Bye-Bye, Ruben Mize

Raised by the gang culture--all those lives destroyed. Young children everyday introduced into that life, kids as young as 10 with the thousand-yard-stare.

Meanwhile, the people who run our society argue about whether we should build more prisons to house the ever-increasing numbers of these processed thugs or if we should have more after-school programs for our "at-risk" kids while ignoring the underlying causes.

=/

I went to elementary school with this kid. We never really talked or anything, but I do remember how he was. I'd never thought that someone from my class or generation would do something like this. His mom always came by to give him, from what I remember, pink medicine. He was in a lot of my classes, from kindergarten to fourth grade. It's saddening, but at the same time, people change and they choose different life styles.

I think Bill the goal is to intercept early, if only to save a life. We could definitely make more room in prisons by releasing people incarcerated on bs drug offenses. In fact legalization would put these thugs outta business.

Bingo! Take the street value out of drugs and the push factor is removed. Sadly, right-wing moralists (many of whom chug their wine and get buzzed on a regular basis) think that legalizing even something as minor as marijuana will send us all to hell in a handbasket while "progressive" politicians seduce the Democratic Party with their pro gay pride/save the environment/pro-abortion talk all the while making sure that the jails are kept full of nonviolent drug "offenders".

if Mize was a white kid in Santa Barbara trial as an adult and sentence to sixty years to life prison for a murder, then the whole white community will be outraged. But he is not... Latino gangs are the visible in Santa Barbara indeed.. But there are white gangs too but there are not label as gangs, they are label as crew, group, or posse. Santa Barbara is the hometown of the KKK, Hell Angels, Warlocks, White Power Gang and other white gangs. Of course they are invisible. But they do export a lot drugs and weapons. But lets ignore that because they are white.
Santa Barbara is most racist place, i have ever lived...
If mexicans were not in this country, i wonder who will be doing the jobs that most americans dont want to do...for example cleaning toilets, picking fruits from the fields, gardening, cleaning houses, and other form of cheap labor.mmmm
Dont be surprised when young latinos get organized and rebel against this oppression system... And take what belong to us.. this land is our...remember who crossed the atlantic ocean... my ancestors were from this land..

amen, killuminati. amen.

killuminati - How many "white kid" do you know that have the criminal history this boy has and not received as extensive a sentence. No one should be "outraged" when an idiot, white, black, brown or anyone else you can think of such as Mize is taken off the street for good. Why don't you "out" the gangs in SB you refer to, or are they too "invisible?" If you and the other Mexicans that live in this country are treated so poorly why don't you just carry you ass back to wherever you came from? You're probably here, legally or illegally, because your own country does not offer the opportunities provided in the USA. How many people you refer to (do not) receive some type of subsidy from the US government? Enough of your poor me BS. Either educate yourself, find a decent job or get the hell out!

I once worked an Ag job here in SB in my late teens and early 20's. I was like the White Shadow, the only non-Latino out in the field and warehouse. About 20 workers in all and for the most part great guys. Some hardly spoke English but they treated me well. Treating each other with respect however was a HUGE problem. These guys were the most racist I've ever been around. Total hierarchy based on skin color and from what area in Mexico or Central America they came from. The lighter the skin, the better they thought they were. The "Indios" with brown skin were given a very bad time, teased, mocked, put in their place. Kind of like how these Latino gangsters, with more in common than we could ever imagine, end up stabbing each other because of where they happen to live in relation to State Street. Mind boggling. Also mind boggling that folks like Killumati thinks Mize is somehow rebelling against an oppressive system. Total BS. The guy chose his own failed path in life. Do the crime, do the time, no matter what color you are. Don't cry racism when you end up in the pen.

Amen, Scooter.

I'm no mind reader, but I think Killuminati is having a good laugh at the expense of some of you.

@ Scooter, Totally agree with you. I dated a Filipino girl in College who was always told by her fair-skined kin, that she was less of a person than they were and teased her about it often. She was born from the same parents as her brothers and sisters but she inherited darker skin pigment and for that she was put down over it.
I am told by my black co-workers that "Red-Boned" blacks (mix-raced) are mutts and are looked down on (Actual wording much worse).
Not all Latino's are Racists or Nationalists, (they look at their Central American brothers or via-versa as sub-human or sub-standard) and thus the Gang-Mentailty look at all of us as potential cattle to be saughtered for our property and their Gang Prestige.
Mize, "Did the crime and now he do the Time"......Beretta!

dou4now.

