Letter: Soccer punch: Open letter to Peter Sanchioni, Tiverton schools superintendent

Posted 10/23/19

To the editor:

Superintendent, I sent you photos, and followed up sending other photos to Providence Country Day.

These photos clearly show the crime I witnessed. Your quick follow up was …

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Letter: Soccer punch: Open letter to Peter Sanchioni, Tiverton schools superintendent

Posted

To the editor:

Superintendent, I sent you photos and followed up sending other photos to Providence Country Day.

These photos clearly show the punch I witnessed. Your quick follow up was, “While we cannot share information specific to the students, please know we are following up appropriately.”

That was not done. Bob Murray’s characterization in Ted Hayes’ EastBayRI article was inappropriate and untrue.

First of all it was not a fight, it was an unprovoked punch by a 6’3”-plus male on an unwitting foreign exchange student of much smaller stature.

He then goes on about school rules, and steps to educate, minimizing what happened and creating a false narrative. I have to say, the next quote was the one so over the top that it compelled me to write you. He hopes PCD athletics officials take the same action. This, of course, is a sad attempt to blame others for something they had nothing to do with. Bob Murray's attempt at damage control shouldn’t include false implications toward others. Say nothing, or maybe ask how the boy from China is doing?

I will always remember an article I read a few years ago. It was about a young man walking down the street one night in Northern Jersey. Someone from behind punched him, and he woke up in the hospital. His head hit the curb, fracturing his eye socket and causing a large wound on his forehead, among other things.

A rather unremarkable story except for the fact that on the same corner a young women was assaulted days or weeks before. The article goes on to say that she was still in a coma sometime later, and her diagnosis was “very poor." No one videoed, or took fast action camera shots. If they did, and it didn’t fall on deaf ears, maybe that poor girl's parents would have some solace knowing it wouldn’t happen again. Like it did to my son, who was nearly killed on that corner in Newark.

Thomas Brooks

Retired FDNY

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