Teenage rape is an issue far too common and insufficiently discussed. It goes under the radar. While it has detrimental impact on the victim and his or her family, the news fails to spread to national concern. However, one case in particular went viral overnight.
On Saturday, the Kansas City Star published a detailed look at Daisy Coleman’s rape. The culprit, a 17-year-old football player, was released without charges. In turn, the family’s pursuit of justice drove them from their small Missouri city.
And then the backlash poured in. The story was picked up by dozens of blogs and new outlets, prompting an Anonymous-linked Twitter collective to release this statement:
“We demand an immediate investigation into the handling by local authorities of Daisy’s case. Why was a suspect, who confessed to a crime, released with no charges? … Most of all, We are wondering, how do residents of Maryville sleep at night?”
The case has sparked the trend #OpMaryville, reminiscent of the Steubenville High School Rape case that involved two football players assaulting a 16-year-old girl while their peers took photos. The backlash that ensued marked the town as a sitting target for brutal allegations and a nationwide media onslaught. As the #OpMaryville threats continue to climb, so does the popularity of #Justice4Daisy, which is being streamlined by a activists who show names and faces. Like the anonymous hackers, they live and work on social media, working fervently to spread the message.
As a result of the organizations’ online initiative, Courtney Cole, a 31-year-old rights activist from Excelsior Springs, Missouri, caught wind of Daisy’s case. She relayed the case on Facebook on Monday, and by 9:30 p.m., more than 230 people agreed to show up at the courthouse on Tuesday, October 22, to fight for Daisy’s justice, Buzzfeed reports.
“As a Missourian, I’m responsible just as much as anybody else is to ask him to do the right thing and reopen the case,” Cole said. “I’m happy [Anonymous is] involved,” Cole said. “They make threats and they’re demanding, but at the same time, that can be necessary. They play an important role of saying, ‘Look, we’re going to make sure the right thing gets done or else.’”
As different players and components enter the equation, Daisy’s case will unfold is dramatic fashion. Whether or not it will dissolve into another Steubenville case or not is unclear, but at this point, justice is the only thing that matters.