It was just after 2 a.m. on a pitch-black Friday morning when Bernadette Greene-Placentia’s life changed. The Democratic candidate for Congressional District 8 strolled across a parking lot to repair a damaged campaign sign. It was a routine she’d followed all summer. This time, she only made it a few yards.
An attacker smashed her over the head. She blacked out. She woke up to find a strange man on top of her.
Greene-Placentia struggled to open her eyes. She felt a sharp pain below her waist. The attacker was pulling his penis out of her.
She heard him mumble something like, “-ic bitch, not a very good fuck,” which her mind filled in as “Democratic bitch,” she recalled. She wasn’t sure that was exactly what he said.
One leg was out of her jean capris. She wore brand-new tennis shoes and a campaign t-shirt. Another man came over. Greene-Placentia felt his weight nudging her left leg further apart. She began swinging her foot at him. “Not even worth it,” she heard the man say as he moved away. He wore black boots and had small feet, she recalled.
The two men left Greene-Placentia face down in the parking lot. The hatch of her silver Jeep Grand Cherokee was still open. The car was still running. She heard music.
She doesn’t remember pulling up her pants or picking herself off the asphalt parking lot. She doesn’t remember closing her Jeep’s hatch and putting her foot on the gas. She doesn’t remember pulling her car into the driveway and collapsing into her bed.
“It’s just these little tiny flashes of things that I do remember,” Greene-Placentia said in an interview with Phoenix New Times. “As much as I don’t want to remember, I’ve tried very, very hard to remember more stuff. But that’s where I’m at.”
I understand the memory block the trauma of rape can cause. My ex drugged and raped me in my own home, in my own bedroom, during my own goddamn birthday party with family and friends just a shout away. Everyone thought I was just super fucking drunk, as I had turned 21 and was drinking heavily. I was drunk, but the drugs I was given in the last drinky ex gave me had me unable to stand within minutes. My ex told everyone he’d go tuck me in so I could rest and everyone thought the last of the alcohol I’d had hit me all at once. He essentially dragged me to my bed and tossed me onto it like a sack of potatoes. I didn’t pass out as quickly as I would have liked. The drugs paralyzed me and I was very much aware of the things my ex was doing, but I couldn’t do a damn thing about it. Thankfully I passed out before he started the penetrative part of the rape. I woke up naked and in awful pain all over, but especially down there. I often sleep nude or nearly nude because I get overheated easily, so I didn’t think anything of it and figured the pain was just a hangover.
I blocked out all memory for five years as a survival mechanism and my mental health tanked when the memories came back. It took another three years for me to seek therapy. All of the evidence is circumstantial, as he wore protection or was just unable to cum. There were no witnesses and no concrete evidence other than my memories that resurfaced, me waking up naked, and the pain.
The mental healing has been so rough. I can’t imagine what this woman is going through. Her experience sounds far more traumatic than mine was. I hope she can get the help she deserves and needs and that the bastards who hurt her get what’s coming to them. I will never get justice for what happened to me, but I hope every other victim can.
Thank you for sharing your story. I’m sorry you had to endure it and I’m sending warm healing thoughts your way <3
I’m sure the cops will definitely use the flock cameras to identify her attackers.
/s
The same cops whose body cams conveniently malfunction every single time they’re accused of malfeasance or gross abuse of of excessive force? Color me not-even-mildly-shocked
Wouldnt you know it, it happened in a gap of camera coverage. This wouldnt have happened of the liberals hadnt been pro-rape and forced us to get rid of the cameras that would have caught this! We should get 30,000,000 dollars in new funding to expand AI cameras across the area!
/s
I feel so sorry for this poor woman having to endure this, It is a terrible violation and tragedy… but if it happened specifically because of her politics, then that opens a very very dark door for our future, and thats saying something considering rape is already a dark door in and of itself.
It likely was politically motivated the rapist said “-ic bitch” to her and I think she was right that the full word was democratic. She was also attacked while fixing a political sign which probably wasn’t a coincidence. This is disgusting.
The police: “are you sure it wasn’t just some sort of misunderstanding?”
Wow. Top Ten Incels of Lemmy are all here, and I know I’m not even seeing all of the comments because some are already blocked.
I hope she succeeds in life, and that those two men are killed. Rapists, just like unjustifiable killers, have no place among humanity.
