Alexa Bartell
Image: Jefferson County, CO, Sheriff's Office
The young lady above is - or, I should sadly say, was - Alexa Bartell. On the night of 19 April she died as she was hit by a rock thrown into her vehicle, through the windshield as she drove on a road in Jefferson County in Colorado. She was speaking on her mobile phone to a friend when that happened. The friend was alarmed by the dropped call and alerted the authorities who had found Bartell dead in her car on the side of the road.
Subsequent police investigation led to the arrest of three local 18 year old men. Associated Press describes the circumstances of the crime thusly:
Investigators believe the attack is linked to several other similar incidents in which rocks between 4 and 6 inches (10 and 15 centimeters) in diameter and weighing 3 to 5 pounds (1.4 to 2.7 kilograms) were thrown at cars in the area the night of Bartell’s death.
The attacks started just after 10 p.m. and involved at least seven vehicles. In addition to Bartell’s death, two drivers suffered minor injuries.
It’s unclear which of the teens was driving during the attacks, but all three are suspected of throwing rocks at vehicles.
Investigators say mobile device forensics and tips from the public helped lead them to the suspects, who could face additional charges.
It is hard to say what the motive is for this attack. Thus far it appears that the suspects had no connection to Bartell or any other of their victims. They are White as was Bartell and hence racial animus does not appear to be a factor, at least as pertains to Bartell's murder. So based on what I have been able to find out thus far this was just a classical example of senseless violence.
And this sort of crime seems to be growing in frequency in the US. Overall, violent crime is down in comparison to previous decades but a higher percentage of it seems to be his kind of crime - senseless, unmotivated violence. This is just a personal impression - and, truly, how do you define "senseless crime"? Hence it would be hard to study something like this in terms of numbers. But this seems to be in the same cohort of activities as the Tide pod challenge, "knockout game" and similar trends.And it seems to be growing in frequency - though, like I said, this is hard to categorize as how does one distinguish this kind of murder from, for example, regular gangland violence which also involves chance victims?
So what is behind this? I am not sure. But one thing I would say is that this reminds me of the late days of the Soviet Union where random, unmotivated violence was extremely common. In both cases the underlying cause may be of a similar nature - the feeling of frustration, he feeling of anger one has trouble even putting one's finger on. This anger is pointed the reality one faces - the reality of confusion, the feeling of helplessness and inability to affect one's life, the feeling of anger as the society full of deception and hypocrisy. The Soviet society is full of it. I feel more and more our society is becoming more and more like that. You can almost tell what the society is like by the crime you see.
Just a few thoughts by yours truly.
As always - do your own research, use your own brain, draw your own conclusions.
References
3 teens arrested after Colorado driver killed by thrown rock
AP, 26 April 2023
Consumption of Tide Pods (wiki)
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