[color="Blue"](Every WN should get their CCW, if needed, and carry all of the time.)

http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061002/NEWS/610020329/1001/NEWS

Alleged racial taunts led to fight outside eatery

STU WHITNEY
swhitney@argusleader.com
PUBLISHED: October 2, 2006

Amanda Sorensen is not a big basketball fan. She has never paid much attention to the Sioux Falls Skyforce, a minor league team that has been part of the city's sports scene since 1989.

But Sorensen did take notice when a 6-foot-9, 240-pound black man became agitated during the early-morning hours of Feb. 27, 2005, at the Fryn' Pan Family Restaurant on West 41st Street.

That agitation led to a scary confrontation between Sorensen, her family and Skyforce standout Jerome Beasley. A fight filled with overtones of race and fear.

"It was between 1:30 and 2 a.m., and he was very aggressive inside the restaurant," says Sorensen, 25, who was finishing a meal with her husband, Shilo; her parents; and some friends. "Anytime I see someone taller than my husband (who is 6-foot-5), I take notice. But I didn't know that this guy was a Skyforce player."

Like many Skyforce players, Beasley, a former University of North Dakota and Miami Heat forward who helped lead Sioux Falls to its 2005 Continental Basketball Association title, is African-American and comes from a much larger city (Los Angeles), with more diversity than Sioux Falls, which has less than 3,500 black residents.

Former Skyforce standouts such as Tony Harris, Corey Beck and Monty Buckley complained about being singled out and discriminated against during their time in South Dakota. And Yakama Sun Kings coach Paul Woolpert, also a former Skyforce coach, said his black players have heard racial taunts from fans when visiting the Sioux Falls Arena.

Beasley joined that group this night, citing racist slurs after being arrested and charged with four counts of misdemeanor simple assault on Sorensen and her father, William Oaks.

Following a Saturday night game, [highlight]Beasley was at the Fryn' Pan with two women, his fiancée and her sister, according to his statements. Both are white.[/highlight] That became an issue with a group of customers at another table, according to Beasley and his lawyer.

Beasley, who played last season in Poland, declined an interview request for this story. But Sioux Falls lawyer Arlie Brende, who has represented Beasley, said race was a major factor in this incident.

[highlight]"One of the servers said some woman was hollering at (Beasley) that he got a girl pregnant, and now he's with another white girl," Brende says, citing a private investigation. "She kept calling him nigger, and that's when he got up and the disruption began."[/highlight]

Sorensen, who was not at the table that had berated Beasley, says she moved outside when the shouting started and didn't hear racial slurs.

"When they came out, he was still hooting and hollering," recalls Sorensen, who testified to a grand jury along with her father. [highlight]"He said, 'Look at these (expletive) white trash people staring at the window.'[/highlight]

"I turned to a friend of mine and made the comment, 'I think someone needs to go back to the bar and have another beer to calm down,' because you could tell he was really worked up. That's when he came at me with, 'Do you want a piece of me? Do you want a piece of this?' "

[highlight]According to Sorensen, one of Beasley's female companions punched her in the face, and she started fighting with both of his female friends.[/highlight]
[color="Blue"](A mudshark, defending the honor of her noble nigger by attacking another White woman.)

[highlight]By the time Oaks paid the bill and walked out the front door, according to testimony, Beasley had grabbed Amanda by the hair and was punching her.[/highlight]

Oaks later speculated that perhaps Beasley confused his daughter with the woman inside the restaurant with whom he had argued, since both were blonde and wore similar-colored blouses.

[highlight]"When we stepped through the door, (Beasley) had a hold of my daughter by the front of her shirt, and he had a clenched fist, and he was hitting her,"[/highlight] says Oaks, 58. "My eyes just popped wide open. I didn't really even think about anything. I just reacted."

Along with his son-in-law, Oaks tried several times to pull Beasley off Sorensen.

"He shrugged us off and pushed us back," says Oaks. [highlight]"And then he grabbed the top of her head like I would grab a softball, and he spun her around and pushed her up against the side of the building, and he was slapping her.[/highlight] When I grabbed him again, he turned and put his hand in my chest and shrugged me off, and I literally lifted off the ground and flew back into a retaining wall, and I felt a sharp pain in my leg."

Oaks said he suffered knee damage that will require surgery. Even without that procedure, he estimates medical bills for himself and his daughter have reached nearly $4,000.

When police arrived, Beasley was the only one arrested. The player's Chicago-based agent, Mike Naiditch, says that "something didn't seem quite right" about the way police handled the situation.

"Usually, if both sides fight, both sides get into trouble," Naiditch said. "In this case, there was an altercation, and the review of the situation was totally lopsided."

Beasley posted bond that night and continued to play for the Skyforce, tallying 24 points and 11 rebounds in the CBA title-clinching road victory over the Rockford Lightning on April 3, 2005.

[highlight]Soon after, Beasley left Sioux Falls, and a bench warrant was issued when he missed his April 21 arraignment. His jury trial, scheduled for that summer, never took place.

Since he's charged with misdemeanors, it's unlikely that law enforcement officials will try to track Beasley down.[/highlight] Oaks and his daughter say they would be satisfied if the player simply took responsibility for his actions.