First, there was this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zwg6d046ARo
A boorish Catalán by the name of Sergi Martín (an unemployed, 21 year old) attacked a *15* year old Ecuadorian girl in the Barcelona metro. His motivation was apparently racist in nature (during the attack, the assailant talked of 'moros' and 'inmigrantes de mierda,' etc...). The assault was caught on tape, but it looks like the penalty will be anything but stiff:
http://www.elpais.com/articulo/sociedad/Libre/pese/todo/elpepusoc/20071028elpepisoc_1/Tes
The disturbing video shows more than the victim and her ethically-challenged assailant, however. It also shows a witness, himself an immigrant, sitting there doing nothing. Well, that's not exactly right. He is actively ignoring what is unfolding right in front of him, presumably so that the assailant won't next direct his violent attention towards him. It's hard to say what one would do in a similar situation. Hopefully, one is never in such a situation at all. But if that unfortunate moment did come, I certainly hope I'd come to the defense of such an innocent victim.
Which brings me to story #2:
http://www.elpais.com/articulo/sociedad/heroe/concreto/elpepusoc/20071029elpepisoc_9/Tes
For those of you who don't read Spanish, here's a short version of the article's contents:
A 23 year old Spaniard named Daniel Oliver (whose father is British) was leaving his university one afternoon when he saw a woman being beaten by a man. Without any hesitation, Daniel dropped his things and ran to her aid (apparently passing scores of onlookers in the process). But before he could do much of anything, the man who was beating the woman, apparently much larger than Daniel and trained in personal defense, struck Daniel, and with devastating effect. Daniel fell and split his head on the concrete. He died a few hours later.
Again, like the first story, there were witnesses who simply watched (apparently, many of them). Unlike the first story, however, there was at least one witness who tried to help.
Tragically, he lost his life trying.
It's good to know that, while there are villains among us and people who witness evil and do nothing to stop it, there are at least a few heroes too.
