Walton Henry Butler, 59, allegedly shot the 32-year-old Everett Gant in the head, who visited his Port Saint Joe apartment to confront him about making racist comments to children in the apartment complex, according to the Broward Palm Beach New Times. The blog reports that Butler proceeded to eat dinner as Gant lay bleeding outside his door and cites an affidavit saying that Butler used the racial slur when questioned by the sheriff.
Butler is charged with attempted murder with a hate crime enhancement.
Police said Butler called 911, and expressed confusion at his arrest. "He was brought to the investigation unit where he was interviewed and basically admitted to shooting the victim and said he shot a, used a racial slur, and said that is what he shot and acted like it was not like a big deal or anything to him," Gulf County Sheriff Joe Nugent told WJHG.
What's the big deal? He only shot a ni-*clang!*
When people ask if we're truly in a "post-racial" society, you can include this incident in a growing pile of incidents as evidence to the contrary. If Trayvon Martin and the ongoing abuses meted out by law enforcement throughout the country didn't shank your idea of a "post-racial" America into a bloody heap, this incident should blast it's head clean off its naive shoulders. Black Americans are living in a country where a significant portion of the population actively hates them and, if it wasn't for criminal punishments and societal consequences, they'd grab a rope and have themselves a good ol' fashioned picnic.
I doubt anything will happen to this guy once he sets foot in prison. The staff will most likely isolate him from the rest of the general population to keep headline-making incidents from happening. Once he's inside, he can always hook up with the resident Aryan Brotherhood for protection. Unless someone's brazen or crafty enough to drive a shank through his cold heart, he's going to remain untouched for the duration of his prison stay.
Meanwhile:
A police investigation has been launched in response to the shooting death of a 21-year-old man. The victim was shot in the head and died from his injuries while handcuffed and sitting in the back of a police patrol car on Saturday night. The victim, Chavis Carter, was riding as a passenger in a pickup truck that happened to be pulled over by police in Jonesboro, Arkansas. According to a report, an officer found marijuana and decided to run Carter’s information. The officer discovered that Carter had a warrant from Mississippi so he was put into the patrol car.
“As protocol, he was handcuffed behind his back, double-locked and searched,” said Jonesboro Police Department Sgt. Lyle Waterworth.
Minutes after putting Carter in the vehicle, officers claim they heard a thump noise. They turned to the vehicle and found that Carter had been shot in the head. Waterworth said that he believes Carter had a gun hidden on himself, which he pulled out and then shot himself with.
“Any given officer has missed something on a search, you know, be it drugs, be it knives, be it razor blades,” he said. “This instance, it happened to be a gun.”
Carter’s mom, Teresa Carter, does not agree with the police. “I think they killed him,” she said. “My son wasn’t suicidal.” She was told that her son suffered a bullet wound in his right temple. Her son is left-handed. “I mean, I just want to know what really happened,” she said. “That’s all I want to know.”
Yes, exactly how does a left-handed person with his hands cuffed behind his back manage to get a hold of a "hidden" gun and shoot himself in his right temple? Secondly, why would he kill himself over a simple arrest? I hate to say it, but many black Americans who are about the criminal life treat jail as just another phase in their semi-short and violent lives. Suicide doesn't figure in this case.
Unless it was "cop-assisted 'suicide'." Yep, definitely the worst case of "suicide" I've ever seen. I can bet money on an officer deciding to do away with this gentleman by killing him with a throwdown weapon.
At least Alexis Sumpter wasn't killed by the cops over a MetroCard. There's a lot going wrong when we're relieved that law enforcement officials merely harass us instead of summarily executing us for frivolous and trivial shit. Something's definitely wrong with that picture.
