Last September, WF Price of The Spearhead wrote a post about a Seattle area man named Josh Powell, widely suspected of murdering his missing wife. Price’s complaint? Powell’s two boys had been removed from his custody after his father (with whom he and the boys were living) was charged with voyeurism and possessing child porn. Price excoriated the authorities for what he saw as an abuse of their powers, and concluded his piece by saying that “[t]yranny has arrived in the guise of protecting women and children.”
In the comments, there was a lot more talk about tyranny. Natalia, meanwhile, worried about the children:
The kids are already dealing with the pain of missing their mom, and now they are taken away from their dad. How can anyone believe that’s better for the children?
On Sunday, as you are probably well aware, Powell killed these children, and himself. During a supervised visit, authorities say, Powell locked himself and his kids in his house, incapacitated them by chopping their heads and necks with a hatchet, then set the house (primed with gasoline as an accelerant) ablaze.
The regulars on the Spearhead don’t seem much interested in talking about Powell any more. But of the few comments that have been made, several have been rather telling. Responding to a feminist commenting on his original post, Price wrote:
Typical for a feminist to see this as a triumph. Josh Powell was hounded for years up to this point. If he didn’t kill his wife, and there’s still no evidence he did, does the court bear some responsibility for the outcome here?
That’s right. The court is to blame for trying to protect the children from the man who later murdered them.
And not a word of sympathy from him for the murdered children.
Meanwhile, another Spearheader seemed to suggest that the main problem was that Powell had picked the wrong people to kill:
Notice the upvotes. And the lack of a response; the regulars were too busy making jokes about domestic violence and the evils of the upcoming Valentines — sorry, Vagina — Day.
EDITED TO ADD: Thanks to Kendra, Cloudiah, and Crumbelievable for pointing me to Price’s post and these comments. I should also note that there were a couple of comments from others at The Spearhead expressing sorrow for the murdered children. And to my knowledge no one in the MRM has hailed him as a hero, so that’s something, I guess.
EDITED TO ADD AGAIN:
Price digs his hole deeper. Responding to a critical comment by none other than Men’s Rights Activist Lieutenant, he writes, among other things:
If the cops knew he was capable of real violence, and they must have if they suspected him for murder, they bear some responsibility for provoking this.
So if the cops knew he was capable of real violence (which they clearly did) … they should have let him keep the kids? That he ultimately killed?
I’ve heard this argument before from MRAs. Essentially, if a man in a custody dispute threatens violence, or is thought to be violent, the courts should simply hand the kids over to him. So he won’t get mad. That’s the logic of an abuser, or at the very least of an enabler.
@blitzgal, after the mother went missing (with Powell as a suspect), her parents repeatedly told the court they feared he might injure or kill the children and therefore should be denied visitation (her parents were the legal guardians). It does seem like the court failed in its duties here. It doesn’t make the court responsible in every sense, because Powell chose to do what he did, but it does make them responsible for not fulfilling their duty of protecting the child’s best interest in custody proceedings. It is actually alarmingly common for abusers to get some custody, and the court should have prioritized the safety of the children against a violent and unsafe person, rather than relying on social narratives about how “children need fathers”.*
*Children with good fathers benefit from seeing them generally, but that is because they are benefiting from seeing a good and caring parent, ditto with mothers.
:'( what a terrifying, tragic way to be killed. They look very precious from the photographs given; its sickening to think that someone would ever consider harming them.
—
Here some unpleasant memory about Superbowl parties and video cameras. I remember attending a Patriots vs Seahawks (idk teams) super bowl party when I was about 15.
My dad, the male host and guy friends were talking about how the host had a large window in his house that was covered with a curtain unusually. He went on the explain how the neighbor’s teenage daughter from the house next to them would change not realizing that the window from her house was visible from inside the hosts’ house and his wife MADE* him put up a curtain to block it.
One of the guys asked why the host didn’t just go over and tell the neighbor, “hey we can see into your house.” The host played it off as how was he suppose to tell that girl’s father that he could see his daughter naked.
This went to a joke, that my father made, of how he would set up a camera to record it.
I would just like to note how even though none of those guys from my knowledge (which is limited of the situation) ever actually assaulted or video tapped someone, that if some vile person like Powell was in attendance he would of had his beliefs validated.
*The window was on a wall where the staircase led upstairs. It started about a foot below the vaulted ceiling. They had a very large and nice house.
*hugs ersatz* ugh 🙁 ew ew ew that’s so awful >_<
@DSC It’s all “false accusations” until somebody’s “pushed too far”. >_<
This is exactly what crossed my mind when I read “what I don’t understand is why he didn’t take out a few judges instead of his innocent children.” Because he didn’t consider the judges his property, of course.
@darksidecat, my understanding is he had supervised visitation, which isn’t custody so much as a visit with a responsible adult present. The courts can’t just cut a parent completely off without just cause, and the court did the best it could in this situation. He managed to get the kids in the house and lock the door before the supervisor could get to the door.
It’s disturbing to me that the victim blaming has progressed from rape to murder.
also @ersatz, I’m sorry you had to hear that and be complicit in it at your age. This is why rape jokes are such a horrible, horrible problem. They do exactly what you said: validate shittastic beliefs about women and consent.
