I honestly had no plan to write about the tragic shooting death of former New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs running back Joe McKnight in Terrytown, Louisiana by 54-year-old Ronald Gasser. In fact, once my fellow writer and friend at Evenin' Tea did this excellent piece, I assumed my thoughts were all covered. According to several eyewitness accounts, McKnight got out of his vehicle and tried apologizing to Gasser before Gasser pulled out a semi-automatic handgun and shooting the former NFL player multiple times--including one witness who said Gasser stood over McKnight after he shot him, said "I told you not to f--k with me" and shot him again. He waited for the police to arrive, was arrested and then released. That's right, boys and girls...not held with or without a bond...set free after murdering someone. Perhaps an even bigger umbrella to the obvious race factor and what drove me to write about this incident is the controversial "Stand Your Ground Law" and how this could potentially be a defense for Gasser as his case moves forward. However, I will discuss how this law seems to apply to anyone who isn't Black and how it could be a smack in the face to McKnight's family and his memory as they seek some semblance of justice...
Revised Statute 14:20 of the Louisiana Laws entitled "Justifiable Homicide", Subsection A, provides the following guidance: "[A homicide is justifiable if] (1) committed in self-defense by one who reasonably believes that he is in imminent danger of losing his life or receiving great bodily harm and that the killing is necessary to save himself from danger." Providing even more statutory defense is Subsection C, which outlines more of the "Stand Your Ground" component: "A person who is not engaged in unlawful activity and who is in a place where he or she has a right to be shall have no duty to retreat before using deadly force as provided for in this Section, and may stand his or her ground and meet force with force." In Gasser's case, this can become tricky because of the accounts. While discussing the case on NewsOne Now, A. Scott Bolden, Attorney and Partner at Reed Smith LLP here in D.C., explained further:
McKnight was outside, the shooter was inside his vehicle and what the Sheriff is struggling with and what needs more investigation is whether 'Stand Your Ground' allows him to walk or allows him even to be charged because if he felt trapped, he had a gun, McKnight was out and he felt he had no other course but to shoot, that's what the Sheriff is struggling with. I'm not saying that's right, but I'm saying that that's what it is. You gotta remember, "Stand Your Ground" says, "I don't have to retreat and I can use deadly force if I feel like I'm gonna be bodily harmed or be killed."Even with Bolden's astute breakdown of the law, it comes back to one possibility which simultaneously includes and goes beyond the "Sheriff's discretion": maybe it's simply because Gasser is White. That elephant in the room would explain why he was arrested, released and then apprehended again on a manslaughter charge in lieu of at least second degree murder.
Now Gasser is no road rage rookie. In February 2006, he was involved in a physical altercation with an unidentified 51-year-old White male at a gas station near the same intersection where McKnight was murdered and later charged with simple battery. A release from the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office included these details of the encounter: "The victim observed a number on the truck to call if the vehicle was being operated unsafely. When the victim called the number, an individual, later identified as Ronald Gasser, told the victim he was the one driving the red pick-up truck. A verbal altercation between the victim and Gasser began at that time. Once the victim reached the service station, he pulled in to begin refueling his vehicle. It was at that time Gasser, who had followed him into the station, confronted him and began to strike him with a closed fist several times." What makes this incident so egregious is Gasser's case was later dismissed, despite this detailed account of the assault. Interestingly enough, he owns a telecommunications consultancy business called LAN-TEL, which has allegedly provided telephone services to penal institutions. Considering his potential political connections and his "privilege", it begs this question: if Gasser wasn't convicted of a simple battery charge against another White man, then are we to have faith in the judicial system to convict him of a manslaughter charge (or higher if indicted) which claimed the life of a Black man? Ask most Black folk and the answer is a resounding "no".
In one of my Facebook groups, someone posted a Facebook Live video from New Orleans teacher Rubia Garcia, who notably recalled the April 9 shooting death of former Saints defensive end Will Smith by Cardell Hayes in the Lower Garden District of New Orleans. Hayes, 29, was charged with second degree murder for shooting Smith eight times, attempted second degree murder against Smith's wife Racquel (who was injured, but survived the shooting) and aggravated criminal damage to property. One of the points Garcia stressed was unlike how Gasser was released less than 24 hours after his incident, Hayes also remained on the scene of his crime and was arrested, but held on a $1.75 million bond--an amount which attorneys John Fuller and Jay Daniels unsuccessfully sought to have reduced. Prosecutors suggest Hayes was the aggressor as he rammed Smith's vehicle and was the only person with a firearm. However, as Hayes' trial began earlier today after a long, arduous jury selection process, his attorneys are arguing from the "Stand Your Ground" platform as Fuller has consistently maintained his client was "extremely sober" and "not the aggressor" as Smith, whose blood-alcohol content level was .235 at the time of the shooting (three times the legal limit) according to a toxicology report submitted to the Orleans Parish D.A.'s office, allegedly charged and assaulted him.
