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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsConservatives Just Make Stuff Up - Now You Can Too!!
This is making the rounds on Facebook today. It dovetails with Dana Perrino's rant on the same topic.
You won't recognize me. My name was Antonio West and I was the 13-month old child who was shot at point blank range by two teens who were attempting to rob my mother, who was also shot. A Grand Jury of my mommy's peers from Brunswick GA determined the teens who murdered me will not face the death penalty...too bad I was given a death sentence for being innocent and defenseless.
My family made the mistake of being white in a 73% non-white neighborhood, but my murder was not ruled a Hate Crime. Nor did President Obama take so much as a single moment to acknowledge my murder.
I am one of the youngest murder victims in our Nation's history, but the media doesn't care to cover the story of my tragic demise, President Obama has no children who could possibly look like me - so he doesn't care and the media doesn't care because my story is not interesting enough to bring them ratings so they can sell commercial time slots.
There is not a white equivalent of Al Sharpton because if there was he would be declared racist, so there is no one rushing to Brunswick GA to demand justice for me. There is no White Panther party to put a bounty on the lives of those who murdered me. I have no voice, I have no representation and unlike those who shot me in the face while I sat innocently in my stroller - I no longer have my life.
So while you are seeking justice for Trayvon, please remember to seek justice for me too. Tell your friends about me, tell you families, get tee shirts with my face on them and make the world pay attention, just like you did for Trayvon.
Thank you.
My family made the mistake of being white in a 73% non-white neighborhood, but my murder was not ruled a Hate Crime. Nor did President Obama take so much as a single moment to acknowledge my murder.
I am one of the youngest murder victims in our Nation's history, but the media doesn't care to cover the story of my tragic demise, President Obama has no children who could possibly look like me - so he doesn't care and the media doesn't care because my story is not interesting enough to bring them ratings so they can sell commercial time slots.
There is not a white equivalent of Al Sharpton because if there was he would be declared racist, so there is no one rushing to Brunswick GA to demand justice for me. There is no White Panther party to put a bounty on the lives of those who murdered me. I have no voice, I have no representation and unlike those who shot me in the face while I sat innocently in my stroller - I no longer have my life.
So while you are seeking justice for Trayvon, please remember to seek justice for me too. Tell your friends about me, tell you families, get tee shirts with my face on them and make the world pay attention, just like you did for Trayvon.
Thank you.
Before I go further, let me clarify three things:
1) The murder of a defenseless 18 month old is a horrific crime.
2) Having said that, it's not 100% clear that the arrested teens actually committed the murder based on this article from March 2013
You'll remember West says that she was shot in the March 21st incident and Santiago says he was shopping at Walmart when it happened and wasn't there.
But the GBI recently found traces of gunshot residue, or GSR, on both parents.
According to the report, "this supports the possibility that the individual discharged a firearm, was in close proximity to a firearm upon discharge or came into contact with an item whose surface bears GSR.
In the report investigators noted that the particles found "also may originate from occupational and/or industrial sources."
But the GBI recently found traces of gunshot residue, or GSR, on both parents.
According to the report, "this supports the possibility that the individual discharged a firearm, was in close proximity to a firearm upon discharge or came into contact with an item whose surface bears GSR.
In the report investigators noted that the particles found "also may originate from occupational and/or industrial sources."
Read more: http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/national/sherry-west-antonio-west-brunswick-georgia-mom-says-two-kids-shot-and-killed-her-baby-over-money#ixzz2ZouUgUTf
It's not clear the parents did anything wrong, but gunshot residue on an individual allegedly not present at the crime bears investigation.
3) Whoever is playing the role of the dead, would-be-speaking-to-us Antonio West presents the false equivalency of two accused murderers not being offered the death penalty with George Zimmerman's undisputed killing of Trayvon Martin, and not getting convicted of a damn thing.