There are many sleeping soundly at the whitehouse right now, on a comfortable taxpaid pillow.
Well, even if this was politically motivated, she’s not a conservative and doesn’t have the name Charlie Kirk, so Republicans won’t give a flying fuck.
The Republican party is a terrorist organization. We cannot have a civil society and the Republican party and its supporters at the same time. Its one or the other.
I hope the goddamn bastard dies a painful death.
This is horrific, and sounds like actual terrorism in that it is a violent act with an apparent political motive. I hope she is safe and gets justice for what was done to her.
This is a horrific story. We need stronger laws surrounding rape. I guarantee you, that if republican men were being raped, we would have death penalty laws against rape.
What’s needed is not stronger laws so much as consistent and motivated enforcement of the existing laws. If nobody is bothering to investigate the crimes that are reported, fewer victims are going to report crimes, and the perpetrators are going to be emboldened.
Exactly. Ask any cop about their untested rape kits.
They get them and then they don’t do shit with them.
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The sentence in the middle of your comment is technically true, but the surrounding joviality of lol and stupid emojis is horrible.
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citation needed
There are literally over a dozen people on Lemmy. There may even be more than twice that. Don’t expect a single, cohesive view on anything. It’s rare enough for even a single person to have cohesive views. If you expect a single, cohesive view from a group of multiple people, that’s about as realistic as expecting your romantic relationships to work like ones in Disney movies. The person calling for the death penalty as a comment on one post is probably not the same one calling for care in handling a homeless man’s issues. This is a collection of individuals, not a collective hivemind.
It’s a ten day old account shill account. They speak fluent Youtube comment because that’s where their experience is.
Laws don’t prevent rape because they’re not enforced. As we’ve seen with the Cornell case.
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The laugh emojis are a weird thing to add.
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Hate cops but now expect them to help you?
So you admit that they can’t be expected to do their jobs? Weird take from someone who supports the police. Maybe if they actually did their jobs they wouldn’t be so hated.
Expect the harshest punishment for rapists, but homeless criminals should be excused at all cost no matter what they do
Oh, you’re here to strawman. No surprise there.
- Expect the peeps to be caught ASAP but hate flock cameras
Is that not what they’re for? Why would you be against them being used for what they’re allegedly for?
Fucking HYPOCRITES
If you were smart enough to know how dumb you are you’d be embarrassed.
So you want police to stop brutalizing marginalized communities but also don’t want to be randomly assaulted and raped?
Like most things in life, it’s a binary choice and you can’t possibly have both
It’s hard to read sarcasm on the internet, let alone in a thread with an already-established troll on the loose.
Ok fair enough, I thought it was clear but I see your point
So you want police to stop brutalizing marginalized communities
Yes?
but also don’t want to be randomly assaulted and raped?
Also yes?
Like most things in life, it’s a binary choice and you can’t possibly have both
Why the hell not? Where is that written down?
Sorry I was trying to be sarcastic and the point i was trying to make was essentially the opposite of what I said, which I recognize could be confusing.
Most things are not a binary choice, and if we were going to have real police reform we would need to have difficult conversations about how much policing snd what type is the best to ensure public safety without having the policing itself become a public safety concern. But that reform isn’t coming, so we probably don’t need to have those conversations
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No they are untouchable victims to you fucking hypocrites
Lol. Who told you that?
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Are the leftists who think these things in the room with us now?
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I believe that you do.
Aren’t you American?
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Expecting cops to do their jobs is hypocrisy?
What is even happening…
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I don’t think that word means what you think it means.
Uhhh surveillance definitely doesn’t prevent a thing
No one here is calling for more surveillance to curb this.
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I can already hear the Republicans making fucked up jokes about this.
Well, they thought Nancy Pelosi’s husband getting assaulted was a real hoot, so it’s all too predictable.
Also, they started crafting a narrative in which it wasn’t home invasion or anything, but because he’s actually sooper dooper gay or something and it was a lover’s quarrel. Tee hee, aren’t the conservatives so funny? Why won’t the libs make comedy legal again?
Don’t worry, we have proclaimed leftists claiming she’s making this all up for attention right here.
well, there’s the whole Kirk dance on the grave thing and he deserved it…
to be clear, what happened to her is beyond atrocious and I have zero ideas on fixing it and like climate change, I don’t think there is anyway to fix it.
