Black Culture Discussion Thread

[Coromanti]

 

[AEA18]

 

[hand2handking]

He Said He Punched a Woman for Calling Him the N-Word. A Jury Called It Murder.

Robert Coleman, 27, was found guilty of second-degree murder Monday in Alexandria Circuit Court. (Alexandria Detention Center)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/loca...5eac230e514_story.html?utm_term=.df999d0cec8e

The verbal exchange lasted only 45 seconds. Robert Coleman threw one punch.

Fedelia Montiel-Benitez died in a hospital 10 days later, and Coleman will now most likely go to prison for 10 years for second-degree murder.

He was found guilty at trial in Alexandria Circuit Court on Monday after arguing unsuccessfully that while he did punch Montiel-Benitez in a 7-Eleven last July, he had no intention of killing her.

Coleman, 27, told detectives Montiel-Benitez called him the n-word, and he snapped.

Prosecutors claimed the 39-year-old woman did not speak enough English to use such a slur — and that even if she had, it did not justify Coleman’s response.

“Words alone” are no reason to kill, Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney David Lord said in closing arguments.

“We of course remain disappointed that they didn't see it as manslaughter,” Coleman’s attorney, Robert Jenkins, said after the jury returned.

He said Coleman and his family were “grateful” for the jury’s recommended sentence, given that second-degree murder can carry a punishment of up to 40 years. It reflected, Jenkins said, “that this was not something that he wanted to happen, that he did not intend to take someone’s life.”

A judge will formally sentence Coleman on May 24, but deviations from jury recommendations are rare. He is being held at the Alexandria Detention Center.

“In an all-too-often repeated theme, a tragedy unfolded because of a defendant’s inability to tolerate a perceived slight,” Commonwealth’s Attorney Bryan Porter said in a statement. “Verbal arguments should never devolve into physical altercations because physical altercations often bring devastating consequences.”

Coleman and Montiel-Benitez were strangers. Coleman was buying cigarettes. Montiel-Benitez was buying alcohol at the convenience store near the Mark Center on Seminary Road.

The source of the animosity between them remains a mystery. Surveillance video shows they engaged in a brief conversation, but there is no audio. Coleman’s girlfriend, Nikki Howard, testified she could not hear the entire conversation but broke the two up. In the video, Montiel-Benitez is seen walking to the door and then turning.

Coleman says that is when she called him the n-word; Howard remembered her cursing. In the video Coleman can be seen chasing Montiel-Benitez outside.

Through the leaves of a tree, another camera captures the punch that put Montiel-Benitez in a coma from which she did not recover.

Coleman fled the scene and was picked up the next day when a detective recognized him in the surveillance video. He at first denied involvement in what he thought was simply an assault. When he was told Montiel-Benitez was in critical condition, he admitted hitting her, but said he had not meant to cause serious harm.

He also thought the heavyset woman with short hair was a man, he told detectives.

Lord argued the focus on Montiel-Benitez’s appearance at trial, as well as the high level of alcohol in her system, was disrespectful to the dead.

“She deserves to be treated with more humanity,” he told the jury.

He said Coleman was “a bully who was looking for a fight” and picked on Montiel-Benitez, who was just trying to get away.

Jenkins told jurors Montiel-Benitez’s .351 blood alcohol level and size might help explain why Coleman believed “this was going to be mutual combat, and he struck first.”

 

[DCAllAfrican]

I don't know about that one H2H

 

[k3stacks]

. Thats bad luck right there

 

[seasoned vet]

Pops went to Nairobi for the first time last week. Was chillin with the Maasai. Even went on a safaree like white folks lol

your dad is John Starks?

Spoiler

 

[ggarvinxx3]

Pops went to Nairobi for the first time last week. Was chillin with the Maasai. Even went on a safaree like white folks lol

I thought this was Obama living his bestest life

 

[AEA18]

 

[hand2handking]

 

[MalcolmNewton]

He Said He Punched a Woman for Calling Him the N-Word. A Jury Called It Murder.

