Convicted In Court, Exonerated On Twitter

The Associated Press’ tweet (since removed) regarding Theodore Wafer’s conviction in the murder of Renisha McBride has caused an outcry on Twitter, inspiring the #APHeadlines hashtag. Yesha Callahan explains:

AP prides itself on being a respectable news agency, but last night it proved that it had no respect for the 19-year-old, whom Wafer shot after she approached his porch in the middle of the night last November after she crashed her car. Although he said he was “scared” and protecting his property, Wafer was successfully convicted of second-degree murder and manslaughter.

Alexandra Brodsky adds some more context:

As many have pointed out on Black Twitter and blogs: The first tweet, which doesn’t even bother to mention McBride’s name, reduces her to the fact that she’d been drinking, clearly implying that this somehow made the killing complicated, if not acceptable. (Wafer isn’t mentioned either, but his mugshot is replaced with the smiling vision of a suburban homeowner. She is drunk; he has money.)

A sampling from the #APHeadlines feed:

Unruly Bus Passenger Removed by Law Enforcement Officials #APHeadlines http://t.co/kZueUDyigj

—
NIGris Elba (@hosienation) August 07, 2014

BREAKING: Woman violently beats Police officer's fist with her face. #APHeadlines—
Elon James White (@elonjames) August 07, 2014

War on drugs adds much needed diversity to state and federal facilities. #apheadlines http://t.co/LXP7kdOwN0—
Camelle (@scottcamelle) August 08, 2014

Meanwhile, Joe Coscarelli provides information on the conviction itself:

After less than two days of deliberations, four black and eight white jurors found a Michigan man guilty today of killing an unarmed woman on his front porch last fall, in a case with echoes of the Trayvon Martin tragedy, but now a much different outcome. Theodore Wafer of Dearborn Heights was convicted on all three counts in the shooting of 19-year-old Renisha McBride, including second-degree murder, manslaughter, and use of a firearm in a felony.

Nicole Flatow’s trial recap goes into more detail:

Wafer said in his testimony that he shot the gun right after opening the door and did not get a good look at McBride. He said he could not detect her gender or race; and did not question her in any way before pulling the trigger. But whether or not Wafer was aware of McBride’s race when he shot her, the shooting has generated national attention because of the racial dynamic — McBride was a young black woman, shot by an older white man. The case also revived controversy over expansive “Shoot First” state laws that allow individuals to deploy their guns in self-defense without a duty to first attempt retreat. In this case, Wafer shot McBride seconds after opening the door, and called 911 after he shot her.

In his own lengthy testimony, Wafer conveyed immobilizing fear over who was outside his door that night. While he initially told police after the accident that he deployed his gun by accident, he conceded at trial that wasn’t the truth. He said he didn’t know why he lied at first, speculating that perhaps he was in “denial” about what he had done.

“I wasn’t gonna cower in my house,” he said.

He later added, “she had her whole life in front of her and I took that from her.”