I am so disappointed, angry and heartbroken. You, the newspaper, have failed to live up to a common standard of decency and respect in your reporting. Yesterday, I learned that a girl I know had lost her sister; she was only 24. She was stabbed to death, and her boyfriend went to the hospital with self-inflicted stab wounds. He has been charged with murder.

The woman had a troubled past and had made the news when her toddler ingested cocaine that was lying around the apartment. The mother went to jail and lost custody of her daughter, but loved her nonetheless. This woman was equally loved by her mother, her siblings and friends, regardless of her past mistakes.

The man who is accused of stabbing her had a history of violent behavior. What’s so upsetting is that in the midst of this investigation, with the family still reeling from grief, your paper printed an article that essentially made it sound as though the boyfriend was a “great guy” and his girlfriend was a lowlife.

Statements his ex-girlfriend said “he was a good guy” even as she recalled his violent behavior. His friends say he drank heavily, but he was really nice.

This reporting makes me want to snap. I am so tired of violent men being excused. What makes them great? In my opinion, if a man is a liar, a cheat, a thief and, most of all, an abuser he is not a great guy! Period. I wish people would see that and stop blaming the victims. I wish men would stop standing silently beside their abusive friends and neighbors.

If people know a man is hitting a woman, they should ask themselves, what about him makes him so great that they’re willing to overlook the abuse?

Christine BlaisLivermore

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