But then I had a thought. We can caption photos as well. For example:
You won't recognize me. My name was Antonio West and I was the 13-month old child who was shot at point blank range by two teens who were attempting to rob my mother, who was also shot.
Today, in Heaven, I met Trayvon Martin. He got to live a lot longer than me, but he was also shot dead while he was still a child. It's too bad we were both given a death sentence for being innocent and defenseless.
My family made the mistake of living in a country that allows almost anyone to carry a gun. In most places, carrying guns is limited to law enforcement, and the uniformed military. But not here. I am one of the youngest murder victims in our Nation's history, but the NRA doesn't care to even examine changing gun laws because of my tragic demise. Wayne LaPierre always talks about something called the "Second Amendment" -- it is a law that allowed the people who shot me and the man who shot Trayvon to have their guns. Mr. LaPierre doesn't seem to care about me or Trayvon nearly as much as he cares about that law, and the gun makers don't care because my story might mean that they sell fewer guns and bullets.
While I've been in Heaven, I've met other kids. Kids from places with names like "Newtown", "Columbine", and "Aurora." Those kids got shot too, just like me and Trayvon. So while you are seeking justice for Trayvon, please remember to seek justice for me too. Tell your friends about me, tell you families, get tee shirts with my face on them and make the world pay attention, just like you did for Trayvon...and remember that if guns had been kept out of the hands of people like De'marquise Elkins, George Zimmerman, Adam Lanza, Eric Harris, Dylan Klebold, and James Holmes, Trayvon, and me, and a whole lot of other kids here in Heaven might have had some more time on Earth.
Thank you.
Today, in Heaven, I met Trayvon Martin. He got to live a lot longer than me, but he was also shot dead while he was still a child. It's too bad we were both given a death sentence for being innocent and defenseless.
My family made the mistake of living in a country that allows almost anyone to carry a gun. In most places, carrying guns is limited to law enforcement, and the uniformed military. But not here. I am one of the youngest murder victims in our Nation's history, but the NRA doesn't care to even examine changing gun laws because of my tragic demise. Wayne LaPierre always talks about something called the "Second Amendment" -- it is a law that allowed the people who shot me and the man who shot Trayvon to have their guns. Mr. LaPierre doesn't seem to care about me or Trayvon nearly as much as he cares about that law, and the gun makers don't care because my story might mean that they sell fewer guns and bullets.
While I've been in Heaven, I've met other kids. Kids from places with names like "Newtown", "Columbine", and "Aurora." Those kids got shot too, just like me and Trayvon. So while you are seeking justice for Trayvon, please remember to seek justice for me too. Tell your friends about me, tell you families, get tee shirts with my face on them and make the world pay attention, just like you did for Trayvon...and remember that if guns had been kept out of the hands of people like De'marquise Elkins, George Zimmerman, Adam Lanza, Eric Harris, Dylan Klebold, and James Holmes, Trayvon, and me, and a whole lot of other kids here in Heaven might have had some more time on Earth.
Thank you.
But I lack the cleverness and talent to write something that could really go viral. So, if you have better/different ideas for what the dead should be telling us on Facebook, let us all know by posting it in this thread.
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Conservatives Just Make Stuff Up - Now You Can Too!! (Original Post)
OmahaBlueDog
Jul 2013
OP
kestrel91316
(51,666 posts)1. Thank you. One of my RW cousins posted that crap on FB. I didn't even know
how to respond.
chowder66
(9,070 posts)2. Snopes has it covered
drizzit
(9 posts)3. My RW "friends" keep throwing examples of whites being murdered by blacks in my face
as if it's an apples-to-apples comparison. But the one thing that they never seem to notice is that pesky word "robbery" in each case they bring up. I agree that the murder of a child under any conditions is appalling. But targeting someone because of their color is on a completely different level than targeting them just because you want their material possessions. That's the difference they never seem to see.
And if this kid turns out to be guilty, I hope he fries! That's the other difference.