Trump's attitude and tone encourages White Supremicists to do things like this
I think we need to expect hundreds more incidents like this against Blacks, Muslims and Hispanics here in the U.S. perpetrated by White Supremacists if Trump becomes president. His rhetoric just encourages s this kind of behavior like no one since George Wallace ex-governor of Alabama.
Larnell Bruce was killed on Aug. 10 when a white supremacist and his girlfriend ran him down with their Jeep.
(Gresham Police Department)
I will never forget where I was or what I was doing the night I learned
of the brutal murder of Oregon teenager Larnell Malik Bruce. It was
just hours ago and reminded me so much of when I first learned of the
brutal police murder of Alton Sterling.
Just like that night last month, I was with my kids. Traditionally,
when I am with my family in the evening, I don't check my phone. Tonight
though, it kept buzzing and dinging repeatedly. Text messages, direct
messages on Twitter, emails, they were coming in from all over. When
that happens in my world, it almost always means something horrible has
taken place. This time was no different.
On Monday, I wrote a story about a black mother
outside of Cleveland who was shot and killed on her way to work by a
raving white madman after he ran a red light and rammed his Jeep into
her car.
On Tuesday, I wrote a story about a 19-year-old black college student
who was shot and killed on his way to work while he was driving his car
through his Delaware neighborhood. Police arrested a 46-year-old white woman and charged her with first-degree murder. It seemed almost like the killing was done by a sniper.
Today, though, is a story that feels like it was ripped straight out of the 1960s.
Bruce
was with friends outside this 7-Eleven in Gresham, Ore., when Russell
Courtier and his girlfriend pulled into the parking lot.
(Google Maps Street View)
Larnell Bruce, who was 19, had just moved to Gresham, Ore., which is
near Portland, earlier this year to live with his younger brother and
mother. Little did he know, that a random night in August would force
him to come eye to eye with a notorious white supremacist and prison
gang leader, Russell Courtier.
Near midnight on Aug. 10, outside of a local 7-Eleven, Larnell Bruce
was charging his cell phone and having small talk with friends and
passersby when Courtier and his girlfriend drove up to the store. Almost
instantly, security camera footage shows a full melee breaking out
between Bruce and Courtier. According to the Portland Mercury,
Courtier's girlfriend, Colleen Hunt, could be overheard yelling “Get
him, baby, get him." Soon after, Courtier smashed Bruce's head into the
front window of the convenience store.
When Bruce pulled out a knife to protect himself, Courtier and Hunt got
back into their Jeep. What happened next, much like seeing the Baton
Rouge officer shoot Alton Sterling in the chest and back, shook me to my
core.
As Larnell Bruce began running home, Russell Courtier and Colleen Hunt
decided they were not finished with the fight and that they would use
their Jeep and mow Bruce down with it.
(Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office)(Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office)
Russell Courtier and his girlfriend Colleen Hunt have been charged in the death of Larnell Bruce.
First, as Bruce was on the sidewalk, they narrowly missed him. Security
camera footage shows the teen doing his best to zigzag away from the
SUV. As Bruce crossed the street, the couple, determined to run him
over, crossed the Jeep into oncoming traffic and struck the teen head
on.
Larnell Bruce, who suffered critical brain injuries, was found by
police on the street with blood coming out of his head and ears. He
survived just a few more days before succumbing to his injuries, but
never spoke another word again.
This is the horrendous time that we are living in.
The deadliest hate crime of the past 75 years took place this year at
the Pulse Night Club in Orlando. The deadliest hate crime against
African-Americans in the same time period took place last year in
Charleston, S.C. With every day that passes, it seems increasingly clear
that bigots are emboldened to act on their worst possible instincts.
Courtier
has a long history with the law, including firing multiple rounds from
his car illegally, smashing a woman's head into a windshield and
attacking a different woman with a knife.
(Facebook)
Russell Courtier, it appears, has been given break after break by the justice system. In 2011, he got away with illegally shooting several rounds from his car because police performed an illegal search. The next year, he slammed a woman's head into a windshield,
but was only given probation. He had just spent two years in prison for
attacking another Oregon woman with a knife, and was on parole for this
crime the night he killed Larnell Bruce.
In the meantime, our prisons are full of non-violent offenders who possessed or sold marijuana, but this man is free to roam the streets at night until it costs a young black teen his life.
Russell Courtier and Colleen Hunt have been arrested and charged with
murder, but it's all too little, too late. The damage is done.
I can't quite put my finger on where we are heading as a nation, but it's not good. I know that much.
Send a Letter to the Editor
No comments:
Post a Comment