It just keeps happeningDarius Simmons was by all accounts a good kid. The fun loving 6th grader was simply moving a garbage can in front of his home when his neighbor, 75 year old John Henry Spooner confronted him with a [9mm hand gun]* and accused him of stealing from his home. Darius, who was in school the time of the robbery, denied being involved with the theft. John Henry Spooner then proceed to shoot Darius in his chest, while he had his hands raise showing Spooner he was unarmed. His mom, who was watching in horror, ran to Darius to see if she could find a pulse, she couldn’t. Darius, 13 years old and unarmed, was murdered in cold blood in front of his mother.
Now, this isn't a "Stand Your Ground" case like the Martin/Zimmerman shooting. In fact, it'd almost qualify as just another suburban murder, if not for the details that the victim was a 13-year old black kid, the 75-year-old a gun toting maniac, and little details from the story like:
Simmons is one of 30 black people killed this year alone by people working in law enforcement or legitimate or illegitimate "security" work. 16 of these killings have happened since Trayvon Martin was killed by George Zimmerman.
We sure are just gunning down a lot of black people on the street. But why?
...Spooner confronted him with a [9mm hand gun]* and accused him of stealing from his home. Darius, who was in school the time of the robbery, denied being involved with the theft.
This is almost the exact same reason George Zimmerman gave for stalking Trayvon Martin. What is it about a black youth just standing in the street that makes gun-wielding types think they've committed a crime? Read a good article
about the right-wing media's obsessions with a black-on-white race war. While the race war delusion is probably not the reason this nut decided to go out and shoot an unarmed kid in the chest, it has roots in the view of blacks as "the violent other" who must be watched and controlled.