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Brandon MeInyk

Goliaths should never stand in way of what is right

By Brandon Melnyk (GVL Columnist)
7/13/2008

In a battle between a 24-year-old man who stands 7 feet 3 inches tall and a 40-year-old woman who might stand 5 feet 4 inches, 99 percent of the time the winner is the man.

But there is still 1 percent to deal with.

Tammy Lee Gibson was that 1 percent. Gibson took a bat to the body of William Baldwin, leaving him scarred and in prison. Gibson also found herself in prison.

If things were simple, there wouldn’t be a story to write about, but there is more to it than meets the eye. Baldwin is no doubt a behemoth, but why would a woman attack him for no apparent reason?

There was enough reason for the attack — Baldwin is a sex offender.

He was registered at the highest rating of sex offenders and was looked at as a threat. He was registered as such until he moved — which is where little Mrs. Gibson comes into play.

The trailer park community in which she lives posted fliers stating Mr. Baldwin would be living within blocks of the neighborhood. The problem with these fliers was Baldwin didn’t change his address. Not a big deal, right? Except one lady, Gibson, easily spotted something wrong and decided to do something about it. She found the very tall man living in the trailer next to her.

Gibson was fed up with how long it was taking the police to respond to the error, and instead, she did what she believed was right. She protected her daughter the only way she knows how and took matters into her own hands.

This sort of behavior provides a sort of moral dilemma to all of society: Is it OK for us to take matters into our own hands when we feel the proper authorities are failing to do their job?

There are those who will talk the talk without walking the walk. It is easy to say you will do something when you think an event is unlikely to happen. At the same time, when an unlikely event happens, will you do as you said or will you back down?

When people simply expect someone else to take care of something — such as monitoring sex offender registries — the consequences can be dangerous. Stand up for what you believe in, even if that means taking matters into your own hands.

A small woman with a bat, can she take down a goliath of a man? Of course she can. It isn’t very likely, in a literal sense, but one woman took the chance.

Depending on which way you look at it, Mrs. Gibson may have won or lost.

Literally, Baldwin was beaten with a bat held by a woman half his size and then put back where he truly belongs — prison. In the same sense, Gibson was sent to jail for her attack.

But, whichever way you look at this situation, Gibson’s message was sent loud and clear.

editorial@lanthorn.com

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