The jury is being chosen in Detroit for what some think of as a repeat of the Trayvon Martin case. This time it’s about a 19-year-old woman — Renisha McBride — who, after a car accident likely caused by drinking, knocked on the door of a 55-year-old white man and was shot as a prospective “burglar.” In Detroit, you understand, burglars commonly knock first. [icopyright one button toolbar]
[Theodore] Wafer shot McBride on his front porch in Dearborn Heights, a mostly white town bordering Detroit, in the early hours of Nov. 2, a few hours after she crashed her car into a parked vehicle a mile away.
McBride’s family said they believe she was approaching Wafer’s house for help. Wafer’s attorneys say the woman was aggressively banging on the door and that he believed she was there to burglarize his home. Among the key points of dispute, Wafer’s side asserts his door screen was dislodged by McBride in an example of her out-of-control rage. Prosecutors say it was pushed off the hinge when Wafer shot her through the screen. ...AlJazeera
The difficulty in choosing a jury has to do with race, they say. But honestly: I don’t think this is as much about race as it is about the sheer inhumanity of a man with a gun when he’s dealing with a post-accident, mildly hysterical young woman who knocked on his door and asked for help. This is about America, not about black and white. I’d be interested in knowing what TV program was on and why he was so tetchy when he went to the door.