Robert Coleman, 27, was found guilty of second-degree murder Monday in Alexandria Circuit Court. (Alexandria Detention Center)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/loca...5eac230e514_story.html?utm_term=.df999d0cec8e

 

[hand2handking]

Teen Turns Down Plea Deal for 25 Years in Prison, Gets 65 Years Instead

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...teen-accomplice-sentenced-65-years/492001002/

WETUMPKA, Ala. — A teenager tried as an adult under Alabama's accomplice liability law was sentenced to 65 years in prison Thursday after rejecting an earlier plea deal that recommended 25 years.

In a two-day trial in March, Lakeith Smith, now 18, of Montgomery was convicted of felony murder, burglary and theft for helping in the 2015 break-ins of two homes in Millbrook, about 10 miles north of Montgomery. He did not kill A'Donte Washington, 16, of Montgomery, who was part of a group of five accused in the thefts.

But several in the group, including Washington, fired shots at Millbrook police officers who responded Feb. 23, 2015, to a call of a burglary in progress, according to officer body-camera footage. The officer that Washington ran toward pointing a .38 caliber revolver fired his police-issued sidearm four times, killing Washington.

Smith was accused of being criminally responsible for the acts that led to Washington's death, the gist of Alabama's accomplice law. An Elmore County grand jury cleared the officer who fired the fatal shots; the officer's name was not released.

On Thursday, Judge Sibley Reynolds of Alabama's 19th Judicial Circuit Court handed down three sentences that Smith will serve back to back: 30 years for murder, 15 years for burglary and 10 years each for two theft convictions.

Smith smiled and laughed through the sentencing, said C.J. Robinson, chief assistant district attorney. Smith flashed a broad smile March 14 as he was led out of the courtroom shortly after the verdicts were announced.

“I don’t think Mr. Smith will be smiling long when he gets to prison,” Robinson said. “We are very pleased with this sentence. Because the sentences are consecutive, it will be a long time before he comes up for even the possibility for parole, at least 20 to 25 years.”

Alabama's accomplice law states that a person is legally liable for the behavior of another who commits a criminal offense if that person aids or abets the first person in committing the offense. It wasn't immediately known how many states have similar statutes.

"The officer shot A'donte, not Lakeith Smith," Smith's lawyer, Jennifer Holton, said during the trial. "Lakeith was a 15-year-old child, scared to death. He did not participate in the act that caused the death of A'donte. He never shot anybody."

Other surviving defendants charged in the case — Montgomery residents Jadarien Hardy, 22; Jhavarske Jackson, 23; and La’Anthony Washington, 22 — entered guilty pleas to charges of felony murder, burglary and theft, court records show. They are awaiting sentencing.

 

[MalcolmNewton]

25 get out at 43, 65 get out in a casket. Sucks to be him.

On a seperate note, and no excuse for his dumdassery, funny how white "teens" almost never get these types of prison sentences.

 

[rbk93]

Can't really judge without a backstory.

 

[hand2handking]

 

[ggarvinxx3]

Teen Turns Down Plea Deal for 25 Years in Prison, Gets 65 Years Instead

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...teen-accomplice-sentenced-65-years/492001002/

25 get out at 43, 65 get out in a casket. Sucks to be him.

On a seperate note, and no excuse for his dumdassery, funny how white "teens" almost never get these types of prison sentences.

Thats OD smh

 

[nawghtyhare]

Can't really judge without a backstory.

U can’t judge???
Bruh
We getting od years
Than any other ethnicity
I swear man
These white folks are something else

 

[nawghtyhare]

I hope all the bad things
that could ever happen in life
Happen to the folks who had a hand
in this woman’s death

 

[rbk93]

U can’t judge???
Bruh
We getting od years
Than any other ethnicity
I swear man
These white folks are something else

Not the years, just what would cause him to even be in that type of situation as is.

 

[ggarvinxx3]

Not the years, just what would cause him to even be in that type of situation as is.

Systematic Oppression

 

[nawghtyhare]

Not the years, just what would cause him to even be in that type of situation as is.

Bruh the n word contrary to popular belief
Ain’t a term of endearment
And words do and can hurt
Tired of folks saying words can’t hurt
Yes they can

 

[hand2handking]

Gang Members Admit to Firebombing Black Families in Boyle Heights Housing Development

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-gang-firebombing-20180405-story.html

Members of a Latino street gang have admitted to carrying out a racially motivated firebombing attack on black families in a Los Angeles housing project, prosecutors announced Thursday.

