75-year-old John Henry Spooner from Milwaukee, WI, appointed himself judge, jury and executioner when he gunned down a 13-year-old boy whose only crime appeared to be…his appearance. The victim, Darius Simmons, was black, unarmed and brutally shot in front of his now grief-stricken mother.
At issue was a gun collection, which had been, according to Spooner, stolen. Simmons lived next door. Spooner confronted Darius, who was in sixth grade, and his mother, Patricia Larry, when the boy was moving a garbage can in the front yard. Darius denied involvement in the theft. In fact, he was in school at the time of the robbery, but that answer was unsatisfactory to Spooner, who proceeded to point his 9mm handgun at Darius.
From Global Grind:
Frightened by the sight of a gun being pointed at him only five feet away from his chest, Darius raised his hand in surrender as Spooner fired one shot into his torso. Scared, wounded and confused, Darius took off running as Spooner aimed and fired another shot, striking Darius in the back.
After speaking with the family, Community Activist, David Muhammad, said that police questioned Darius’ mother for two hours while leaving his body on the sidewalk. Even after Darius was taken to the hospital, his mother was held in the police car. He was pronounced dead before she could get to him. Then police searched Darius’ home and found nothing. Instead, they arrested his older brother for having truancy tickets. Police have stated that the lengthy questioning was necessary in leading to an arrest.
Spooner’s family, however, was allowed to return to Spooner’s home (also a crime scene) and retrieve personal items.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Spooner was upset that his neighborhood had turned from a majority Caucasian neighborhood to a mixed-race neighborhood. Darius and his family had recently moved next door to Spooner.
Darius regularly attended church and worked in the church’s community garden. His pastor, Steve Jerbi, described him as, ”The kind of kid who, one quick look from the pastor, he’d quiet down.” Spooner has been arrested on first degree murder charges and is held with a cash bond set at $300,000, which is unusual for first degree murder cases.
One witness is Milwaukee Alderman Bob Donovan, who allegedly had breakfast with Spooner just an hour before the shooting. Spooner complained to Donovan about the police’s reluctance to arrest Simmons and said that there were other ways of dealing with these problems, a conversation that would indicate premeditation.
Wisconsin does have both Stand Your Ground and Castle Doctrine laws on the books, although it probably be even more difficult for Spooner to make the case that he was under any sort of threat than it will be for George Zimmerman, the killer of Trayvon Martin.
eagerly awaiting the revelation next week that the kid was pounding the man's head into the sidewalk and had a gun in his pocket. there will be witnesses and audio I'm sure.
The devaluation of black men's lives is absolutely repulsive. Assuming this story is accurate (which, given its shocking nature and possible bias in the reporting, might be a big assumption), there is no way this old man would have done this to a white teenager who was actually attacking him, let alone one simply accused of stealing his gun collection.
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Yeah this is too black and white to lead to any controversy.
that's what we thought last time!
The ONLY thing black and white about last time was that Trayvon deserved what he got.
That said, this one is absurdly repulsive, and I hope to god Wisconsin has the death penalty.
Also..... Someone PLEASE do something to these cops, they literally ARRESTED his brother hours after his brother was killed in cold blood for ****ing traffic tickets.
eagerly awaiting the revelation next week that the kid was pounding the man's head into the sidewalk and had a gun in his pocket. there will be witnesses and audio I'm sure.
What a dumb comment. The cases are very, very different. Stop being played for a fool by the media and think for yourself.
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police questioned Darius’ mother for two hours while leaving his body on the sidewalk. Even after Darius was taken to the hospital, his mother was held in the police car. He was pronounced dead before she could get to him. Then police searched Darius’ home and found nothing. Instead, they arrested his older brother for having truancy tickets
amazing
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Also..... Someone PLEASE do something to these cops, they literally ARRESTED his brother hours after his brother was killed in cold blood for ****ing traffic tickets.
Also this... This is a f***ing joke.
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Well this is going to be country-wide news tomorrow
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Never underestimate the power of stupidity in numbers. ~War13104 Never stoop to the level of idiots. They will drag you down and beat you with experience.
Spoilers the cops get a lot of **** about it but ultimately have absolutely nothing done to them more than a temporary suspension - With pay
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Never underestimate the power of stupidity in numbers. ~War13104 Never stoop to the level of idiots. They will drag you down and beat you with experience.
Well this is going to be country-wide news tomorrow
nah this happened on the 9th and was reported widely (relatively anyways) on the 11th
media is gonna pretty much ignore this one
Oh its old
I pretty much missed any kind of news outlets Monday, didn't even spend half the day home.
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Never underestimate the power of stupidity in numbers. ~War13104 Never stoop to the level of idiots. They will drag you down and beat you with experience.
Also..... Someone PLEASE do something to these cops, they literally ARRESTED his brother hours after his brother was killed in cold blood for ****ing traffic tickets.
Also this... This is a f***ing joke.
Silly Vlado, pretending he knows jack****.
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After speaking with the family, Community Activist, David Muhammad, said that police questioned Darius’ mother for two hours while leaving his body on the sidewalk. Even after Darius was taken to the hospital, his mother was held in the police car. He was pronounced dead before she could get to him. Then police searched Darius’ home and found nothing. Instead, they arrested his older brother for having truancy tickets. Police have stated that the lengthy questioning was necessary in leading to an arrest.
Spooner’s family, however, was allowed to return to Spooner’s home (also a crime scene) and retrieve personal items.
This is some God damn bulls*** right here.
I hope this a****** gets what he deserves.
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It really is incredible that so many people actually believe that gun legality prevents crime.
I mean, you only need to take a quick look at a chart of crime statistics by country to see that all the countries with the lowest crime rates have bans on firearms.
Meanwhile the US continues to chill at the top of the armed crime ratings along with Mexico and the Middle East.
People already have guns. If you make them illegal then only those who choose to live outside the law will have guns. And it gives WAY more power to the gangs.
People already have guns. If you make them illegal then only those who choose to live outside the law will have guns. And it gives WAY more power to the gangs.
LOL.
People actually believe this?
I live in a heavily populated city in Canada, and we have maybe a couple gun crimes a month. And most of them are only in the ghetto.
But hey, maybe some people love living in fear and the only way to relieve that is to have a gun under your pillow.