For those who are unaware of what the Juneteenth celebration are about, it certainly supports a noble cause:

Juneteenth is celebrated in over 250 cities nationally and recognized by 40 million African Americans as their freedom and Independence Day. Juneteenth is celebrated during the 13th and the 19th day of the week, or whenever the weekend falls along those dates.

Additional information reveals the celebration uses the date, June 19, 1865 as its baseline. This was when news of slavery’s abolition came to Galveston, Texas. According to the Juneteenth Ohio website, the Columbus, Ohio celebration attracts over 100,000 attendees as people gather to enjoy the celebration, that is, until this year’s Columbus gathering. Reports reveal an 11-year old boy was hit in the leg by a stray bullet during Saturday night’s events. The boy who was hit is in stable condition, and his identity has been kept under wraps.

Today, reports indicate four arrests have been made in relation to shooting, and, in fact, a juvenile male has been charged:

Columbus police have arrested and charged a 15-year-old boy with felonious assault in connection with a shooting Saturday at the Juneteenth Festival at Franklin Park that injured an 11 year-old boy.

Lovauntea J. Mickens, of 723 S. Napoleon Ave., is accused of firing the stray gunshot that hit the boy in the leg at about 7 p.m. during the festival.

Four juveniles were arrested in fights before the shooting, Lt. Bela Bernhardt said. Police closed down the festival, which was supposed to run through today.

As you might expect, such an avoidable incident put a halt to Juneteenth activities that were scheduled for Sunday, June 16, 2013. Thankfully, the related news reports are not being mired by the typical “Internet tough guy” racism that normally accompanies these kinds of stories (see the comment sections at Yahoo and YouTube for example). That does not mean everyone is above the fold, of course. While the discussion about the way people behave on the Internet, especially when comment sections and user anonymity are involved, has been had before (and will be had again, undoubtedly), you would think such behavior would get old by now. I understand how being anonymous gives you the freedom to say things you might not otherwise say.

That being said, just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

Sources: Here, here, and here.