Response to the death of Jordan Davis & resulting trial of Michael Dunn

I had plenty to say on Twitter about the trial of Michael Dunn for killing Jordan Davis.  Many others were vocal on the topic as well.  Below is a series of tweets, most but not all by me, written as the verdict drew near and then after Dunn was found guilty on 4 of the 5 charges levied against him.  As we all know now, there was a hung jury on the 5th and most damning of the charges.  No verdict was rendered for the murder of Jordan Davis.  Nine jurors voted GUILTY but three felt there was reasonable room for doubt, or rather, for belief that Michael Dunn was acting in self defense rather than indignation and rage and bigotry.  There may be a second trial and eventually full closure.  For now, knowledge that Michael Dunn resides in a prison cell where he will likely be for the remainder of his days serves as cold comfort.


R.I.P. Jordan Davis


RT  @lucymcbath  Day 11. Verdict comes today. I am at peace in knowing the truth has been told no matter what the outcome. In the end God will judge.

If Dunn is acquitted it will demonstrate that many fixes to our criminal justice system are needed. But IMHO, even more than changes to Stand Your Ground laws or gun regulations, in greatest need of reform is our jury selection process. Yet I have no answer for how we can omit those who base decisions on preconceived notions and lifelong prejudices rather than the facts of the case.


Comparing Dunn to Zimmerman is easy. Both needlessly instigated. But the cases are very different. No evidence AT ALL that Dunn feared for his life.

Zimmerman, in addition to eliminating the one person who could provide testimony that contradicted him, earned do gooder props by being a neighborhood watchman. What was Dunn protecting? His eardrums from "thug music"?


In the #DunnTrial only one side has made a cogent argument. Dunn contradicts himself from one minute to the next. Only consistency is his sweaters.


If the jury screws this up I say that at the very least, all trials for murders committed in Floridashould tried in another state.


Since it doesn't seem to already be a law, I feel there should be one in place that penalizes for instigating fights while carrying concealed weapons. You can't claim self defense if you aren't being attacked. If you went out of your way to bring about a fight, WHILE ARMED, that should be a crime.


If you're carrying a gun, shouldn't you be extra cautions to AVOID confrontation? Unless you desire a confrontation because you WANT TO FIRE IT.

#JordanDavis &/or other kids in car having a long rap sheet of violent priors would be only reason to consider Dunn's story to be non-fiction.

Responsible gun ownership/carrying is legal. But if you don't call 911 immediately after firing 10 times at 4 kids, how are you a law abiding citizen?

RT @tjholmes  Compared to other "famous" trials, this jury has already deliberated longer than the Casey Anthony, Conrad Murray, & OJ juries. #DunnTrial

RT @BelleVie73  self defense cases should have a legal requirement that you notify police or you can't claim it way after the fact or at trial #onthecase

RT @EdHull8  There's Probably a Battle Waging Right Now In the #DunnTrial Jury Room Between the Voices of Fear & Racism & Those of Decency & Common Sense

RT @AmeshiaCross  It always baffles me how someone with no criminal history can be criminalized by the color of his skin alone #WhatIsAThug #DunnTrial

#DunnTrial is not all about race though. Has the #NRA chirped in on Dunn's right to shoot at will yet? It's bigots WITH GUNS who worry me.

RT @Sttbs73  So #TrayvonMartin had an entire sidewalk as a weapon and #JordanDavis had an imaginary gun? #DunnTrial

Sidewalk possession not protected by law. Neither is imaginary gun possession. Real gun possession and usage IS protected.

In our legal system, perception trumps reality. If you fear a large black man who happens to be a pacifist Reverend, only your fear matters.

You can shoot because you were frightened, provided you claim he made a menacing move. No penalty for being unfortunately mistaken. Only the fear matters.

That's why I want an unarmed populace. Fear is too easily manufactured. Requires no effort. Erased by pull of a trigger, until next time.

