With the annual hullabaloo over TIME’s Person of the Year announcement (Pope Francis, if you somehow missed the frenzy), I posed a local variant of the question on Twitter today: Who is Cleveland’s Person of the Year?
The answer, of course, is the trio young women who broke free from Ariel Castro’s torturous grasp on Seymour Avenue in May.
Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight: Tens of thousands of words have been written about them (with more to come via their respective book deals), but Cleveland and the rest of the world have reveled in the joy of their rescue all year.
This article appears in Dec 11-17, 2013.
I can’t believe you are going to judge these poor young ladies like that. Rick Grayson
There will always be ignorant a**holes in the world. Even if what anyone hears about them is true the fact is if they werent in the public eye no one would give a sh*t!!! If they were just randoms then it would just be normal to be drunk/high but god forbid LEGAL ADULTS participate in the same activities every other LEGAL ADULT participates in. No one said that they have to be perfect saints all they are doing is being recognized for the fact that they SURVIVED a situation that most people will never experience and unlike so many other missing women, they got to come back home.. ALIVE. Free to do whatever they want just like everyone else does. We all have our opinions no matter how wrong they may be 😉
These women have a long road of recovery ahead of them. Until you have been in their shoes, shame on you for judging them!
Wait didnt this girls get in his car of their own free will? Now im not its not sad but it was there fault they got in his car of their own free will. Please who cares about them now they are safe lets move on to more important things
These women have given hope to all the families with missing children! A fine example of people that change the world!
David Pickering, perhaps you should learn proper grammar and spelling before sitting at the adult table.
Rick Grayson, you’re a sad little man. I admire the women in the article. I pity you.
its ok Rick Grayson knows exactly what it’s like to be chained to a wall and raped consistently and beaten without any form of defense and consistently drugged the point of unconsciousness. didn’t you know? he would’ve been like chick Norris if he were in that predicament…. what a douchebag. get your head out of ass.
To the person “Rick Grayson” who actually wrote “cashed” in and “rescued” in commas… If these women make a million dollars,or more (the amount is irrelevant), any financial gain is incomparable to the torture they endured.
If the one thing you picked up on in their story is about profit, that’s extremely worrying as this is not a normal response.
Your comments show your inability and immaturity to actually comprehend what happened to these women.
I think Michelle has earn t the right to have a drink, or do anything else she wants to do. She has had her life stolen from her and you feel you have the right to put the woman down again.
If Michelle ever does read this blog, I hope she understands that the response it triggered in you is actually a cry for help. Rick, I hope you get that help
David Pickering, the man hiding behind his safe keyboard. Just because you have the ability to post something, doesn’t mean you should. If you feel the need to move on with other things, this is what you should have done. If others want to share something that’s actually their right.
If your mother, father, brother, sister, auntie, uncle, best friend etc any one of them got in to a taxi and in your words “of their own free will” and the driver then kidnapped them, you feel they deserve it.
Maybe you should ask someone to proof read your comments before you post them.
That asshat Castro should have been caught sooner.
@Rick Grayson – You’re absurd. They weren’t “3 grown women” when they were kidnapped. And as far as a ‘wood framed house”, they were also chained and tortured to the point that they didn’t dare open a door even if it was left unlocked or they’d get tortured some more. You’re as evil as Castro for even posting something so ludicrous. You two will get along great in hell. I pray to God you don’t have daughters. If only they gave awards for the worlds dumbest comments on a thread maybe you’d be able to ‘cash in’ too. lol
@Rick Grayson -You’re absurd. They weren’t “3 grown women” when they were kidnapped. And as far as a ‘wood framed house”, they were also chained and tortured to the point that they didn’t dare open a door even if it was left unlocked or they’d get tortured some more. You’re as evil as Castro for even posting something so ludicrous. You two will get along great in hell. I pray to God you don’t have daughters. If only they gave awards for the worlds dumbest comments on a thread maybe you’d be able to ‘cash in’ too. lol
ole rick greyson is apparently racist, self righteous, and heartless
Hey Rick Grayson GO F–ck YOURSELF!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey Rick Grayson, Howa Bout Your big boy ass come on over to my flimsy little wooden house?Im just a Harmless Tiny Girl and I’m inviting you at my own free will.I can think of a bunch of games Your ignorant,Fuck Stain Bitch ass would prob. LOVE!!! Here’s One—-> Guess What Object Your Ass Is being violated with?
And some of you other idiots might think my opinion is too harsh or over the top BUT Frankly…..I DONT GIVE A FUCK!!! Those girls We’re & Still Are Someone’s BABY GIRLS!!!They had their Lives & MOST DEFINITELY THEIR RIGHT Stolen from them BUT The Evil Fuck face Bitch that stole them STILL HAD HIS RIGHTS,He Still had his right to a trial.RIDICULES!!! OUR JUSTICE SYSTEM IS NOTHING BUT ONE BIG PERVERTED JOKE ANYMORE!!AND BECAUSE OF HOW THESE HIGH PROFILE CASES HAVE TURNED OUT LATELY, NO ONE THAT NEEDS JUSTICE IS GOING TO BRING IT TO COURT!!!THERE IS GOING TO BE ALOT OF VIGIL-ANTI JUSTICE CARRIED OUT BECAUSE THE SYSTEM CANNOT BE TRUSTED!!! EXAMPLE——–> George Zimmerman:COLD BLOODED CHILD MURDERER, RYAN DUNN: COLD BLOODED CHILD MURDER And that’s only two! What they did is NO DIFFERENT THEN SNATCHING YOUR CHILD OFF THE STREET AND EXECUTING THEM!!!!