12 People Pretty Sure This Fellow Tried To Kill All These Children, Not Sure About The One He Succeeded With
12 People Pretty Sure This Fellow Tried To Kill All These Children, Not Sure About The One He Succeeded With
The jury in the Michael Dunn case -- the man in Florida who fired 10 shots at a car full of teenagers becausethey were blackhe was "scared" of their loud music, before heading back to his hotel, ordering a pizza, and declining to phone up the police -- has come back with guilty verdicts for four charges of shooting a gun and attempted murder (the teenagers he did not succeed in killing), and a hung jury on murder in the first degree (the boy he did). This means they also deadlocked on lesser included charges, such as manslaughter -- meaning at least one person on the jury agreed that Michael Dunn was reasonably scared for his life while shooting 10 bullets at a car speeding away, and with no return fire.
Jordan Davis would have been 19 tomorrow.
The jury did not hear from Michael Dunn's neighbor, a fellow who along with his wife said Michael Dunn had at least two wives (not at the same time) who would run to the neighbors after he beat them and held guns to their heads. (If you are feeling bad about humanity right now, the interview in full will remind you that even in Florida, there are good people who will extend a helping hand to people in need. Even people in need who are from Mexico .) CNN's lawyer-guests (including George Zimmerman's lawyer, Mark O'Mara, who was completely disgusted by Dunn, if that tells you anything) assumed this neighbor wasn't heard from because of the prejudicial nature of the testimony -- but that once Dunn introduced testimony about his swell and peaceful character, Angela Corey, the state attorney could have rebutted it. Our own lawyer-expert, this guy Jesse Taylor you might have heard of, says nah dude it was all hearsay, duh and completely inadmissible ever. Maybe CNN should try booking Jesse Taylor sometime! (Also, the neighbor is avowedly and fiercely anti-gun, in Florida. The interview really is something.)
Dunn claimed he acted in self defense, under Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law. On the upside, we have only seen one asshole on Twitter save her salty tears for poor Michael Dunn, in the name of "love" and "healing" and "what good does it do for him to rot in prison." The obvious answer -- that with one less person on the streets who loves shooting at children, maybe a few more children won't be shot at -- did not seem to have occurred to her. Must be too many love rays swirling around her head. As for Michael Dunn, Jordan Davis's mother forgives him. She is a better woman than we are.
WND is first among the hate-mongering that probably fan these flames (These are 3 different recent stories):
<i>100 in black mob found destroying property and attacking people These are supposed to be the good kids. The ones supposed to be impressed with the legacy of their high school&rsquo;s namesake: Frederick Douglass. They wear uniforms. They have a strict code of conduct. They prepare for college. They are black.
Black History Month in Baltimore is a busy, busy time. Every aspect of black life in this city is remembered and celebrated: Black schools. Black music. Black movies. Black churches. Black literature. Black clothing. Black politicians. Even black trains. Then Tracey Halvorsen had to go and spoil it all: She wrote an article about crime in Baltimore. How she and her mostly white neighbors live in fear. And no one seems to care.
As black mob violence goes, the recent racial mayhem at the Florida State Fair in Tampa was not that big of a deal. Sure hundreds of black people were fighting. On video. Police were attacked. Property destroyed. Fair-goers beaten. Venders assaulted. Cell phones stolen. An old lady in a wheelchair robbed. People jumping fences and refusing to pay for rides. The fair closed early. And most of the media glossed over most of it. </i>
And something interesting from Think Progress today:<i>
Just prior to the trial, the State Attorney&rsquo;s Office released a set of letters Dunn sent from prison revealing significant animus toward blacks. &ldquo;The more time I am exposed to these people, the more prejudiced against them I become,&rdquo; he said in one. &ldquo;This jail is full of blacks and they all act like thugs,&rdquo; he said in another. The letters did not come into play during trial. But they reveal the sort of racial undertones that have been prominent in many Stand Your Ground cases. One study found that white defendants with black victims are far more likely to have their killings deem &ldquo;justified&rdquo; under the Stand Your Ground law.</i>