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    TRUMP DELENDUS EST (fka Chatham Harrison)Cord Jefferson
    1/28/14 2:03pm

    I'd be willing to accept the possibility that he was just paranoid, so anyone would have been a target, but the idea of random "thugs" breaking into one's property is so perfectly in line with the conservative/paranoid persecution narrative that I do believe race was a factor. I don't believe it was the controlling factor, I think that was his idea that they were trespassers.

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      SpentMemberTRUMP DELENDUS EST (fka Chatham Harrison)
      1/28/14 2:05pm

      Yes, precisely. He believed they were trespassers because they were black.

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      MizJenkinsTRUMP DELENDUS EST (fka Chatham Harrison)
      1/28/14 2:05pm

      I don't believe it was the controlling factor, I think that was his idea that they were trespassers.

      Why is that exactly?

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    johnnymooreCord Jefferson
    1/28/14 2:03pm

    I know gawker likes to make everything about race but I don't think it is fair to assume that every time a white person kills a black person that it is racially motivated. Some people are just all around terrible people to everybody.

    The knee jerk reactions to turn everything into a race war do nothing to further the cause. He very well still could be a racist asshole but I don't get the need to always jump to that conclusion right away.

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      A. Nonie Meusjohnnymoore
      1/28/14 2:06pm

      I agree to some extent. But those of us who don't constantly think about race as a factor in every interaction easily forget that some people (especially poorly educated people who live in godforsaken rural places) actually do.

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      Cherith Cutestoryjohnnymoore
      1/28/14 2:06pm

      You know I just don't know a lot of stories where white men of 60 and 61 are shot without warning for being near a person's property. White teens or people in their twenties, maybe. But two white older guys?

      Even if he thought it was his property (although it wasn't) it was still clearly on the edge of his property since there is confusion on the issue. They weren't near or in his house. Two 60 year old white guys on the edge of his property and he shoots? I kind of doubt it.

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    RonCord Jefferson
    1/28/14 2:02pm

    If the victims were not on his property at the time of the shooting, I don't see how anyone can believe his claim that he thought they were stealing from him.

    This is a trigger-happy guy who shot 2 unarmed people who were not on his property. That is called murder.

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      Indeed123Ron
      1/28/14 2:10pm

      I believe the original story contained information suggesting that he was completely confused as to what was his property. Apparently the victims were inspecting a shed that he had thought was his (and thought was on his land). That doesn't change the fact that it's a homicide, of course.

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      flamingolingoIndeed123
      1/28/14 2:18pm

      The original story doesn't make any sense either. How can he not know whether a shed belongs to him or not? He's lying.

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    toothpetardCord Jefferson
    1/28/14 2:00pm

    Second Amendment Man An Equal Opportunity Liberator

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      jeffvanhungrytoothpetard
      1/28/14 2:04pm

      Excellent.

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      secondamendmentmantoothpetard
      1/28/14 2:20pm

      you need to make the second amendment man facebook page man you will be the next facebook god

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    OMG!PONIES!Cord Jefferson
    1/28/14 2:03pm

    That's right. He was just picking them off from a distance.

    Why wait for an imminent threat before using deadly force to protect someone else's tool shed.

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      CapitalistWarMachineOMG!PONIES!
      1/28/14 2:05pm

      That's what disturbs me most about this. The whole self-defense/stand your ground laws are predicated on the assumption that the shooter had a reasonable belief his life was in danger.

      The cops not prosecuting for a hate crime is basically a signal that if there are black people in your vicinity, then it is ipso facto reasonable to murder them.

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      SouthboundPachydermCapitalistWarMachine
      1/28/14 2:11pm

      They are prosecuting. He's being charged with two counts of first degree murder.

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    OctoberSurpriseCord Jefferson
    1/28/14 2:09pm

    From the article:

    • The shooter told police he thought his alleged victims were breaking into a building he mistakenly thought he owned, and police are baffled as to why he chose such a drastic measure to preserve something of no value to him.
    • "He shot first and then called 911," McComas said. "He said they were breaking into his house but it wasn't his property."
    • The sheriff said they are continuing to investigate the incident to determine why Black, who was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol, would shoot the two unarmed men.The department believes Black had never met the two men before.

    So this guy murders two people he doesn't know, has no reason to suspect are a threat to him, all to protect a shed that is worth nothing and isn't his. He shoots then calls the police (and does not attempt CPR). So given all that the police DON"T KNOW, how can be sure race isn't a factor. It seems to me the one thing the shooter knew for a fact was two black men were in the area, and he surgically sought to remedy that little problem.

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      Indeed123OctoberSurprise
      1/28/14 2:17pm

      "No indication race was a factor" = no evidence specifically indicating that race was a factor. Viewing this from the perspective of a prosecutor, I wouldn't want to make my case turn on a "this guy was a racist" narrative. I would want it to turn on the "this guy is a murderer who shot two people with only the flimsiest of possible justifications offered (about which he was wrong anyway)" narrative. I don't think there's much to read into the statement from the police. It's not their job to hazard a guess at motives, even if they are intuitive.

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      benjaminalloverOctoberSurprise
      1/28/14 2:50pm

      From a common sense standpoint, I don't think anyone reasonable would rule out race as a motivating factor in this crime. However, from a legal standpoint, this is an extremely high burden of proof to be met for hate crimes, and they just don't have the evidence to meet it. They would have to have specific proof of what he was thinking before he shot them, and that is so, so hard to prove.

      It is essentially a thought crime which precedes a physical crime, so unless the murderer was recording himself before or admits it afterwards, it's very difficult to prove.

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    Coolname McJonesCord Jefferson
    1/28/14 2:00pm

    Not to immediately jump on the race thing, but how exactly are they sure that race wasn't a factor again?

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      ShadowboxinCoolname McJones
      1/28/14 2:05pm

      haven't you heard about how white people are being hunted by black people now? It obviously would've been a race thing if the guy that did the shooting was black and the two dead men were white. Just ask the Drudge Report or Fox News how these things work.

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      ARP2Coolname McJones
      1/28/14 2:06pm

      He asked the man and he said no. So, foolproof.

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    blackintrovertCord Jefferson
    1/28/14 2:01pm

    Of course they would say that. White men gotta stick together and pretend that their prejudice for black men doesn't exist so they look like the innocent ones.

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      Shadowboxinblackintrovert
      1/28/14 2:06pm

      White men are now being persecuted. There is a war on white men dagnabbit!

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      Scalfinblackintrovert
      1/28/14 2:28pm

      And yet everyone gets on my case when I say all you goyim are anti-semites.

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    It takes a nation of millions to elect the corruptCord Jefferson
    1/28/14 2:03pm

    The level of bullshit here is quite incredible. Race may not have been the only factor but it is difficult to separate the experience of blackness and the experience of criminality for some simple minds.

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      flamingolingoIt takes a nation of millions to elect the corrupt
      1/28/14 2:20pm

      Some people won't admit racial bias unless the perpetrator was taped wearing a Klan hood and shouting, " I'm shooting you is because I'm racist and you're black!"

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      ExtraExtraflamingolingo
      1/28/14 4:34pm

      That's true, but other people automatically call race the reason for the violence on here in almost every case, even when nothing suggests it.

      Overall racism is overlooked or dismissed far more than it's proposes where it's not relevant, however that doesn't mean simply calling everything racist without actual evidence is smart.

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    MongoOnlyPawnInGameOfLifeCord Jefferson
    1/28/14 2:05pm
    GIF
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