Every time rape culture comes into the limelight, I remember a party in college where a friend, well call her blue, was so drunk she was pants-off propositioning several people. All of us were like “Blue if you’re down tomorrow, that’s cool. But like, go to bed.”
Not Nick. Name not redacted. I went into their room and cock blocked. Straight to Nick “brother you’re way more cogent than her. This is rape, and everyone here knows it.”
Or, sorry to both sides here, but the time Jenna, name not redacted, came downstairs with a suggestive giggle and grin after we had all just helped our friend James (not his name) to bed, in his own home at his house for a graduation party. Jenna, that was rape. And I said it out loud to you in front of everyone. And you giggled like it was cute.
There’s a small percentage of humans among us that don’t respect others autonomy. They need to be outed. They need to be held accountable. We need them away from the rest of us.
Fuck you Nick. Fuck you Jenna.
I saved a friend of mine from a similar situation. I was living in a house with 5 people. She was shit faced. I came home and found her in the shower. Clothed. Passed out.
I got her changed (we were pretty close friends). And put her to bed.
Like a bit later I get up to check on her. Cause people can die from alcohol poisoning. I See her door is open. Go in and a fucking guy is in her bed.
Can you believe that !?
Some shit stain that was there for the party, from one of the other housemates was throwing.
I flipped out on him and cussed him out. He called me a bitch. Told me to mind my own fucking business. She was into it. …
He really wasn’t going to leave. I am pretty sure I threatened him with violence. (This was like 20 years ago).
Man, I was so angry. I’m still angry when I think about it.
I remember it was actually really hard to get him to leave. He didn’t think I had any right to tell him he couldn’t rape my friend. I do recall there being a lot of yelling.
I did finally get him to leave. And I told the housemate about it but she honestly didn’t care.
Next day I told my friend some shitty guy was in her bed but I chased him off. I tried to recall what he looked like. So she could figure out who he was. But I don’t think we figured it out for sure.
And cautioned her about Ashley’s “friends”.
She said she got in the shower because she realized how drunk she was and thought it would sober her up. And didn’t remember much after that.
Thank God I got off work in time.
A woman underestimates her alcohol consumption one fucking time and the vultures swoop in. In her own place.
Not safe anywhere.
Apparently plenty of people have no Idea that having sex with someone under influence of substances is rape. I’ve had this conversation with someone, who openly said the point of going to parties is to score with drunk girls.
We’re younger back then, I feel like he’s a better person now.
Thanks for being the type of person to call that shit out in the moment.
Wow these comments are just not it
Can only imagine what some of these deleted comments were
I’m sick and tired of men telling me that rape culture doesn’t exist, that rape victims should have done something different, they should have worn something different, they should have not gone out alone, I’m fucking sick of all of it.
We have a problem with misogyny and rape in this country. It doesn’t exist in a vacuum on its own.
Trump is merely a symptom of the rot.
I’m reminded that there are some cultures where, if people want to reserve a seat in a restaurant or something, they’ll leave their purse or wallet there unguarded. And nobody steals it. That’s their culture.
So, I think when people claim rape culture doesn’t exist, they don’t understand what that means. If rape culture didn’t exist, then it would make no difference what a woman was wearing or what she was doing. She would be able to feel safe and feel confident that nothing would happen to her. That’s so far off of American culture right now that it’s not even debatable.
Unless the advice to the victim is ‘should have ripped off his balls’ or ‘knifed him in the dick’, it’s all bullshit.
Rapists need to suffer. Not get promoted up the ranks of the Epstein class.
I heard good things about going for the eyes and throat.
Tbh we also have a problem with misogyny on the threadiverse.
Why does this have downvotes? Someone got raped and OP is justifiably mad about the state of things, why do people here feel that’s something to take issue with?
We really like to feel progressive and like we’re fighting the good fight here, until someone posts a sexist meme and you see what the comment section looks like, and it becomes clear a lot of folks haven’t interrogated how they look at women or women’s issues even a little bit since leaving reddit
Some of the downvotes are because I am one of the few voices on the fediverse speaking out against those sexist memes and such. There are some people that don’t like outspoken women and I have a few stalkers that are very dedicated.
But as you can see from other comments, there is a problem with misogyny here. The kneejerk questioning of rape victims is just one sign of it.
