General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMy Music is Not a Weapon
Count 1 Murder One Mistrial. Can be retried.
Count 2 2nd Degree Attempted Murder Guilty 20 years minimum sentence.
Count 3 - 2nd Degree Attempted Murder Guilty - 20 years minimum sentence.
Count 4 - 2nd Degree Attempted Murder Guilty - 20 years minimum sentence.
Count 5 - Deadly Missile charge carries a minimum penalty of 15 years.
Michael Dunn is 47 years old. This is in essence a life sentence.
Ronald Davis and Lucia McBath
Dowels show the trajectory of bullets that were fired during the shooting incident involving Michael Dunn and Jordan Davis JSO
http://theobamacrat.com/
arthritisR_US
(7,286 posts)screaming heart.
one_voice
(20,043 posts)When I look at my nephews I can't help but worry. We have got to stop this, it cannot continue.
It's fucking open season on young black men.
sheshe2
(83,728 posts)It is hunting season for the racists. Damn there souls!
It needs to be stopped. Now!
sheshe2
(83,728 posts)Hold them tight.
TorchTheWitch
(11,065 posts)He didn't shoot at them for the music being too loud, he shot at them because he became enraged that his directive to turn it down was defied and that Davis had the gall to talk back to him. The loud music was only the catalyst - the excuse for Dunn to start an altercation with someone and hope he could flex his gun muscles. I'm sure he'd demanded many times before for music to be turned down and it was which would have satisfied him. It was being defied that sent him off his nut.
Nice pictures though you might want to give a dial-up warning for those people that are still stuck with it.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)TorchTheWitch
(11,065 posts)He would have pulled the trigger no matter what color the kids were. That's his personality. He had a gun because he liked the fact that it made him feel bold enough to go looking to get into confrontations with people desiring an excuse to shoot someone just like that git that shot the white guy at the movie theater because he also talked back and the shooter became so enraged by it that he lost control and let his "gun muscles" rule his head.
The Dunn case was never about race, it was about a nut with "gun muscles" that liked to start confrontations with people in case he ever got the chance to shoot someone that pissed him off. For people like Dunn their guns are their metal courage as alcohol is like liquid courage for others. It makes them feel powerful and macho because they HATE it when someone pisses them off so much when they don't have their precious gun that they don't have the courage to do anything about it and have to retreat and stew over it.... and they never stop stewing about it. They're ALWAYS looking for someone to shoot at that pisses them off in retaliation for all that angry stewing "they" made them do all the time. They have unreasonable and irrational anger issues and no impulse control.
Just like Dunn's neighbor said he knew eventually Dunn was going to shoot someone. Not because that someone was black but because that someone pissed him off and he finally lost control. Under the same exact circumstances had those kids been white he would still have shot them because he WASN'T capable of rational thought and his unreasonable and irrational anger finally went off the charts and ruled his head. It wasn't his bigotry that made the decision to shoot it was him having the exactly wrong personality of someone to be allowed to have a gun, and there's plenty more just like him who also have guns and finally end up shooting someone for the same reason - they pissed them off to the point of irrational and deadly behavior. Dunn was a time bomb waiting to go off, and he finally did. Because the people he finally went off the charts on were black is not relevant because he would have done the same thing under the same circumstances regardless of what color they were.
arely staircase
(12,482 posts)and he has anger issues. his letter to his daughtet expose his racism. but I do think he very well might have shot some white kids too.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)freshwest
(53,661 posts)He would have considered the parents of white boys to be a limiting factor in bis actions but not in this case. The loss to the black parents is not an issue with racist shooters, they act as if their grief is nothing.
I see it as racial first because of his own words,. and he was not objective. If white kids were playing country music very loud, would he have been offended?
No, he would have just said, 'Kids will be kids' and nothing would have ever happened. The offense to him was that they were playing what he called 'thug' music and that's why he went there. And to him, black = thug.
I don't buy the reasoning that it was nothing to do with race, that's really stretching when we have his own words.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)freshwest
(53,661 posts)Scuba
(53,475 posts)noiretextatique
(27,275 posts)Thank you for pointing it out It is disgusting. I say this way too much: deny is the main privilege of white privilege.
