If you commit a crime, you should have to pay the price.

Those who took it upon themselves to participate in last weekend’s violent attack on an NIU student should feel the heat of the law, and they should feel it big.

No one has been arrested since the incident when five white men beat on a single black man. And our question is, WHY NOT?

DeKalb Police know who the suspects are. If police know who they are, they should do their job and arrest the thugs. Regardless of skin color or ethnic origin, perpetrators of crime should always pay the price.

It also is frustrating that the employer of the man who was assaulted decided to reprimand the victim because he could not show for work. Should a victim of a crime be punished for what happened?

The Northern Star has learned that DeKalb Bank President Dewey Yaeger has rescinded the reprimand and has removed the warning from the man’s employment record.

That is great news, but one should ask why the reprimand was necessary in the first place?

It is sad that the five men involved in this incident have not been scrutinized more by the legal process and the victim had to be subjected to further suffering in the work place. The trick to effectively squelch incidents such as this one is quick action. This immediate action lets the citizens of a community know they are being protected. We all have that right.