Jim DeMarce, an 82-year-old war veteran and Legion president, was attacked by four grown “cowards” outside a library in Penticton, BC.No charges have been laid, the assailants remain on the streets. DeMarce suffered a large bruise above his right eye but other than that is uninjured. DeMarce, president of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch No. 40, was outside the Penticton Public Library on Main St. on his scooter Friday when he was beaten by the four men who appeared to be homeless and in their 40s. The military veteran was on his way home from a karaoke event at the Legion at approximately 11:30 p.m. when he was approached by four men he didn’t recognize, the Penticton Herald reported. “They weren’t kids, I would say all four of them were in their 40s and they were all obviously street people,” DeMarce told the publication. “I asked to get by them and they said they would move their carts, so I can get by, if I gave them all my money and my cigarettes. I said ‘no… that ain’t happening.’”“Then they knocked me off my scooter and they gang tackled me.”“One guy hit me with something. It knocked me off the scooter and then they proceeded to put the boots to me.”The attack lasted about two minutes, but it “felt like an eternity” to DeMarce. He described their shopping carts, one with a red broom sticking out of it, but could not remember many more details regarding the assailants. “You see so many street people, nowadays. To me, so many of them look exactly the same. They were all scruffy, not well dressed, all four of these guys had unkempt beards and long hair,” he said. “Once I got up and got back on my scooter, I just decided to go home,” the veteran added, despite the fact that he lives near the local RCMP detachment. “I have all the faith in the world in Penticton RCMP as they have very difficult jobs, often dealing with prolific offenders who are continually arrested, released and then break their bail conditions and commit more crimes,” he said. “The police do their job. I don’t dispute that.” He said it’s the broken Canadian justice system that needs to be fixed. “What really pisses me off is these people get arrested, they get fingerprinted, they get mugshots. They end up in the courtroom and the judge gives them a slap on the wrist and says you’re free to go. It happens all the time. The judiciary, not only here in Penticton, but all across Canada, sucks,” said DeMarce.“If a judge was assaulted like me at his tender years, I have no doubt whatsoever, they would be going to jail for a very long time. It’s a hell of a thing to say, but that’s honestly how I feel.”“I’m 82 years old,” he said. “I’m not as fast, or strong or agile as I used to be.”DeMarce said he was encouraged by his friends at the Legion to file a police report, and he intends to do so. “I gotta go and file a report,” he said. “A lot of my good friends insist I go to the police, so I’m going to. I gotta go.”