TorchTheWitch
(11,065 posts)See my post #36 in this thread. Watch the entire trial. The truth is what it is, and it isn't what so many here would like to believe.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)alcibiades_mystery
(36,437 posts)Bullshit.
kcr
(15,315 posts)It was about race.
TorchTheWitch
(11,065 posts)I've not made any argument about that his being a racist. There is no doubt that he is. That doesn't mean that the REASON he shot at those kids was because they were black. That's ridiculous on its face. Unlike most people here I've also seen all of the actual trial as well as a long interview with two of Dunn's previous long time next door neighbors. There's no question that the REASON he shot at those boys was not because they were black but because one of them defied him and talked back to him. He would have done the same thing had they been white and all other circumstances were the same. He became enraged, lost control of himself and went for his gun which was exactly his personality and exactly why his neighbors who knew him well were unsurprised and knew that at some time in the future he was going to shoot someone... not necessarily a black someone or a brown someone but ANYONE who got stuck in a confrontation with him and it being the straw that broke the camel's back when Dunn finally lost control just as those people that knew him like his two neighbors predicted.
Zimmerman is also a racist. But the REASON he shot Martin was not because he was black. He profiled and followed Martin mostly because he was black but also because of his youth and his attire. Had Martin been black, older and wearing a coat and tie carrying an umbrella would he have profiled and followed him? No. And he wouldn't have because although this fictitious person was black in other ways he did not fit the profile of a person Zimmerman was hunting for. Zimmerman shot Martin not because he was black but because Martin was terrified of him (for good reason) and when confronted by him stood his ground and fought back which would have scared the shit out of Zimmerman. No one here has ever believed that Zimmerman would have gotten out of his car and followed Martin if he didn't have his gun muscles. Zimmerman is also one of those people that are made bold by having a gun, go looking to get into altercations with people because of those gun muscles and he also lost control and shot someone. But he didn't kill Martin BECAUSE he was black. There is far more reason to assign racism to Zimmerman in that case than there is against Dunn in this case because there is EVIDENCE that shows that he chose to follow Martin and confront him because he profiled him as a "bad guy" mostly because of his race. There is NO actual EVIDENCE in the Dunn case that the REASON he shot at those boys was because they were black. Yes, he is a racist and believes that black people are beneath him, but he also believes that EVERYONE is beneath him regardless of their race or age or gender or intelligence or anything else.
Dunn didn't shoot them because they were playing loud music either. The music was simply the reason that Dunn used to start an altercation with them. It was not the music that made him so enraged and lose control it was because Davis talked back to him and told Tevin to turn the music back on which Tevin did though not as loud (which they had every right to do though it wasn't the best mannerly thing to do). Had Dunn started this altercation about the music and no one in the car talked back to him and the music was turned down Dunn would have been satisfied and congratulating himself of his believed superiority. It was the fact that Davis talked back to him that so enraged Dunn that he finally lost control and why Dunn first aimed his gun at HIM though the other kids in the car were just as black. And none of it had shit in shinola to do with any of the kids being black. He would have considered them "thugs" if they were white and playing the same kind of music and wearing the same kind of clothes just as so many people do where I live and when the vast majority of the sort of teenagers that dress in hoodies and baggy pants, listen to loud rap music, ride around in vehicles with tinted windows, talk with a lot of four-letter words, etc. are white.
It really annoys me that every black victim at the hands of a white person is claimed to be because of racism when it isn't. It's almost always a lot more complicated than that, and in the Dunn case it had nothing to do with the reason he shot at those boys despite him being a racist and why it never came up in court and shouldn't have. Go watch the trial yourself. The evidence as to the reason why Dunn shot at those boys is clear, and clearly not because Dunn is a racist. Sorry that it's contrary to what you and obviously so many others here want to believe.
