[TW: rape] Boys who allegedly drug a girl and then rape her, kidnap her, rape her again, photograph her, photograph her rape, urinate on her then create videos boasting about it, do it because they are fearless and entitled. (I wrote that sentence out deliberately because I’m sick of seeing “she was raped” — like she was an agent in her assault or that there was no real perpetrator.) These boys were not taught, by fully culpable adults, that these actions are morally repugnant crimes against humanity. Because we laugh about rape and mock people who object. Girls who witnessed these events don’t speak up because they have no faith they won’t be next, they have no confidence they will be believed, they’ve learned to internalize the contempt our culture has for them. After all, we teach our children that it’s acceptable for boys to be protected from shaming and punishment after they’ve sexually assaulted, and to attend schools where there are ‘rape factories’ and where frat boys play games like ‘who would you rape.’

Johnny Hickey always packed a knife. So with Mikey in trouble and a third friend retreating, he ordered his younger cousin who was with them to get into their car, then brandished his weapon and lunged forward. After losing the blade, Hickey landed a few haymakers before getting tackled inches from an 80-foot quarry on the parking lot’s perimeter. It would have been just another brawl for the Townie pugilist; despite being outnumbered, Hickey even managed to stand back up. That’s when someone bashed him in the back of the skull with a small boulder, and forced him over the edge. Hickey plummeted into darkness.