Thoughts about the case of Michael Dunn murdering Jordan
Davis. Dunn was found guilty of attempting 2nd degree murder, but
not of murdering Davis outright.
A man
stops at a gas station convenience store with his lady. The plan is to buy a
bottle of wine before heading back to the hotel for the night. They are visiting
family, having spent the day at a wedding.
A truck with
four of teenagers approaches and parks next to the man, music blaring. They've come
from the mall, Black Friday shopping. Holiday Season has officially begun.
While
his lady is buying the wine, the man asks the teenagers to turn down their
music. They refuse. The two parties argue.
The man takes
a pistol from his glove compartment and fires roughly 10 shots into the teenagers'
truck. When his lady returns with the wine, he speeds away to the hotel. Three
of the shots strike one of the teenagers in the back seat, hitting his liver,
lung, and aorta. At no point does the man call the police.
When the
police question him, the man said one of the teens threatened him while brandishing
a shot gun. No gun was found in the
truck or on the person of any of the people in the truck.
<DEEP BREATH>
These were punk teenagers, with the inconsiderate blaring of
their music. I've read that at one point the kids turned the music down…then
turned it back up after the man got back into his car.
Punk Kids. Let's not pretend they were as angelic as when
they were six months old.
No, I'm not talking
about punk rockers with Mohawks. When I say "punk" I'm referring to
the arrogant, selfish attitude that sometimes makes you want to strangle a kid.
Most of us have the good sense to walk away when we get to that level of
irritation.
Yes, the type of music
is irrelevant. Except maybe if it's classical.
Why didn't the man trust the police? He could have called them,
citing noise ordinance or public nuisance. When he saw the gun, he could taken
down the truck's license plate and informed the police of a possible threat to
the community.
Instead, his actions suggest a distrust of local law
enforcement and their abilities. Jacksonville PD should be offended.
Trained police officers have mistaken wallets for firearms
(see Amadou Diallo). Thus, it is highly likely an untrained civilian in a tense
situation would make a similar mistake.
Indeed, I believe he did
make a similar mistake, seeing a gun where there wasn't one. Sometimes
adrenaline is not our friend.
Up to this point, I've attempted to avoid the issues of
race, class, and music preference which make this case feel complicated. They
are issues, but for now, I only have one related question
Would Dunn have done the same thing if it was a mixed-race
group of kids blasting rap? If none of the races represented were black? If all
of the kids where white?
I think Dunn would say yes, though I don't believe he truly knows
the answer.
UPDATE: Glimpsed CNN, and there was talk of Mr. Dunn's feelings about black men, gleaned from letters he wrote from jail. It seems he sees all black men as thugs, some of whom should be exterminated to teach the rest to alter their behavior.
Thus
If the kids in the car blasting rap music were not black, he possibly would have reacted differently.
<deep breath>
So
if Mr. Dunn saw my brother
In the supermarket, shopping for groceries,
No earrings, no tattoos, no sagging pants,
Focused on the business at hand,
Mr. Dunn would see an insect to be exterminated.
<breathe>
Even if Dunn said, "No, of course not!", I'm not sure I would believe him.
<heart breaking a little bit more>