Prosecutor Guy in his rebuttal closing argument used the line that so many other attorneys have used - "The survivors deserve respect and the dead deserve the truth." And I emphatically disagree. BOTH the survivors and the dead deserve respect and BOTH deserve the truth. It is a terrible disservice to the surviving boys in that car, their families and friends, Davis and his family and friends to tell them the truth is something that it isn't and only what you want to believe that it is. Those boys and their families and friends know what the truth is and know they weren't shot at simply because they were black. They know they came across a crazy man with a gun who was incapable of controlling himself, not just a racist with a gun looking to pick off black people. The surviving boys in that car LIVED that horrible experience, are re-living it now and will continue to live it for the rest of their lives. It really pisses me off to so disrespect them as to warp the truth into something you want it to be rather than what THEY KNOW it to be and exactly what the evidence showed it to be.
kcr
(15,315 posts)while committing crimes against blacks, therefore it wasn't a racially motivated crime argument. It's bogus. It isn't a coincidence that the victims of Zimmerman and Dunn were black. Sorry.
TorchTheWitch
(11,065 posts)I SAID that his profiling of Martin was mostly in part because he was black. But it is NOT the reason he shot him. He never would have followed him in the first place without his gun muscles, nor confronted him without it. No one here has ever been in disagreement with that. Zimmerman shot Martin not because he was black but because the person he profiled, followed and confronted was so terrified that he tried to fight Zimmerman off. Zimmerman made the choice to kill him NOT BECAUSE HE WAS BLACK but because he was getting his ass kicked.
Are we seriously going to sit here and re-write what we all talked about at the time that it happened and during and after the trial? Not one person here ever believed that the REASON he shot Martin was because Martin was black. That case was discussed here at length, and never did anyone ever try to claim that the REASON Martin was shot was because he was black. Yes, we all agreed that Zimmerman is a racist, that he profiled Martin mostly because Martin was black, but not a single person has ever said that Zimmerman shot him because he was black because no one believes it, and no one believes it because it's not what the evidence showed was the reason, and because it is ridiculously simplistic and does Martin and his family no justice. Yes, there is no question that Martin was profiled mostly in part because he was black, but he was not shot because he was black - he was shot because Martin tried to fight him off, and Zimmerman was angy that he had the gall to do so and was angry that Martin got at least one blow in. Zimmerman would ALSO have shot someone white had he gotten himself into a confrontation with them and was getting his ass kicked. And as we spent soooo much time discussing at length here it was Zimmerman's GUN that gave him the courage to follow and confront Martin - without his gun he never would have gotten out of his car no matter how racist he was and how black Martin was.
And it's the same in the Dunn case, though there is far more evidence having to do with racism in the Zimmerman case than in the Dunn case. Dunn confronted them NOT because they were black but because they were playing loud music that annoyed him. He took the decision to shoot Davis not because Davis was black - ALL the kids in the car were black! - but because Davis talked back to him which so enraged him that he lost control, went for his gun and shot at DAVIS - not the other equally black kids in the car. If it was solely due to the kids being black it wouldn't have mattered to him which one he aimed at to shoot first nor would he have needed any catalyst like the loud music to start a confrontation with them nor continue the confrontation until losing control. If it was only because they were black he'd have been sitting there with his gun out and shot the first black person he saw and would have done it years before these kids crossed his path.
Again, Dunn did not decide to get his gun and shoot at Davis first and the rest of the boys in car when they fled because they were black, he first decided to get his gun out and specifically shoot at Davis not because Davis was black but because it was Davis that so enraged him by talking back to him, and he would have done the same if Davis was white. His shooting at the car as it fled was not because the surviving kids were black but because he lost control of himself due to his irrational rage and would have shot at them as they fled if they were white.
Just stop trying to make this all about race when it isn't. It isn't in the Zimmerman case either, and no one disputed that with all the threads discussing it. In both cases though both men were racists they shot their victims because they could not control themselves when they got angry enough and were made bold to confront their victims because they had a gun and would not have in the first place had they not been made so bold because of their guns. These are the same kind of people as Reeves who shot a white man in a theater - not because of their race but because they were made so bold having their guns that they went looking to get into confrontations with people, lost their self-control and shot people because they have serious anger issues and no self-control. Each one was made bold by having a gun, would not have started confrontations with people without it, did start confrontations with people with it because it gave them the courage to, and each one shot their victims because they started a confrontation with someone, were not obeyed, became so enraged at not being obeyed that they lost control of themselves and used their gun to kill the people that pissed them off. Race doesn't enter into any of them - it was their guns, their boldness because of their guns that made them going looking to get into confrontations with people, and their becoming so enraged at not being obeyed they lost control of themselves and shot. Not a single one of them shot because of the color of the skin of their victims though two of them are certainly racist.
kcr
(15,315 posts)No. That's not going to happen. Sorry. I know you wish everyone would just stick their heads in the sand and pretend race wasn't an issue. Too bad for you. Get used to it or just avoid the topic altogether.