I was reading a comment in a post today that was about becoming a regular at places was how to build community. The comment was from a disabled and moderately attractive (direct quote from the commenter) woman who said she avoided becoming a regular because people felt that they could take advantage of her if they knew her routine.
And it just made me sad. Nobody should have to go through that. Nobody should feel ostracized because they are afraid someone will abuse them.
I had, and for the most part still do, agree that it’s generally good to become a regular at a place. But I hadn’t thought of it from that woman’s perspective before and I respect and understand her decision.
Thank you, genuinely, for understanding her point of view instead of becoming defensive.
You have (at least) a few fans too.
I have a deep respect and appreciation of your posts and commentary. We sure as shit don’t have enough people like you.
I really appreciate that, TaterTot :3
Hopefully with enough time and stubbornness, more people like us will feel more comfortable here in the Fediverse!
I don’t have you tagged since you’re quite visible here, but I notice and respect your opinions, even if I don’t always completely agree with them. Please keep up the fight, we need more passionate people who are willing to speak their minds.
I’m not excusing rapists’ shitty behavior, but, as you said, this is far more prevalent than many of us would like. Not accepting that fact and taking steps to reduce the risk is a poor choice. I don’t turn my back on a dog I don’t know, and a woman driving around by herself and getting out of her car in the middle of the night in unpopulated areas is leaving herself at risk as a target of opportunity or even a planned attack.
Again, not saying this is okay or the way things should be, but is a realistic view of the world we live in. The talk about clothes or behavior, though (beyond that which exposes you to risk), is completely beside the point. Predators will attack targets. Stop the predators. Don’t be an easy target. Both of those should be done, but only one can reasonably be done on an individual basis.
And no, none of that makes this in any way her fault. That rests squarely on her attackers.
I was listening to an excerpt of Jimmy Carr interview a few days ago in which he was arguing that one of best ways to combat toxic masculinity was to encourage young men to go down to the pub with the lads. That men in groups will keep checks on others within the group.
I respect Carr and his crusade against toxic masculinity, but I am a guy and a lifelong feminist (thanks mom) that grew up in an extremely misogynistic culture. Sure, my friends would have kept me in check, but that’s because we were always a mixed gender and sexuality group. Most “lads” crews I knew, once drunk and rowdy, were more likely to gang rape a girl than not if she told them off. Sorry Jimmy, humans are still way to close to close to chimp to be left unchecked.
Something tells me that Jimmy “Riyadh Comedy Festival” Carr doesn’t take ethics entirely seriously.
I don’t know how feminist I’d consider him. As I recall, he and Stephen Fry both drifted right in their politics over the past decade or so:
“the problem with American communism, which is woke, is better described as American Marxism. And what it is is instead of trying to redistribute wealth, which is a perfectly reasonable thing to want to do, they want to redistribute status. And that is a recipe for fucking madness” -Jimmy Carr
Stephen Fry ended up praising Jordan Peterson or some such, Carr started talking anti-woke politics on podcasts after being “cancelled” by a heckler.
From a student news website:
“Jimmy Carr has built his career on his deliberately offensive style of comedy – nothing is off limits and nobody is safe. His new special, aptly-titled His Dark Material, is supposed to epitomise this ethos, as Carr spends an hour bombarding his audience with endless quips about hipsters, vegans, gingers, women (including his own girlfriend, who sounds like a very lucky lady), victims of sexual abuse, little people, and anybody else he feels hasn’t been at the receiving end of enough grief lately. His pièce de resistance comes in the form of a section at the end of the special filled with jokes Carr brazenly calls his “career enders”, in which he says that few people know about the fact that an estimated half a million Roma people were murdered during the Holocaust because nobody wants to “talk about the positives”. One man’s suffering is another man’s slapstick.”
https://thestudentnews.co.uk/2022/03/03/the-charge-of-the-woke-brigade-the-case-against-jimmy-carr/
He tried to defend the Holocaust joke by saying it brings attention to non-jewish victims of the Holocaust which earned him every comedians highest achievement when going anti-woke - being defended by Jeremy Clarkson.
they want to redistribute status. And that is a recipe for fucking madness" -Jimmy Carr
He’s afraid of losing his own status. He’s a right wing tool.
I only know him for his, as of late, takes on toxic masculinity. Some are good, and some (like the one I highlighted) are dreadful.
I think it’s much more prevalent than people want to admit.