RT @illiam_william  Trayvon is dead. RT @NYDailyNews: George Zimmerman says he’s homeless and suffering from PTSD: report http://nydn.us/MXDhSL ”

RT @MattBinder  i am surprised the #DunnTrial jury did not ask which specific songs bothered Michael Dunn in deciding if he was justified in murdering a boy

RT @FrenchieGlobal  FLcourt strikes down law that banned loud music from cars http://hrld.us/1ca3JCb  in case u need more reason to find Dunn guilty #Dunntrial

Clearly all people in Florida need to be given a special dictionary with only 2 words defined in it. "Self" and "Defense".

RT @QuadCityPat  Sadly, this is exactly why Stand Your Ground has to be overturned. A jury can never know how a defendant "felt" #DunnTrial

RT @CheckAndMate  One day @donlemon is gonna hop out that chair and scream "WU-TANG!"

Black folk in timeline surprised that Don Lemon passionately feels Dunn should be convicted. Tweeps, even Ann friggin Coulter thinks Dunn is guilty as hell. There's a difference between not having a militant "black is always right, white is always wrong" mindset and being a major league sell out. So it's not especially surprising (at least not to me) that Don Lemon has a pull yourself up by own bootstraps philosophy and ALSO THINKS Dunn is guilty.

Had Dunn shot just the first 3 or 4 bullets into car & held off on continuing fire as the boys fled, he would have walked free.  The result we got is much more just, but still, 
the verdict in the #DunnTrial shows that laws in FL are set up in favor of killers who claim fear as motive. He will serve time in jail because of his excess, not his initial evil.

RT @dreamhampton  We need to come for Angela Corey's job, no matter the outcome #DunnTrial

RT @KBDPHD  Everytime I see Angela Corey smile after a bad verdict I feel she's more concerned w/ getting a network analyst gig than justice #DunnTrial

RT @publiusterrance  What stuns me about #DunnTrial is the silence from my white neighbors, friends and allies.

I wouldn't mind seeing more of a mixed racial bag of reaction to Dunn verdict. You can stop leisure tweeting for a tweet or two to express dismay. I know many don't like to leave their topic comfort zones. I call them 1-note tweeters. But injustice should matter to everybody.

RT @TheREAL_MBrooks  #JordanDavis' family is remarkable...

Certainly hard to figure out how these murdered boys in Florida could have been such thugs when alive after seeing classiness of their families.

RT @goldietaylor  Jordan's mother Lucy and Trayvon's mother Sybrina come together... 




RT  @chrisrock  If he's scared of black kids listening to music he's gonna be really scared in jail.

What exactly must one do to be convicted of murder by a jury in Florida? Is eyewitness testimony from a priest, being caught on video, and a confession by the killer sufficient? 

RT @JoyceCarolOates  Have there been contributions to a "defense fund" for Dunn as there had been for Zimmerman? If not, this is an encouraging sign of change.

Three of the juror's believed Michael Dunn, presumably able to see Dunn's humanity while perhaps not able to see Jordan Davis as being one of them.

Were the jurors who refused to vote "guilty as charged" racist? I don't know. I do know that most acts of racism today aren't dramatic like a lynching. It transpires quietly in who a person chooses to include/exclude.

I often implore folks on Twitter to stop calling EVERYTHING racist. Otherwise it lessens impact of outrage when a complaint is legitimate.

In order for Michael Dunn to evade a guilty verdict for the murder of Jordan Davis, there needed to be jurors who saw Jordan as the guilty one.  They had to believe this without any evidence.  Jordan did not have a criminal record, had no history of violence, was not the one who had been drinking.  No eyewitnesses corroborated Dunn's wildly inconsistent self defense, phantom gun story, not even his fiancee.  And yet to not be convicted on ALL CHARGES, the man who was clearly lying to save his life needed to found more credible than an unarmed kid who was shot down because he was playing loud music and it never occurred to his killer to simply park a little farther away.

Why did Dunn's inconsistently made claim that he was under attack outweigh what Jordan's friends said to the contrary? This is what is known as a rhetorical question, but it also needs to be addressed for the sake of future Stand Your Ground tainted trials.