Three men belonging to the Big Hazard gang will plead guilty to federal hate crimes stemming from the 2014 attack, according to written plea agreements. In exchange for the confessions, prosecutors for U.S. Atty. Nicola T. Hanna agreed to seek some leniency for the men when they are sentenced. Each faces more than 30 years in federal prison.

The nighttime attack on Mother’s Day four years ago laid bare long-standing racial animosity Latino gangs have stoked in the Ramona Gardens Housing Development and elsewhere. The Big Hazard gang claimed the Boyle Heights housing project as its territory and the men set out to terrorize black families into fleeing their apartments, according to a statement released by Hanna.

Jose Saucedo, 24, Edwin Felix, 26, and Jonathan Portillo, 23, were part of a group of eight gang members who carried out the well-planned attack.

 

[Nouss]

30 years for murder....I aint mad about the dude gettin extended time but a murder charge? I could understand it more had one of his accomplices killed one of the victims of theft but in this situation...

That part is incredible...I just can´t...

 

[hand2handking]

Police Block Black Women's March Protesters From Crossing New York Bridge

Vanessa Green of Nyack and other protesters confront the police who had blocked the entrance to the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge in Tarrytown Saturday.
Seth Harrison/The Journal News

https://amp.usatoday.com/amp/495844002?__twitter_impression=true

TARRYTOWN, New York — New York State Police officers blocked protesters participating in a Black Women's March from crossing a bridge on Saturday, angering organizers.

March leaders had prepared for arrests earlier in the day after learning they wouldn't be permitted to cross the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, formerly known as the Tappan Zee Bridge.

The event, organized by 100Sistas and Black Lives Matter Hudson Valley, was aimed at bringing attention to the issues facing black women in suburban and rural New York communities.

However, it was declared an "unlawful assembly," by state police. In a statement, police said they "strongly support the rights of any group to peacefully march and express their freedom of speech."

Police said the proposed march across the bridge posed a threat to marchers' safety. Still under construction, the bridge's bike and pedestrian paths are not open, and police said anyone who attempted to cross would be arrested.

"The Mario M. Cuomo Bridge carries an interstate highway with heavy traffic volumes traveling at high speeds, and also remains an active construction zone," the police statement read. "This type of event presents significant safety issues for the marchers, drivers, and members of law enforcement."

About 10:30 a.m., police officers outnumbered marchers — holding signs, a tuba, trumpet and drums.

Alicia Murphy-Wartell of Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y., was one of the first to arrive. Together with her two young children and her friend, Murphy-Wartell said she explained the significance of the march to her kids on the drive over.

“As a white person, we are here to support our black community members," she said. "I told my son that it’s important to stand up for people who are treated unfairly.”

By 11 a.m., nearly 100 people were there. In the moments before the march, it was unclear if anyone would attempt to cross the bridge, which crosses the Hudson River and is located a few miles north of New York City.

Green said there were marchers who were prepared to be the first to cross and prepared to get arrested.

They never made it that far.

Following the rally, marchers were met by dozens of state, county and Tarrytown police who, together with police cruisers and county plow trucks, blocked the off-ramp.

“Look at all the police presence," said marcher Ali Muhammad. "They are ready to arrest people, and they could have made this happen,” he said referring to the success of the march.

Many protesters squared off with police officers at the barricade and chanted "Cuomo's Selma." Others shot video on their cellphones. Slowly, the crowd inched forward until marchers and officers began shoving each other.

No arrests or injuries were reported.

Although the Black Women's March never did achieve its goal of crossing the bridge, some marchers called the protest a success.

“I feel like it was a very effective informal, unofficial march that people who are concerned about equal rights and institutional racism, came out to participate in," said Patricia O'Keefe of New Rochelle, N.Y.

"Enough police came out today, and enough press came out today, that we did manage to get people’s attention," she said. "But did they understand the reason? Will people reflect on the reason why all these police and press came out?"

Following the march, state police issued another statement.

“The state previously communicated to the event organizer that the bridge is an active construction zone and highway and that to ensure the safety of event participants and drivers, foot traffic of any kind is prohibited," the statement reads.

According to the release, police offered several alternatives to crossing the bridge on foot, including other bridges and roads.

"We are glad today’s event was peaceful and respectful,” the statement reads.

 

[...So]

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[MalcolmNewton]