A friend who is the custodial parent had to allow supervised visits with her ex even though he was charged with her attempted murder — but at least the visits were in a safe, neutral location. Ironically, he was a very caring father, and my friend was never as worried about the childrens’ safety, just her own.
Thanks Ami and speedbudget.
It has been said before, but such attitudes also enforce terrible views about children. It might be hard to remember for some people what it was like to be a child, but kids hear and remember way more than what a lot of people think and it reflects into their actions.
>_< not to go derail into rants about my dad and his military buddies and their families, (it's easier to think about that then murdered children for me), but they had terrible behaving boys and got away with destroying (my) clothes, hitting, cursing and what not because the whole boys will be boys, "they're at a rebellious age." The ones I'm talking about were around the ages of 5-10.
I stopped visiting my dad at 16 because while he never directly did anything to me, his indifference to my conflicts with who he would have around made me upset.
What struck me about The Spearhead comments is the contrast in tone. As others have noted, they downplayed Powell’s actions with words like “outcome”. But, they describe their own cases in a melodramatic, maudlin, breathtakingly narcissistic tone. They read, to me, like bad imitations of Victorian-era writing. But, the posts make it clear that, in their minds, it’s all about them. They’ve done no wrong and are shocked! that their relationships didn’t work out. I guess that’s what unquestioned privilege can do to a person…
Just when I thought this story couldn’t get any worse…Beloved and I are sickened, and I don’t think there’s enough brain bleach in the world to get rid of the image of what that psychopath did to his sons. I think I’ll go hug my daughter now….
Targets that actually counted?! What the fuck is wrong with you people?! NOTHING in THIS UNIVERSE SHOULD HAVE COUNTED MORE THAN HIS OWN CHILDREN!!!!!!
We’re talking about a forum of people who pretty much unanimously don’t think women should have the right to vote. Nothing these guys say surprises me anymore.
I cannot look at the picture of those two boys without seeing my nephews.
We’re talking about a forum of people who pretty much unanimously don’t think women should have the right to vote
Or talk for that matter o/o
O
“We’re talking about a forum of people who pretty much unanimously don’t think women should have the right to vote
Or talk for that matter o/o”
Or exist.
Yup, shit just happens to these guys. They have no agency over their lives whatsoever.
*eyeroll*
There is no bottom for the Spearhead and their ilk.
This is just despicable and sad. Even moreso knowing WF Price has kids of his own.
Abusers and Rape Sympathizers lobby…that’s all the MRM is.
It’s official. MRAs belong in prisons and asylums. If anyone thinks MRAs are noble fighters for truth and justice, show them this webpage… or any other webpage on this site. They all say the same message.
You know what? I’m just not touching this. There are limits to the depths I will interact with. Enjoy.
pillowinhell: But killing his kids doesn’t send a message to “the courts” about how this is all because his MALE RIGHTS!!!! were violated.
He didn’t listen the call of Thomas Ball to take out the courts and the cops and, “THE SYSTEM!!!!!”
Pecunium
These guys remind me of my ex. Funny thing is, he’s always worried that I’m dating abusers….he’s the only abuser I’ve ever been romantically involved with.
And yes, I’m aware of the earth shattering importance of maintaining the pride, dignity, comfort and especially rights of these shitheads…erm ….chivalrous heads of the household.
This guy gave in to pure narcissitic rage. End of story.
And David, thanks for getting rid of asshat.
I have to say, like one of the earliest commenters here, that my first reaction to this story was, “Good lord, puh-LEEEEZE don’t let the MRAs see this man as some kind of martyr.” I awaited the Manboobz examination of the events, and thankfully I didn’t have to wait very long. This story is dripping with potential for MRA misuse and exploitation, and while some of it has come to pass, there does seem to be some degree of restraint on the part of the most vocal MRAs (or at least there has been in the comments I’ve read thus far.)
By now I’m guessing most folks with TV or internet access will have seen some of the interview footage from back in August 2011, when Powell finally spoke out for his first interview on ABC News. Then Powell’s father, Steven Powell, dropped this totally insane bombshell about his own sexual interactions with his daughter-in-law. “Susan was very, very sexual with me.” Some really bat-shit crazy stuff, y’all.
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/susan-powell-missing-womans-husband-speaks-time-14377803
Apropos of… I don’t know what. But this story is flat-out nasty creepy hideous on soooo many levels, I’m just gonna puke. What an evil series of events, and what a heinous ending this father arranged for his offspring. Holy f’n hell.
@Dani Alexis: That’s a good point. When do you really see the MRA’s talk about children as something other than weapons for women or how women are too stupid to care for them? Even the womb is noticed more than the fetus.
Jesus. Goes to show that for some guys* nothing, but nothing is more important than their pride, sense of superiority, and “rights”. (I put rights in quotes because this sort of guy has the same concept of rights that my dogs do, an infantile sense of fairness without any appreciation of context.)
I mean, even if he wasn’t an abuser, even if he didn’t murder his wife, he must have known his dad was a creepy peeping Tom, right? So you think he might have said,
“you know, until I can get my own place I should probably not have the kids over”. But no, he is so fucking incensed over SUPERVISED VISITATION that he murders his own poor innocent kids.
*some women too, but IME not as many
And even worse is the evidence that he went at both of the boys with a hatchet to the neck before he blew up the building. I just…there are no words.