahahahah.
Most drugs on the streets come from people in our state. Like old ladies selling their script of perks. Not some cartel.
Wake up.
Summerson and Gardner…Where are your “Friends” now. I’m sure you will see much more of this behavior from your so called friends. I bet they won’t even send you a letter while you do their time.
Like they can write.
It’s about time that Gardner kid showed up here in Bangor at deerfield apartments with some buddies early this summer and they all had bats or some type of weapon BIG TOUGH GUYS!!!! BUNCH OF COWARDS PERIOD THEY NEED A WEAPON and there lucky i was not home they gave all the YOUNG KIDS (all juveniles) a hard time and threatened them REAL TOUGH they would of all been in the HOSPITAL PERIOD!!! THERE A BUNCH OF PUNK COWARDS can’t fight with there hands so they need a weapon I’D BE REAL SCARED NOTTTTTTTTT!!!!i’d love to se them again because I CAN BET YOU THIS THEY WILL WISH THEY WOULD NOT OF CAME
For someone who complains about them acting like tough guys, you’re acting like even more of a tough guy. Relax. I hardly doubt if a group of them showed up with bats or whatever you’d come flying out of your place fists a swinging and send them all to the hospital as you suggest. Doing that is a bit harder then you think, especially when there’s a group and they have weapons. You are not superman. You are flesh and blood, just like them. Don’t think that just because you’ve got fire in your blood means that you’d go out there all macho man UFC like and just tear it up. I really, really doubt it’d go down like that. In fact, Ive seen it go down the exact opposite way before. Group of ignorant kids with weapons + one angry dude = one hurt sad dude. You should chill out before you get yourself hurt. I am sure the two guys who got stomped felt the way you do now when they got ripped off. PUNKS STOLE MY MONEYS! Honestly, just chill.
RAWR, I AM MAD SO I AM NOT THINKING CLEARLY.
If these 4 men get the usual sentences, where most of it is suspended, you can bet the park will remain a good place to deal drugs. And when these guys get out, they will have a reputation to uphold among their peers. In the meantime, you’ll see other dealers trying to live up to this new standard of violence.
John should stay away from the Ford Theater.Has that Abe Lincoln thing going on.
These creeps should have been in burning car in Bangor recently for their meaningless lifes with drugs and all. The poor souls who did pass would never have done anything like this to others. If there is a hit list, we can only hope they are on the list. They are not as tough as they think they are compared to what exists in our world. One of these days they are going to mess with the wrong people.
At least these thugs will be absent from the gene pool for a while
Ar least these morons will be absent from the gene pool for a while.
Why won’t you print my comments, because I criticize the courts and police. Maybe you know I speak the truth. The Maine Judicial system is nothing but a revolving door of time served and probation.
Hmmm….The conditions bar any of the accused who are bailed from contacting the
victims and each other, and from possessing alcohol or illegal drugs.
The men also will be subject to random searches and testing and have a
court-ordered curfew that requires them to be home between 8 p.m. and 6
a.m., the judge stated.
That’s funny because I just see Henry at 8:45 p.m. tonight (8/24) out riding a bike with a red/pink hoodie on with the hood pulled over his head on the River Rd. He was joined with another individual who was on a bike and another who was on a skateboard! Funny thing was..I just seen a cop by the car wash before I see Henry and his tribe. WTG! Yeah, it may sound petty, but hey rules are rules, right? That constitutes for breaking bail conditions, correct??!!??!! The freaks come out at night!!!
And BTW..when I say I seen him on the River Rd…he was about 1/2 mile to 3/4 miles away from his home!!!