An innocent 17 year old boy lost his life to a vigilante here in Florida last week because he "looked like he was up to no good". The killer was a member of his neighborhood watch and those are the words he used when calling 911. He was advised to back off and wait until police arrived but he took the law into his own hands and accosted the teen, wrestled him down and then shot and killed him as the boy screamed for help. The killer has not been arrested because he claims he felt as though his life was threatened by the teen who was not carrying a weapon and who was visiting relatives just down the street.
If this man is not made accountable for this murder, all hell is going to break out in this country with gun toting vigilantes shooting down anyone they deem to be "looking like they're up to no good".
Allowing this man to get away with the murder of an innocent citizen makes no sense. Putting him back on the streets is like putting a time bomb among an unsuspecting population because this guy could easily go off again. After all, his excuse held up this time.
Groups of hysterical black activists are claiming the killing was racially motivated because the teen was black and that could be the case but the real fear is that it might be a legal alibi here to murder someone/anyone you think "might" be dangerous.
There have been other stories of innocent people shot to death by paranoid gun toters and I'm sure they escaped imprisonment for their crimes but there has to be an end to this now. There are too many people legally carrying guns here in the States and all it takes is a mistaken fear of threat for them to take the law into their own hands.
I hope that the racial aspect of this recent crime doesn't override the more important fact that the killer had no right to lay hands on the boy in the first place. That was the first crime and what followed was criminal over-reaction that resulted in the death of the 17 year old boy.
I can't even say it will be interesting to see what the outcome of all this will be because I'm sure I'll be saddened and disgusted by watching the killer walk free.
1 comment:
I am so disgusted by this man's vigilante actions. On the news this evening they played a portion of the telephone conversation with the dispatcher, when he said the young man was "up to no good". And then he added the comment that the boy was black.
Unfortunately it appears that his reaction was racially motivated...if the young man had not been black, he likely would not have been shot.
If nothing else, I hope that the laws in Florida be reviewed to ensure this never happens again.
Like you, I'm pretty sure the murderer will go free.
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