May 24, 2016 --- FED EXPRESS
The Honorable Judge Lamont Jacobson
Marathon County Courthouse
Circuit Court – Branch 3
500 Forest Street
Wausau, WI 54403-5568
Dear Honorable Judge Jacobson:
I hope this letter finds you and your family well. My name is Ms. Paula Yang a community activist for Social Justice based in California. I will join many other activists and advocates from Mothers Against Bullying from multiple sectors across the nation to gather on the 400 block of Main street and Jefferson street on a Peace March to SAVE OUR CHILDREN scheduled for May 31, 2016.
The purpose of this letter is to inform you of a group consensus of the sadness and disenchantment felt amongst all of the intended participants in the SAVE OUR CHILDREN march. I am a mother and have agreed to join in this peaceful demonstration because my empathetic response. I have only one son, and the parallels experienced by Mrs. Powell bond with her son can be felt by myself and others who will join me on May 31st. When I reflect on the possibility of losing my own son due to an episode that could have been prevented burdens my heart to where I feel the need to initiate a change, the first of which is this demonstration. As I once again revisit these emotions, I find that I am crying and must stop often in order to continue writing. I do apologize if this letter seems disjointed due to this, but I will proceed as the crime of bullying needs to be addressed. The prevention of this tragedy for another mother and family to experience the loss of a child due to bullying and the reaction of the victim of bullying has escalated to a point where there is no return. This has to be stopped.
Another activist organization which shows the determination and strength of mothers who are no longer willing to stay silent or passive in regards to their children's safety. There are thousands of mothers in MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Drivers) and now MAB (Mothers Against Bullying) are addressing the issue that affects our diverse children in their daily environment, The Public School System.
As it is nationally mandated that we send our children to these institutions and to keep them home is considered a crime, we need to have more access to the safety and prevention of crimes on school campuses. It is believed that the administrators and educators at these institutions are not taking the crime of bullying as seriously as they need to, as is obvious by the case that is now before you. To pursue this line of thinking further, if the lack of disciplinary action on the part of the administrators of whom we trust the safety and lives of our children on a daily basis could have given a preliminary warning of the danger that these children were in and thus lead to intervention of the parents and educators to deescalate the situation. If all of these elements had been in place, could the death of Isaac Powell have been prevented? As of now, we will never know the true answer to that question.
I am still feeling the rage, compassion, sadness and a myriad of other emotions as anyone who has counseled and tried to empathize with the families of both children who were involved in this tragedy have reacted. I am attempting to make sense of a senseless situation and by contemplating on solutions rather continued ignorance of the cold hard truth that this is a crime that should have been prevented.
As I have already stated, if the school system did not fail our children, today our joint diverse community would not be having this conversation and Peace March to Save our Children.
Now, as I have already eluded to questions that can't be answered, I will now ask you, your Honor some questions for you to ponder the answers.
What can we do as a joint diverse community to prevent this kind of tragedy in the future? On a personal note, Judge Jacobson, do you have children? How many? Do they deserve to be bullied?
Proceeding ahead with the idea that through every great tragedy there is a lesson to be learned, we are willing to take this opportunity to join together as parents, educators, administrators and townspeople to march is a peaceful demonstration as a means to publicly claim our concerns and the need for acknowledgement of this social crime which as you know escalated to the level of a Felony crime.
As many of us parents do, we tend to choose a city, Wausau, where we can safely raise our children. In consideration of the safety of our children who attend school everyday with the trust that there is adult supervision by compassionate people who share the same ambitions as we parents, that the child learn, grow and become responsible adults to function within any given society. These are our future leaders, regardless of their ethnic, economic, social, and religious background.
However, we can continue to work together to prevent any such future incidents from occurring. It takes a whole village to raise a child and yes, it includes YOU as a reputable and respected judge in our legal system a position wherein you were elected with the understanding and trust that you would hold our ambitions that the community provide a safe environment wherein our children can succeed.
Today, as we all write you thousands of letters from across the nation, especially from the Hmong across the nations, know that we are emotionally affected by the loss of Isaac and Dylan’s unknown futures.
It is at this point, I wish to point out the lack of inadequate legal representation of Dylan Yang. His previous lawyer demonstrated his inability to adequately represent Dylan is the victim of bullying which led to the horrific verdict placed on Dylan.
Lastly, from what can be gleaned from watching the news and reading articles on the case, the fact of the other three young boys involved in the attack in Dylan were all on house arrest and wearing anklets which means that these boys had already committed crimes and were trouble makers. The prosecutor did an awesome job painting a horrible picture of Dylan Yang as a monster; however, the facts of the case where that he was in his own home; the intruders entered his home with a purse holding 10 knives and a gun. The conclusion that must be drawn is they arrived at the scene with the intention to inflict serious bodily injury to anyone they may have encountered in the home.
At my age, I cannot determine which is a real gun or a fake gun such as a B.B. gun? Under the circumstances outlined above, Dylan was forced to watch his cousin be beaten and shot in the head and chest. If it were a real gun this had been the case, Troy would have been dead on the spot. A normal reaction to this would be to act in self-defense due to being outnumbered and exposed to such high stress and traumatic impressions.
A question as to being judged by a jury of his peers, all of the chosen jurors where Caucasian–American adults, which do not qualify as his peers, a Hmong teen. How does this provide an equitable and unbiased jury of his peers? We feel that Dylan’s DUE PROCESS HAS NOT BEEN ASSERTED under all circumstances. Now this case is on the International, National News, various social media and blogging sites. We need the full story on every news station. May 31, 2016, is not our only Peace March, July 12 or when his formal sentencing date, our Hmong people across the nations will appear and multiply by the thousands and will continue our protest until his due process is properly served as well as justice has been served for Dylan Yang.
Your Honor, we are not certainly contending that Dylan is innocent in any fashion but, his actions need to be considered self-defense as he was outnumbered, and due to intensely being intimidated for months leading up to the attack within his home thus yielding his last place of refuge as no longer safe. We request that a fair trial be considered which includes a jury of at least half Hmong individuals schooled in the ways of our culture to sit on the jury, these two factors needed to be considered to provide leniency on his sentence.
Your honor, our cultural integrity and our children’s futures will be affected by the outcome of this trial. As refugees from a war-torn country we sought out America as the promised land, and with assistance from your federal government were relocated to Wisconsin, Minnesota and California with the assurance that we would be successful in these new and foreign land where we could raise our children in our old ways as the United States has the reputation of allowing one's cultural background continue to be practiced Dylan's fate and ultimately the faith in this promised land, the land of the free and continued harmony within the Hmong community and other minority groups who will be watching as this event unfolds, are in your hands. Once again, my heart tenses as I think of the level of fear endured by Dylan which forced him to commit an act of which our people vehemently abhor and absolutely decree as the highest dishonor against oneself, one's family and God. Please understand that the primary goal is to prevent bullying before it escalates to a felony, it should have never happened once, let's ensure that it NEVER happens again.
Humbly Submitted,
Paula Yang, Community Activist Fresno, California