For one thing, this doesn't even make a lick of sense: "I SAID that his profiling of Martin was mostly in part because he was black. But it is NOT the reason he shot him." He profiled him because he was black. It's about race! Duh! He didn't shoot him because he was black? But he profiled him because he was? Nonsensical baloney.
As far as the the Dunn case, your contention he would have done the same thing had those kids been white is based on air. Nothing. We have racist notes from this racist scumbag. Who shot at a car full of black kids and killed one of them. And you want to tell people to stop making it about race and speculate he would have done it had they been white based on no evidence other than your own desires to make everyone stop thinking about race, basically. No.
Pretzel_Warrior
(8,361 posts)And this racist fuck was gonna show them "whitey" is still boss.
Response to Spitfire of ATJ (Reply #14)
Name removed Message auto-removed
Jamaal510
(10,893 posts)so sometimes I envy people who do drive and are able to play their music in their rides like that. But when situations like this arise, it would make me wary about the areas I ride through (especially as a 23 year old BM).
sheshe2
(83,728 posts)Your caution, sad to say is necessary. Follow your instincts and stay safe.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)sheshe2
(83,728 posts)I have tears rolling down my cheeks. So young, and now forever young. Jordan Davis, his name will remain with us.
No words for his parents loss and grief.
arely staircase
(12,482 posts)I can't think of anything sadder than burying your own child. It is such an upset of the natural order of things.
rocktivity
(44,573 posts)Especially if they decide not to retry on the murder charge -- which, of course, they must?
rocktivity
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)rocktivity
(44,573 posts)Last edited Sat Jul 26, 2014, 02:19 PM - Edit history (4)
that as the judge told him off and inventoried the mile-long list of charges he'd been convicted of, I started rooting for the judge to run his sentences consecutively as though I was watching a game show!
I hope the Jordan Davis case is retried -- I think it should be resolved one way or another. Or, once Dunn is sentenced on the attempted murder charges, maybe a deal can be made that will shave a few years off each of the counts. But if Dunn is already looking at a minimum of eighty years, the court may decide that's punishment, if not justice, enough.
rocktivity
P.S. The judge granted my wish and ran the defendant's sentences consecutively.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)man deserves that.
rocktivity
(44,573 posts)Last edited Sun Aug 30, 2020, 02:45 PM - Edit history (5)
The thinking seems to be that there were three separate crimes against each of the surviving victims, and unlike in the case I mentioned above, the judge has no discretion.
After almost 32 hours of deliberations over four days -- on the eve of what would have been Davis's 19th birthday -- a Duval County jury convicted Dunn on three counts of second-degree attempted murder Saturday night. Assistant State Attorney Erin Wolfson said each count carries a 20-year minimum mandatory sentence. These sentences must run consecutively, said...(a)...spokeswoman for the State Attorney's Office.
Jurors also convicted Dunn, 47, of shooting or throwing a deadly missile. This felony is punishable by up to 15 years in prison... (link)
But of course, that begs the question of why the jury felt that Dunn had attempted to murder the people he didn't kill, but didn't murder the person he did kill.
I'm guessing that the jury couldn't decide between first-degree (premeditation or malice) and second-degree (conscious intent) murder, and convicting him of everything else was the compromise. Apparently they believed that guaranteeing Dunn at least 75 (85% of which he'll have to serve) years makes up for their "failure" -- and I guess they knew they'd get laughed off the stage if they'd convicted of Dunn of manslaughter.
rocktivity
awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)I played Led Zeppelin way too loud, but no one ever shot me because of it. Of course, I am white, and that changes everything
Blus4u
(608 posts)and I still play Led Zeppelin way too loud.
awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)I am now 45 and still cranking them
On edit: welcome to DU
WillyT
(72,631 posts)malaise
(268,887 posts)for truth
shenmue
(38,506 posts)I can't believe how awful it must be for his parents. Lord have mercy.