chicagomag.com - 730 views 
Veteran investigative reporter John Conroy looks into his own violent beating and finds himself confronting harsh and lingering questions of race
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Reading this now. It's abso-effing-spectacular. So many troubling questions raised.
It's amazing that everyone he talks to assumes it was a race-related hate crime.
Who knew that saying someone called you "honky" would escalate prosecution?
Agreed. Incredible piece with a true-to-life unsatisfying ending.
Great piece. Sorry this happened John.
What a disturbing story. Conroy's health took a serious hit, then when he confronted the perpetrator and his family, they played dumb and cloaked themselves as "christians." Conroy, wanting to understand what happened to him, showed them mercy, and they lied to him to his face to save their own sorry hides.
This story made me really, really angry.
They took him for a ride. Pure and simple. His white, liberal guilt and arrogance (thinking he could make sense of what everyone else repeatedly told him was just a stupid hate crime) blinded him. When he had them there he should have pressed charges and made sure the kid had the book thrown at him.
Note: Conroy is a tremendous journalist who I have the utmost respect for him. He was just out of his league here. The irony, of course, is that he has tons of cop friends who repeatedly gave him sage, wise, knowing advice about what was happening and how to respond, and he ignored all of it. A shame. This kid's still out there, largely unscathed.
Call me naive, but I think what the author did in showing mercy — while it may have resulted in a less-than-satisfying "ending" for readers — is better for all parties involved in the long run. Conroy, reputedly an extremely kind and compassionate writer and person, is better off moving forward, producing great work and not wasting his time dragging this case through the courts. It's difficult to say what ending Larry deserves because it's not our call. The tough life he has lived — and still has ahead of him — perhaps is judgment enough.
Also, as for the "Christian" debate, sure, many use it as a cloak, but we don't know Doris' circumstances or why she did what she did. And we see another Christian in the story: the Good Samaritan whose very reason for not turning a blind eye.
In any case, I'm grateful that Conroy wrote this story. Its complexities and shades of gray are so true to life.
One of the commenters over on the original article says something I'd love to see as well. She/he asks to hear from the pastor at Doris' church. Ouch.
And the irony, alluded to in this story, is that John Conroy has done perhaps more for at-risk African Americans in Chicago than just about anyone else in the media. I did feel bad for him for thinking he'd somehow earned some karma that would protect him from people like Larry. Unfortunately, that's not how the world works.
Compare their situations, though. The writer has a job, an audience, a family etc, and a future. Larry's got the fry scooper at McDonald's. Putting him away in prison somewhere wouldn't do anyone any good.
Agreed. I particularly loved the fact that he didn't come to any comforting conclusions. That's how life is. There are no easy answers in most situations. Also, I wouldn't have found it very satisfying if Larry HAD been charged and gone to jail and this is coming from someone who generally takes a stance of being very tough on crime.
There's a simple explanation: some people are nice and some are not. The behavior of the perpetrator is seen all over; an environment like the west side just amplifies the bad behavior of people that will behave badly regardless. At what point is a person not responsible for their actions? If a person is not responsible for their actions, what should their status be...ward of the state? This was a miscarriage of justice; this juvey should have gotten whacked and whacked hard.
That said, this was a fascinating piece by Conroy. Sickening, but fascinating. For me the key elements were the smile on the kid's face before the assault and the "Christian" lady that stopped. As I was saying, there are good people, also.
Your point about Conroy choosing to move on rather than let the case be dragged through the legal system is excellent. He'd been tracking this for a year and a half at that point. Enough's enough.
So I'm a day behind on reading this story. I'm not sure there's a simple explanation or "lesson" for any story of this ilk. Nothing's cut and dry, ambiguity is all around us and you can certainly glean that after reading the whole thing. I'm glad he got to see "Larry" and "Doris" face-to-face. Conroy did say he felt "whole" afterward. Still, the conversation with "Larry's" uncle was really disheartening.
But the most compelling part of the piece was his connection with the Evanston man who was a victim of a similar crime.
What a sad, crazy journey for Conroy. I'm glad he shared it with us. Incredible piece.