Based on the testimony I heard, the only menace to society that day was Michael Dunn. I breathe easier knowing he's in jail where he belongs.

If the parents of Jordan Davis are at peace with the result of the #DunnTrial - that matters a great deal. Such sad satisfaction has not always been guaranteed. Yet it's understandable
that more was desired - total justice.

Trayvon could have been Obama's son. Ditto for heartless kid killing other brown kids on bloody streets of Chicago. There but for the grace of God...

RT  @atticalocke  Juror a reminder that we can't judge all white folks any more than they can judge all of us.  After the verdict there were many people, myself included, making blanket statements about how white people view black life. #dunntrial #michaeldunn http://gawker.com/loud-music-killing-juror-wanted-to-convict-michael-du-1525819031


Of all Twitter reactions to highly publicized court cases, response to Casey Anthony's acquittal was most baffling http://lineaday.blogspot.com/2011/07/whats-race-got-to-do-got-to-do-with-it.html Talk about your blanket statements and judgments.

If/when Michael Dunn is retried I believe he'll be convicted on murder charge. Evidence like letters/calls from jail will come into play.

In the meantime Dunn will already be in prison and not leaving any time soon, so not an especially loud roar of outrage to come from me. Nevertheless, IMHO 3 of the 
jurors were boneheaded at best.

The hung jury may even be ultimately for the best because it's more ammunition in fight against dangerous Stand Your Ground laws dotting this nation.

I suspect at least 1 of the 3 jurors who bought Dunn's self defense story will say upon learning more about the killer after the trial - "if I had known that I'd have voted differently". What they did already know should have been enough though.

As for those who persist in saying our focus needs to remain on Black On Black crime rather than zeroing in on the untimely deaths of young black men such as Trayvon Martin and Michael Dunn, I respond that comparing apples to oranges is a waste of time...and fruit.  

I do agree that rampant, violent crime in our inner cities should be a top priority, though I call it Poor On Poor crime as I feel poverty is the determining factor, not race. I believe guns need to taken out of more hands period. Poor, middle class & rich hands. Black and White. Gang bangers and freelance vigilantes.

RT @elonjames  I'm not amused by some folks constant attempts to defuse righteous anger, hurt and frustration. Our humanity is ignored yet we should chill?

There are many monsters out there. Some seem easier to spot than others. Some look hideous to you. Some look like reflection in mirror.


Black on Black / Poor on Poor crime is awful. Injustice in our courtrooms is awful. The Holocaust was awful. American slavery was awful. SEPARATELY


Connections are there to be made of course. Slavery's impact continues to be felt on race relations & exclusively within the African American community.


But different forms of tragedy deserve to be examined individually, independently. One tree drops many seeds that each take on lives of their own.


I know people who own guns and this knowledge doesn't bother me at all. The odds of it leading to tragic results are pretty low. I also know some people for whom I am grateful of their decision not to be gun owners because the very last thing they need is a gun. A good person can still have a fast temper or be prone to panicking under pressure. Such a person will needlessly ruin lives with immediate access to a trigger. Let them yell that road rage out instead. Irresponsible gun owners make responsible ones look bad and weakens 'right to bear arms' argument.

How can you tell the differences in temperament & purpose between the responsible and irresponsible people who apply for gun licences? I don't know, but somebody smarter than me needs to figure it out. Better case by case evaluation needs to take place, followed by stricter regulations in cases where gun ownership is allowed.

RT @goldietaylor  HLN's Resident Zimmerman and Dunn Defender Once(repeatedly) Called Oprah a 'N*gger' http://www.mediaite.com/tv/hlns-resident-zimmerman-and-dunn-defender-once-called-oprah-a-ngger/


Eventually another kid will get shot under questionable circumstances. I don't need to hear Frank Taaffe's opinion. Already know it.

I don't want to end this on the idiocy of Frank Taaffee so I'll add an image below for you to contemplate. It shows a police office protecting a member of the KKK from angry protestersbecause regardless of our beliefs (but not regardless of our actions) all Americans deserveequal protection and equal justice courtesy of our laws.