Convicted felon Michael Vick hosting football camp at Hampton University

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This week, Hampton University will be holding a youth football camp, with convicted felon Michael Vick serving as the camp’s host.

At an April press conference announcing the camp, Vick talked about being seen as a role model for kids. Vick said: “Time spent with kids â€" just talking with an NFL player for 15 seconds â€" can spark a dream. That's the purpose of this camp.”

The camp is open to kids between the ages of 8-17.

Vick, who was convicted of federal dog fighting charges, has been trying to mend his public image since his release from prison.

In October 2009, Vick told the Los Angeles Times: “I just want people to really get to know me as an individual. What I want to do is change the perception of me. I am a human being. I've made some mistakes in the past, and I wish it had never happened. But it's not about how you fall, but about how you pick yourself up.”

What Vick calls “mistakes” were actually felonies which could have sent him to prison for much longer than the 18 months he spent incarcerated. The fact is, he spent years torturing and killing defenseless animals.

When police raided Vick’s house in Surry County in 2007, they found 65 dogs (nearly all pit bulls), a dog-fighting pit, blood-stained carpets, and various equipment commonly used in dog fighting.

One of the items found on Vick’s property was a ‘rape stand’ which is a device in which female dogs are strapped into and restrained, to allow a male dog to breed with her.

According to the federal indictment, when dogs at Vick’s Bad Newz Kennels lost a fight, or failed to perform well in ‘test matches,’ they were routinely killed by methods including electrocution, hanging, drowning, and in at least one case by “slamming” the dog’s body onto the concrete floor. In one session in April 2007, at least eight dogs were killed through these methods.

Vick took part in these executions along with his partners Purnell Peace, and Quanis Phillips. The indictment detailed a March 2003 incident, in which a female pit bull who had just lost a match was killed. Vick and Peace decided to kill her by “wetting the dog down with water and electrocuting her.”

Is this someone that Hampton University should be promoting as a role model to young boys?

 

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