Is the News-Gazette ashamed of its readers?

For those of you reading that aren't local (all three of you), there has been a spate of what appear to be unprovoked attacks on people in the C-U area. It's not clear if they're linked or if they're racially motivated, but they've all been by black teenagers with white victims. Robbery was involved in at least one of the attacks, but not all of them.

That being said, I just noticed that all the News-Gazette articles on the subject have had their comments closed. I can't find this trend on any other N-G topic. Just as examples:

• Attacks reported in Champaign
• Unprovoked attacks in Champaign may be linked
• Two Champaign men charged in attack on man on campus
• Two accused in attacks make first court appearance
• Second teen charged in beating of former weatherman
• Former TV weatherman victim of unprovoked attack

That's not to say that these articles don't bring the crazies out of the woodwork. So far it seems that, on the articles that had open comments at one point, they largely consisted of:

• See how racist black people are?
• This wouldn't have happened if we had concealed carry in Illinois.
• These teenagers should be given the death penalty/put in prison for the rest of their lives/beaten within an inch of their lives.
• This is happening because black children don't have fathers because single motherhood is glorified in black culture.
• If these were white teens beating up black people, there would be riots in the streets! (But I'm not racist.)

Does anyone know if Crazy Mayor Schweigart has weighed in on this? Maybe they're all socialists from Kenya or something.