Yeah, that is precisely what the guy told the cops when they arrived on the scene of the shooting in Port St. Joe, Florida- a small town not far from where I live. Follow me below for the details and why dog whistles matter.
I'm angry. I am sick to death of people dying for no other reason than the color of their skin. It seems to be a epidemic in this State and I can only surmise it is the influx of Tea Party rational (read gun nuts with bibles) and old South values. I live among these fucking loons and I worry each day my husband leaves for work (he's Black) that one of these imbeciles will consider him a threat and shoot him.
I guess I'm asking too fucking much that in 2012, in the United Fucking States that a wife shouldn't have to have a reasonable worry that her husband will be shot down like a dog for being...Black. No other reason. Just Black. Let that sink in for a minute while I fill you in on the details...
From what I am getting from the local TV News channel the suspect was calling the children in the apartment complex racial slurs and the victim had gone to the mans house to talk to him about his language. He proceeded to shoot the victim in the face for his trouble.
Deputies say Butler had been calling black children in the apartment complex racial slurs and Gant went to talk with him about the comments. Witnesses say Butler opened the door and shot Gant in the face. Butler told deputies after he shot Gant, he shut the door, called 911 and finished cooking dinner.
Now in case anyone didn't think it was a hate crime the genius went out of his way to let the police know that it was, in fact, a hate crime.
When Sheriff Nugent arrived Butler told him he did not understand the problem and acted as if he was being inconvenienced. "He was brought to the investigation unit where he was interviewed and basically admitted to shooting the victim and said he shot a, used a racial slur, and said that is what he shot and acted like it was not like a big deal or anything to him," said Gulf County Sheriff Joe Nugent.
Did you get that? Shooting another human being was "not a big deal or anything" to this useless piece of human waste. Keep in mind, this guy and his beliefs are NOT unusual in this area. I hear similar talk at the bar I work at on a regular basis. I watch good, decent folks ignore the comments and let them stand without challenge. This has to STOP. So long as these fools are allowed to spew their hatred without so much as being challenged or ridiculed, things like this will continue to happen. So long as people like Zimmerman are held up as heroes by people, this shit will continue to happen. So long as victims are treated like they were "deserving" of being shot, things won't change. These people are actually being emboldened to act because nobody is calling them out for their twisted, sick beliefs. In their minds the "silent majority" is with them.
This brings me to the dog whistles topic. So long as politicians and news media continue to goad racial animosity these fools are going to feel vindicated in their beliefs. When you have Presidential candidates using race baiting and blatant dog whistles and the media doesn't call them on it, you get fools that think they are invincible and backed by the silent majority. I'm not sure what the answer is but I do know what we are doing isn't working. The victim is expected to live but he was shot in the face for being Black, in America, in 2012. We. Are. Doing. It. Wrong.
Update 1
As predicted there are already on the local newspaper site defending the shooters actions.
This one stood out as a perfect example of a scumbag and the attitude of the scumbags around here.
I'm reading this story and this is what I'm understanding: Some older redneck lives in a low income part of town. He lives in an area enhanced by black people. It sounds like at times he has referred to some of the people using the n word, and his neighbors know it. A woman comes to his house with a young black child (or at least partially black). Now that part is just my assumption based upon my experience with society and the press (I noticed and deduced that he referred to the child's race, but not the mother's). So I'm going to guess a white girl, who likes black guys, goes over to this redneck's house knowing he sees black humans differently than he sees himself. This probably wasn't a traditional completely honest visit. He behaves as she knows he may, and returns and tells a black guy about it. I don't think she told her homeboy because she thought he'd do nothing. (When I was a kid we called what she was doing "soup' 'em up, then scoop 'em up") So her buddy goes to the man's property to confront him about what he said. Redneck doesn't play that way and shoots homey with a small caliber right between the eyes. Redneck figures well I'm F'd, the cops are definitely on their way so I may as well eat my last meal as a "free" man and try and remember every bite. Now My original point is I'd love to know if the redneck is going to be a hypocrite and change his vocabulary when he's the minority in a confined space. If I find that he continues to pop off like that when he's inside then at least I can say that he's true, not a hypocrite. For the record... I love black people, I employ black people, I listen to "black beats", I have black friends and at the same time I've beat down more wise guys than I can shake a stick at. Anybody comes to my house, black or white looking to invade my space and there's gonna be a lot of slow singing and flower bringing.
Not to be outdone by that class act we have this:
I am about to get bashed for what I am about to post but frankly I don't care! From the story I read about this on wmbb.com it was stated that Gant went to Butlers house and threatened to kill him. If ANYONE of ANY color came to my house threatening to kill me, damn straight I'd kill them first. So what Gant didn't like what was being said by Butler, apparently a lot of people weren't, it was well known how Butler felt about people of color so my question is why in the hell did this woman bring a child of color to his house in the first place? DUH, are you that stupid to really think he wouldn't say anything? Then to honestly get offended about what the man said while you are at HIS house? Come on, seriously..if you were at the grocery store and he said that I'd understand, but at his own house? From what I've read here most people think that Butler was a redneck and crazy. So again I have to wonder WHY did this woman bring a child of color to his house? Why was this woman there to begin with? Is he wrong for shooting Gant, that depends, did Gant really threaten to kill him on his own property? It wasn't mentioned if Gant had any type of weapon on him when he approached Butler at his house? So is he wrong, again don't know and unless people have inside information nobody can determine that just by this article. The only thing most of you that are commenting about is the race factor not FACTS! Also last time I checked we all still had the freedom of speech!
Of course there is no mention of any threats made by Gant nor was he armed in any way. She just assumes this. I'm not putting their names but if you go to the article there posts are there and on Facebook if you feel like explaining to them how ignorant they really are. I have work today so won't be able to do anymore updates until this evening. The victim is still in critical condition and fighting for his life. Last night they said he's in a medically induced coma and critical. I don't have any updates on his condition as of now but if I hear anything before I leave for work I will certainly post it.
Update 2
This is the guy that made the first quote above in the comments from the newspaper site. I called him out for his ignorant post and this is what the job creator's reply to me was...
Homeboy means friend every day of the week. You may be correct about the black people who have the misfortune of knowing me though. I'll fire them all today. Where should they send their thank you cards?
Isn't that illegal? Is it my imagination or did this dumbass just threaten to fire all his black employees because someone on the internet made him have a sad? Yeah, these are the job creators...You'll note he's a "Libertarian"...yeah, go figure.