Matthew Schlukebier

Happy Fourth of July?

Disturbed, Shocked

What I had thought would have been just another fun fourth of July concert and fireworks certainly turned out to be quite the opposite.

Right now I am quite unsettled; disturbed, shocked, proud, concerned, happy and afraid — all at once.

Dakota Valley Symphony

This early evening the Dakota Valley Symphony performed its annual Fourth of July Summer Pops Concert in Lowell Park, Stillwater (on the river). A mixed performance, due in part since it was our first performance of the season, and in part since we are outside and the environment can seriously affect your performance (wind blowing music, no band shell). But, for the most part, it went off well and the crowd seemed pleased.

Prior to that eight of us met early for dinner. And after the concert a few of us went and had a drink prior to the fireworks ceremony. The evening went well, and we had a good time. The fireworks were good, though I was disappointed that the city’s speakers near us did not work, so the music was a little remote and did not have the same effect on us. But, again, overall the evening was a good experience for all of us.

Incidents

Violence heard

As the crowd began to return to their cars, my friends and I went to my car to retrieve their instruments and have our goodbyes. I then hopped into my car and tried to get out of the parking lot before the streets became a parking lot of their own. And, like any other year, I didn’t make it. So I was trapped in the lot for quite a while. After a time, I saw that if I went out the other side of the lot, things might move a little quicker. Once I reached the other side, I happened to roll down my window to let in some of the outside air, since it was no longer an unbearable temperature.

Once open I heard some loud voices nearby, so I turned off my radio to better hear what was happening. In the lot next to mine, a number of teenagers were in heated arguments. As I listened I was able to figure out that it was a guy yelling, harshly, at his girlfriend. She was crying and trying to get away. He was using every profane word, over and over, trying to control her as “his” girlfriend and that she was supposed to do what he was saying. Some of their friends may have been trying to defend her, but most seemed to just stand there (afraid or not, I cannot say). I was becoming extremely concerned, since no one in any car or in the lots nearby were taking any action whatsoever. Everyone was ignoring the situation and her safety. I couldn’t tolerate what I was hearing any further and at my first chance I pulled into the gas station and went in and asked the clerks to dial 911. They did so, and then at the same time I saw a policeman on bicycle nearby, so I went and informed him. He and his partner took action.

The teens had by this time all collected in the back of the truck and were pulling out of the lot. The last I saw were the two policemen speeding down the street following the truck, with numbers of other teens and preteens chasing after to see what would occur.

I stood there for a few minutes to see if anything came back in my direction, but nothing did. So I thanked the store clerks and got back in my car to finally get out of town.

Violence seen

A little shaken from the incident, I probably should have waited a little longer, but at this point I wanted to get out of there. There were too many of the other teens around, and I didn’t want to get involved in anything further. Bad decision on my part.

Pulling out into the street and then taking a left turn onto Main Street, I bumped the back end of the car in front of me, and I mean bumped lightly. No dents or any damage occurred, however I think I may have awoken a passenger in the back of that car. As a result of the bump, the passenger in the front seat got out of the car to look and see if anything had occurred. He was a younger, non-African American darker-skinned individual, holding quite a rude attitude about him. He looked and began yelling at me for hitting “his f*cking sh*t”, and many variations of that and other words, claiming a dent and asking me to get out and look. As far as I could tell he was planning on attacking me; there was so much anger and hate on his face that I knew I had better not get out. The light in front of us turned green so his car had to move, since there many others still there watching, so he said one last threat and then kicked the driver’s side door of my car with great force and said “oops”. He walked back to his car, looking at me with hateful eyes focused on me until after I passed. (His car turned left onto the bridge — his car had Wisconsin plates on them.)

A woman in a car nearby looked at me as I drove by and I could see in her eyes that she was as shocked by this as I was. As a result, I drove out of there as fast as I could.

Now at home, I have checked my car, and fortunately I don’t think he dented my door. And there was no sign of any damage on my bumper either.

What is going on?

But after all of this now, I sit here with all these emotions flowing through me. I can’t sleep with too much on my mind, and this just adds to other events from the last few weeks.

I am very proud of myself for making the effort to find the police. I only hope that those teens were caught and may receive some kind of punishment, and that the girl is okay. But I am shaken by the near attack I received for “bumping” another car. What the hell is going on in this world? Why have things become so bad that these violent events occur in small-town Minnesota on the Fourth of July at a celebration attended by hundreds or thousands of people. These people are about to attack others in the sight of so many, and no one stands up to defend one another. Will nothing be done to correct this? This is saddening. Is this what we as a society are meant to be; is this the spirit of the United States of America?

Happy Fourth of July?
Not any more.

Posted: 05 July 2005, Matthew Schlukebier.