Saturday, February 15, 2014

I'm glad to see it's been proven that we live in a post-racial society

Michael Dunn was convicted today in Florida of attempted murder for shooting at a car with four African-American teenagers in it. The jury did not convict him of actual murder even though he actually killed one of them, Jordan Davis. Dunn continued firing at the car even as it drove away - isn't that sufficient evidence of murderous intent? 

This is what the prosecutors said:
Prosecutors had argued that Mr. Dunn did not shoot Mr. Davis out of fear for his life, as he testified. He shot him, they said, because he was enraged that when he asked the teenagers to turn down the music booming from his car in a gas station parking lot — he described it to his fiancée as “thug music” — Mr. Davis did not do so and then cursed him.
The jury couldn't agree on the count of first-degree murder, apparently unable to decide whether he had acted in self-defense or not, and the judge declared a mistrial on this count.

Self-defense against what? He claimed that Davis had a shotgun and pointed it at him. No shotgun was ever found, and no one else saw it. I think he invented the existence of the shotgun in order to exonerate himself. 

He was angry that the teenagers were playing loud music. Well, I don't like it when other people play loud music, but I've never pulled out a gun and shot them (especially since I don't own a gun). So what if Davis cursed him when Dunn asked him to turn the music down - does that justify murder?

And of course, Dunn is white. 

According to this article in the Tampa Bay Times, "Defendants claiming 'stand your ground' are more likely to prevail if the victim is black. Seventy-three percent of those who killed a black person faced no penalty compared to 59 percent of those who killed a white."

Dunn's animus towards African Americans is demonstrated by letters he wrote in jail while awaiting trial:
Letters by Dunn from jail released this week by the State’s Attorney’s Office reveal disturbing racial animus. In a letter to an unknown recipient highlighted by Jacksonville’s WTEV, he writes:
It’s spooky how racist everyone is up here and how biased toward blacks the courts are. This jail is full of blacks and they all act like thugs. … This may sound a bit radical but if more people would arm themselves and kill these **** idiots when they’re threatening you, eventually they may take the hint and change their behavior.
In another letter to his girlfriend highlighted by HLNtv, he writes:
I just got off the phone with you and we were talking about how racist the blacks are up here. The more time I am exposed to these people, the more prejudiced against them I become.
And in another to his grandmother, he says:
I’m not really prejudiced against race, but I have no use for certain cultures. This gangster-rap, ghetto talking thug ‘culture’ that certain segments of society flock to is intolerable.

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