Yes, second post to the guy that is counting. Common, there are only Hispanic gangs in Santa Barbara. If there were Asian gangs, White supremicist gangs, ect, you really don't think the police would do the same, go after those that kill others? This is not a race thing. Some come from bad homes and don't decide to kill. Others, believe that the only way to get "respect" is to take away something from someone else, the most severe consequence of course is one's life. I guess the DA is trying to let Cory Lyons go to, after all, he's white, albeit not in a gang. Again, grow up. Own your own school, aka: be a participant in your own future and not a victim!

People wanting to look white is poison...White Jesus is poison!
Schools where I learned they should be burned, it is poison
Physicians prescripting us medicine which is poison
Doctors injecting our infants with the poison
Religion misoverstood is poison

Never to worry, all the wrong doers got it coming back to em
A thousand times over
Every dog has its day and everything flips around
Even the most greatest nation in the world has it coming back to em
Everyone reaps what they sew that's how it goes
Innocent lives will be taken, it may get worse but we'll get through it
be strong

I have seen Mr. Mize rapping on a youtube video, he has some talent, albeit, ganster music, but still a talented kid for what its worth. if Santa Barbara is so concerned about the "gang problem" why not invest more on programs? such as assigning individual Case Managers to some of the most "at risk" youth and help them turn their life around before committing un-justifiable crimes? Had Mr. Mize had an intervention Case Manager assigned to him during the first signs of trouble, could he be a famous rapper by now? or simply a productive member of society contributing by paying taxes instead of draining taxes by getting locked up for life? I noticed many of these postings are so racist, it is so damn stupid to be racist, it proves nothing, and it solves nothing. One kid is dead, and Four kids are going to prison for a long, long time and families are hurting, lets focus on the human element of this case. Mr. Gus Frias, (new gang czar) i really do hope you bring change to this mess. And, I will commit to volunteer to help bring change. What are the rest of you gonna do? keep typing? or take action?

Well put Eddie

What really needs to be done is for the powers-that-be to re-classify street gangs as terrorist organizations, not just "criminals": after all, they fit the FBI's definition of terrorism to the proverbial tee.. no matter what race: latino, black, asian, or white. To promote violent and often arbitrary attacks against innocents (as well as rival thugs) with the aim of furthering their organization is pure terrorism. Al Qaeda? Crips? 18th Street? Provisional IRA? ETA, Bloods?Jundullah? It's all the same BS.

While everyone's getting brainwashed and hyper-paranoid about a few radical Muslims 10,000 miles away who are way more concerned with their own *local issues* than on "hitting America"... tis notion fits our preconditioning and comfort zones very neatly... we have a really, really bad problem which is not being addressed.... not just here in quaint, upscale SB, but in EVERY US town and city.

Street gangs in LA county alone between 1991 and 2006 killed more than 12,000 people.. thats four times the 9/11 death toll. Extrapolating that horrifying statistic nationwide and the figures become mindboggling.

Its time to kill off this cancer that raises the fear threshold in every city, and trashes our way of life and liberties; something is very wrong in society when members of the public cannot even walk across the street without fear of some shaven-headed tattooed moron pulling a gun on them, or getting car-jacked, or robbed, stabbed or mugged. They have created no go areas everywhere in US cities, where even the police barely dare to tread. People get killed caught in the cross fire daily.

Enough is enough. End it now.

I agree with you bloggulator and have nothing to add.

To those playing the race card,

At this point in history no one should be surprised, shocked or offended when someone states that being white is an advantage in our society. Duh. I'm not suggesting that white people are better, but BEING white is CLEARLY better ("Chewed Up" by Louis CK, 2008).

Since there's no indication that the advantages of being white are going to change any time in the near future, what purpose does bringing up race have in this discussion? Obvious statements don't tend to add anything to a conversation.