What deadly weapon did the six black students in Jena, La. (a/k/a the “Jena 6”), accused of attempting to murder a white student, allegedly use? Their sneakers.
Two fights between blacks and whites roiled the town that weekend, culminating in a school-yard brawl on Dec. 4 that led the district attorney to charge the Jena Six with attempted murder. The lethal weapon he cited to justify the charge: the boys’ sneakers.
Obviously these young black men have a lot to learn when it comes to picking the right deadly instruments with which to kill people. Sneaks are certainly nice apparel choices, but as a murder weapon they have some clear disadvantages. Fortunately for the Jena 6, there are some nice white kids in Florida who were more than willing to demonstrate for them the proper way to attempt to murder people you don’t take a shine to (h/t to Pam’s House Blend):
Four teenagers have been charged with a hate crime, accused of the beating and attempted drowning of a black college student at Haulover Beach Park Marina over the weekend.
After calling him the N-word, the teens beat Florida International University freshman Stephen Barrett with a baseball bat and tried to drown him in the Intracoastal Waterway, Miami-Dade police said.
The suspects in the attack range in age from 15 to 18.
All had attended a keg party at an island in the middle of the Intracoastal. About 1 a.m. Sunday, Barrett and two other FIU dorm mates were on a boat headed back to Haulover Marina when the driver of the boat said it was overloaded.
“Get off the boat, N—– [Ed. note: I think the word the reporter meant to suggest here was “Nigger,” though, who knows, I could be wrong .],” the teens said to Barrett, according to police reports.
Words were exchanged, but the FIU students got off the boat, said Christopher Eden, who had attended the party with Barrett and friend Daniel Cabevas.
The three friends, all 18, decided to wait on the island for the boat’s next trip.
But when they arrived back at the marina, the teens, now armed with baseball bats, were waiting for them. […]
Barrett was knocked into the Intracoastal, and several teens tried holding his head under water, according to police reports.
See what I mean. The Jena 6 kids really didn’t have a clue about how to go about murdering Mr. Justin Barker. These white kids from Florida, on the other hand, knew better than to rely on their soft soled shoes to accomplish their murderous goal. Baseball bats are clearly a more effective means of trying to kill someone, not to mention the clever idea of holding the black kid’s head under water to finish him off. Now that was truly inspired!
Makes you wonder why the Jena 6 didn’t employ more effective means of trying to end Mr. Barker’s life after he taunted them with racial slurs. Maybe their heart just wasn’t in it, or maybe they didn’t really want to kill anyone.
Could that be it? That they lacked the necessary intent to kill? I mean they were in a school cafeteria. They could have beaten Mr. Barker with chairs, or used the available knifes and forks to do the deed, I imagine. Hell, they could have choked Barker to death with their bare hands if they were really serious. What made them think that sneakers would be sufficient?
I’m just so confused about why they didn’t do a better job when they attempted to whack Mr. Barker, aren’t you?
