Anyone who knows me can explain my dislike of campaigns for various “good causes.” Despite my heavy-handed and seriously-held moral views, I somehow manage to never fully agree with the stated platform or views of any group of campus, even that of the Student Alliance for Israel. So it should come as no surprise to them that I don’t approve of the “Justice for Jason” campaign.

The group has organized for the sake of Jason Vassell – the 23-year-old UMass student who was arrested on charges of armed assault with intent to murder and (unfortunately in this case) black.

The group charges that Mr. Vassell is being unjustly prosecuted for the incident in which he stabbed two (unfortunately white) men who assaulted him in MacKimmie Hall. They want his charges and bail reduced, and they want Jason allowed back at UMass to finish his education.

Now, I can wholeheartedly agree to that last demand. Mr. Vassell does not seem to be a random criminal and to my knowledge had no previous criminal record; he fought back when harassed and assaulted.

This makes him no more a danger to the UMass student body than anyone else. Or rather, no more a danger than anyone else who carries a knife. A surprisingly large number of students do. Let the man finish his degree here at UMass if the courts will allow him his freedom until and during his trial.

However, I must protest the request that Mr. Vassell’s charges be reduced by the courts from felony armed assault. Whatever his reasons, Mr. Vassel stabbed two men with a knife. The two men he stabbed required hospital treatment to live. That fully warrants the charge of armed assault.

That leaves me wondering why “Justice for Jason” so strongly asks that the charges be reduced. According to a “Justice for Jason” representative tabling in the campus center and a small pamphlet she was kind enough to give me, they believe that the current charges, which also charge one of Mr. Vassell’s two white assailants with disorderly conduct; assault and battery with intent to intimidate; and civil rights violations, are biased because of Mr. Vassell’s race.

For a moment, let me break from my calm tone into the more emotional tone normal for me. How far have we come from the civil rights movement when we charge that a man who stabbed two other men in a fight with armed assault with intent to murder is racist or racially biased just because the stabber is black and the stabbed “victims” are white?

We have come extremely far, if you ask me. Now of course, the other white assailant should answer to criminal charges of his own. Both of the white men attempted to gain unlawful entry to MacKimmie Hall, harassed Mr. Vassell with a racial slur that long since should have passed from real use, assaulted Mr. Vassell and smashed his window.

Both of them, Jonathan Bosse and Jonathan Bowes, deserve to answer to law and justice. But then so does Jason Vassell, because here in America and especially in Massachusetts everyone obeys the exact same laws – no exceptions. So the “Justice for Jason” campaign should, in my opinion, hold off on their crusade to treat black men equally by not charging them justly.

Still, do not think that simply charging and convicting everyone involved will do justice by this tragic incident. No, the two Jonathan’s broke into MacKimmie illegally and assaulted Jason Vassell both because he would not let them in and because he is black.

Mr. Vassell fought for his own safety and that of others, and in the process stabbed the two assailants because he felt he had to. I have heard that this may constitute an illegal “escalation of force” under Massachusetts criminal law, and that claiming self-defense may not exonerate Mr. Vassell.

I have been unable to confirm this, but if true, there lay the injustice: That a man who bravely defended himself against assault from bigots cannot walk free.

Hopefully it is not true, and if it is then hopefully Mr. Vassell’s jury will understand the issues at hand and apply their rightful power of jury nullification by refusing to convict.

Jason Vassell rightfully defended himself instead of martyring himself to a legislator’s overly abstract notions of morality. Let him receive the justice he deserves: a verdict of “not guilty.”

Eli Gottlieb is a Collegian columnist. He can be reached at [email protected].