In her video, Garcia admitted the inevitable racial disparity between Hayes and Gasser: "Regardless of the fact that there were conflicting reports, it was the same situation with Will Smith, so what's the difference? Oh, that's right...Ronald Gasser is White!" She also went on to say this:
Perhaps this last contrast drives home the point of discrepancies in our laws when it comes to race even more than the Hayes-Smith incident. In a December 5 NewsOne Now interview with Roland Martin, Judge Morris W. Reed, President of the New Orleans Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), compared the Gasser-McKnight incident to a May 2013 incident in Kenner--also part of Jefferson Parish and where McKnight was born. Roger Batiste, a 78-year-old Black man, fired one shot and killed 27-year-old Shane Vicknair, who was White. Defending himself against Vicknair who even video surveillance showed was "aggressively" attempting to enter his Batiste's pickup and who Batiste alleges was calling him racial slurs, he tried to use the "Stand Your Ground" Law to his advantage. However, the police essentially dumbed down his account by saying "he made no attempt to get away from Vicknair's aggressive behavior". After turning himself in to the police, he was charged with second-degree murder, held on a $500,000 bond which was cut in half, posted that bond and was released, but was later rearrested on another $500,000 bond at the prosecutor's request. Batiste eventually entered a plea of guilty to negligent homicide and being sentenced to a five-year prison term. When speaking on the difference in the treatment of Batiste versus the "discretion" used with Gasser, Judge Reed simply said, "This is incredible, it's incredulous, I'm aghast."
When people insist on taking race out of situations like these or acting like the law protects everyone equally, then those same people must also consider incidents like Philando Castile and Alton Sterling where both victims carried guns in open carry states. I guarantee had either of those gentlemen been White men, then the police would have made every allowance possible even if the victims had drawn their weapons for any reason. Neither of them pulled their weapons on any of those officers and they were both still murdered in cold blood. Connecting this with the "Stand Your Ground" defense, both Hayes and Batiste owned up to their parts in these killings by either remaining on the scene and have made arguments asserting they were not the aggressors. However, neither of them were afforded the opportunity to be released less than a day after being arrested for their crimes, walk the streets freely for three days and then rearrested on an arguably flimsier charge like manslaughter. Despite McKnight being portrayed as apologetic by all initial accounts, Gasser was still released. Thus, when I hear Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand say he doesn't "want to be accused of tainting this investigation or suggesting a story about this investigation to witness we have not located or talked to", all I can think, "I doubt this much 'discretion' was used with two Black men with a remotely similar defense or would ever be used" Bottom line, laws like "open carry" and "Stand Your Ground" have not historically protected the rights of Black people as consistently as they have for White people.
The whole "Stand Your Ground" defense left a bad taste in the collective mouth of the Black community when George Zimmerman benefited from it after killing 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida in 2002, wasn't arrested for six weeks before being charged with murder and eventually beat the formal charges of second degree murder and manslaughter at trial. So when Joe McKnight is unable to pursue his quest to return to the NFL because of one man's inability to control his previously-documented aggressiveness on the road, it is utterly infuriating and disheartening because we as Black folk in America know how this story is bound to end given historical and recent trends. Whether we are the decedents or the defendants who may actually be victims, the sad part about McKnight's death is twofold: 1) our judicial system often protects people who look like Ronald Gasser, especially when they kill people who look like Joe McKnight; and 2) they neglect people who look like Roger Batiste or Cardell Hayes, even if they have a stronger defense than either Gasser or Zimmerman. The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office has already "jacked the money" by allowing Gasser to be free for three days after shooting McKnight--a courtesy I have never seen extended to Black offenders in twelve years of working in the judicial system and can guarantee would rarely happen. Hence, the criminal justice system cannot afford to take any more Ls at the expense of either Black victims or Black defendants--especially when such an arbitrary law like "Stand Your Ground" is not applied equally.