Otherwise, spontaneous gang rapes wouldn’t occur with such frequency. Why are there always so many men that are up for it randomly? What are the odds, yeah? Seriously, that wouldn’t be possible if it was a rarity.
They’ll rape animals and men, too, because they’re rapists. Women and children are smaller, so they are preyed on much more, but if all women disappeared tomorrow, they’d still rape whomever/whatever else they could.
Sure, this could be a political ploy in this case, I know nothing. But the reason such a ploy is believable is because it’s so common.
It’s way more prevalent than most men want to admit, that’s for sure.
Women have either been victims themselves or know someone who has been a victim. The rate is close to 1 in 3 women have been raped.
It’s 1 in 5, but it is still a lot and way too high.
It depends if you’re looking worldwide or at the US. It also depends if you’re looking at reported cases vs unreported.
But yes, it’s still way too high.
And rape vs sexual violence. 1:2 will experience some type of sexual violence.
What the fucking shit… This makes me gag! God fucking damnit, I hate men… and I’m saying that as a man!
Republican women are some of the most vocal rape deniers. It’s not about hating genders, it’s about the people that promote a culture where these behaviors flourish.
It’s still men doing most of the rape and sexual assault, which is what P1nkman was referring with their outrage.
I hate this game we all have to play - avoiding saying which gender it is that perpetrates rape and sexual assault the most.
It’s men. Men do it the most. Not all men rape, but overwhelmingly it’s men who rape others - women, children, and other men.
Understood.
“men” is not a fixable problem.
Republican culture is
Yeah, or how they should not have been convicted of a crime they may or may not have committed and sentenced to the most concentrated and well documented rape culture in modern history, male prisons. Obviously rape cultures exist. I agree with you.
False rape allegations happen, but they’re much more rare than actual rape.
The amount of support prison rape has in society is a real part of our rape culture. When rape is celebrated as a valid punishment, it helps support the same rape culture that supports questioning victims’ stories. That they must have done something to deserve it.
It’s all tied together.
I was not refering to false rape allegations.
how they should not have been convicted of a crime they may or may not have committed and sentenced
Then you should be more clear.
Or you shouldn’t make assumptions.
You’re welcome to clarify your statement.
Which part do you need help understanding?
Find culprits like Luigi found!
I appreciate the vigilante energy, but maybe we could demand that our politicians and our police forces and our DAs actually do their fucking jobs.
Let’s process the enormous backlog of rape kits in this country.
Let’s believe victims when they say they’ve been raped.
Let’s give all of the evidence of a crime over to the people who will prosecute those crimes. And then fire them when they don’t fulfill their duties.
I agree. I mean Luigi found quick, use resources to find culprits same.
The thing I’m trying to understand about this is why the hell is she out at 2:00 in the morning fixing signs. Regardless if it’s a billion degrees in Arizona or not. I don’t do shit at 2:00 in the morning because the world is fucked up. I wish more women would go after rapists. The DNA swap might prevent him from doing it to other women.
why the hell is she out at 2:00 in the morning
Because she fucking wanted to. She can go out, wherever, whenever, however the fuck she wants and not have to fear getting raped.
That clear for you, you fuckwit?
Can we not victim blame?
It’s wrong, regardless of what conditions it occurred under. Not only that, but she had been doing this all summer long without any problems. The two men who did this were aware of her schedule and habits, they had likely been stalking her for who knows how long prior to this, which means they would have done this in broad daylight too if they thought they’d have a chance at it.
It wouldn’t matter if she was buck naked in the middle of Octoberfest no one has the right to touch anyone without their consent.
Agreed, but we live in a sick world… I don’t ride my bike after midnight anymore even though I really loved my night rides. People on the trails take over after 11 and I had a few try to mug me.
I’m 6’5" so once they saw that they backed off… Scared the fuck out of me.
The world sucks sometimes… And statistically this is less likely to happen in the daytime
You realize people still live their lives at 2am. People are working, shopping, doing all the stuff 24 hours a day.
Sometimes that’s when you have the spare time to do it. It’s still not her fucking fault.
She’s gone out dozens of times in the middle of the night to repair campaign signs throughout the campaign. Sometimes her husband, Alex Placentia, joins her; other times, a campaign volunteer tags along. It’s been a successful way for Greene-Placentia’s campaign to put up signs while avoiding the heat and traffic.