In her video, Garcia admitted the inevitable racial disparity between Hayes and Gasser: "Regardless of the fact that there were conflicting reports, it was the same situation with Will Smith, so what's the difference? Oh, that's right...Ronald Gasser is White!" She also went on to say this:
This is not just a Black and White thing; this is a right or wrong thing and I understand what I look like. I'm not crazy. I'm a blonde-haired, green-eyed White girl. I get it, but the way that I was raised and the things that I've experienced...that you call things the way that you see them. You call a spade because it sure as heck ain't a diamond or a club and there's no way that you can look at this with compassion and understanding, look at the situation and say that it is okay--whether it's road rage or whatever--that it is okay to shoot an unarmed man and you get released the very next day...taking a life, no matter what race, profession, religious background, taking a life is wrong flat out.I agree with Garcia's overall premise: it is absolutely wrong to both take a person's life and allow any person to be released for any period of time without being formally charged for killing that person regardless of the circumstances. I also believe in letting that person have their day in court and allowing the legal system to do its job to determine guilt or innocence. However, from the perspective of a bald-headed, dark-brown-eyed Black man, my experience in America is "right" has been synonymous with "White" and "wrong" has been analogous with "Black". We have often not been on the fair side of the laws, which are supposed to protect all of us despite many of those laws not being created with people of color in mind. While Garcia did say "this is not just a Black and White thing" in all fairness, I suggest it's all of the above--although it was probably implied in her argument.
Perhaps this last contrast drives home the point of discrepancies in our laws when it comes to race even more than the Hayes-Smith incident. In a December 5 NewsOne Now interview with Roland Martin, Judge Morris W. Reed, President of the New Orleans Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), compared the Gasser-McKnight incident to a May 2013 incident in Kenner--also part of Jefferson Parish and where McKnight was born. Roger Batiste, a 78-year-old Black man, fired one shot and killed 27-year-old Shane Vicknair, who was White. Defending himself against Vicknair who even video surveillance showed was "aggressively" attempting to enter his Batiste's pickup and who Batiste alleges was calling him racial slurs, he tried to use the "Stand Your Ground" Law to his advantage. However, the police essentially dumbed down his account by saying "he made no attempt to get away from Vicknair's aggressive behavior". After turning himself in to the police, he was charged with second-degree murder, held on a $500,000 bond which was cut in half, posted that bond and was released, but was later rearrested on another $500,000 bond at the prosecutor's request. Batiste eventually entered a plea of guilty to negligent homicide and being sentenced to a five-year prison term. When speaking on the difference in the treatment of Batiste versus the "discretion" used with Gasser, Judge Reed simply said, "This is incredible, it's incredulous, I'm aghast."
When people insist on taking race out of situations like these or acting like the law protects everyone equally, then those same people must also consider incidents like Philando Castile and Alton Sterling where both victims carried guns in open carry states. I guarantee had either of those gentlemen been White men, then the police would have made every allowance possible even if the victims had drawn their weapons for any reason. Neither of them pulled their weapons on any of those officers and they were both still murdered in cold blood. Connecting this with the "Stand Your Ground" defense, both Hayes and Batiste owned up to their parts in these killings by either remaining on the scene and have made arguments asserting they were not the aggressors. However, neither of them were afforded the opportunity to be released less than a day after being arrested for their crimes, walk the streets freely for three days and then rearrested on an arguably flimsier charge like manslaughter. Despite McKnight being portrayed as apologetic by all initial accounts, Gasser was still released. Thus, when I hear Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand say he doesn't "want to be accused of tainting this investigation or suggesting a story about this investigation to witness we have not located or talked to", all I can think, "I doubt this much 'discretion' was used with two Black men with a remotely similar defense or would ever be used" Bottom line, laws like "open carry" and "Stand Your Ground" have not historically protected the rights of Black people as consistently as they have for White people.
The whole "Stand Your Ground" defense left a bad taste in the collective mouth of the Black community when George Zimmerman benefited from it after killing 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida in 2002, wasn't arrested for six weeks before being charged with murder and eventually beat the formal charges of second degree murder and manslaughter at trial. So when Joe McKnight is unable to pursue his quest to return to the NFL because of one man's inability to control his previously-documented aggressiveness on the road, it is utterly infuriating and disheartening because we as Black folk in America know how this story is bound to end given historical and recent trends. Whether we are the decedents or the defendants who may actually be victims, the sad part about McKnight's death is twofold: 1) our judicial system often protects people who look like Ronald Gasser, especially when they kill people who look like Joe McKnight; and 2) they neglect people who look like Roger Batiste or Cardell Hayes, even if they have a stronger defense than either Gasser or Zimmerman. The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office has already "jacked the money" by allowing Gasser to be free for three days after shooting McKnight--a courtesy I have never seen extended to Black offenders in twelve years of working in the judicial system and can guarantee would rarely happen. Hence, the criminal justice system cannot afford to take any more Ls at the expense of either Black victims or Black defendants--especially when such an arbitrary law like "Stand Your Ground" is not applied equally.
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