13 year old Milwaukee person of color murdered in cold blood by neighbor.

[tachosomoza]

John Spooner was charged late Friday afternoon with first-degree intentional homicide.
The court set Spooner's bail at $300,000, and he was ordered not to have any firearms and not to have contact with anyone at the victim's address.
The criminal complaint said Spooner admitted to police during his arrest that he shot Darius Simmons.
Charging documents detailed what witnesses say they saw the day of the shooting. The victim's mother, Patricia Larry, told police her son was retrieving the family's trash cans from in front of their house when Spooner approached him, saying he "wanted his stuff back" and that he "wanted his shotguns back."
Spooner accused Simmons of stealing from his home.
Larry said she then witnessed Spooner shoot her son in the chest.
According to the criminal complaint, when police arrived on scene Spooner said, "Yeah, I shot him."
WISN 12 News reporter Marianne Lyles found out that just an hour before the shooting, Spooner opened up about his frustrations with neighbors.
Milwaukee police said they recognized the area around 19th and Arrow streets address when the call came in about a man they said shot his teenage neighbor. Dispatch records obtained by WISN 12 News show the Spooner called 911 at least 15 times in five years, including four stolen guns after a break-in Tuesday

Read more: http://www.wisn.com/news/south-east-...#ixzz1wnLE6WOp

Fuck. Walked up to a 13 year old kid and shot him in the chest, with no reason or logic whatsoever.

[Pretty Flaco]

person of color? what makes you think his race places into this?

[tachosomoza]

The old guy walked up to the black kid and shot him point blank in the chest because he thought he stole his guns, even though he had no evidence. It's racial profiling.

[Zav]

The old guy walked up to the black kid and shot him point blank in the chest because he thought he stole his guns, even though he had no evidence. It's racial profiling.

He could have just mistaken him for the person that stole his guns, but racism probably has a play in it.

[tachosomoza]

He didn't see who stole his guns. Read the article. He walked up to the kid ranting about his stolen guns (which he didn't see being stolen), and then proceeded to murder him with a point blank shot to the chest. This is abominable.

[Geiseric]

He should be isolated in some kind of mental institution, because he's a threat to society. It's so sad whenever I hear about any young person dying, especially when you think of how this is going to effect his community.

[Pretty Flaco]

He didn't see who stole his guns. Read the article. He walked up to the kid, *****ing about his stolen guns (which he didn't see being stolen), and then proceeded to murder him with a point blank shot to the chest. This is abominable.

it is fucked up. but reading it from the article it sounds more like hes fucked up in the head.

[professorchaos]

I agree that there is a racial component to this case, interacting with issues of mental health and the elderly in a capitalist society. It's clear that Mr. Spooner has been co-opted by dominant capitalist ideology portraying young urban black men as essentially predisposed to petty theft.

[Pretty Flaco]

the police response makes me mad. they put her in the car for questioning? are you fucking kidding me?

and once again, really? person of color? is this 1930?

[tachosomoza]

the police response makes me mad. they put her in the car for questioning? are you fucking kidding me?

and once again, really? person of color? is this 1930?

I'm a person of color and I don't mind being called a person of color. Quit worrying about the fucking word and focus on the major issue here, which is that a child was murdered because of his race.

[Robocommie]

the police response makes me mad. they put her in the car for questioning? are you fucking kidding me?

and once again, really? person of color? is this 1930?

Bro, person of color is the currently generally accepted nomenclature. Seriously. It's phasing out the term "minority" as being less diminutive.

[tachosomoza]

Do any comrades in Milwaukee know of any events to support the family of the murdered teen?

[Leftsolidarity]

Do any comrades in Milwaukee know of any events to support the family of the murdered teen?

I haven't heard of anything, this was the first I've heard of it. I'll ask around.

Also to Dwyane: Milwaukee is an extremely racist city. Would not surprsie me at all if the victims race had something to do with it.

[Sea]

I'm a person of color

So what?!

I'm a person of color and I don't mind being called a person of color.

You don't mind emphasis being put on race?

Quit worrying about the fucking word and focus on the major issue here, which is that a child was murdered because of his race.

How do you know that? Let me guess.. you "know" it's racial because the kid was black? Give me a break. The text in the article doesn't even vaguely mention race.

Everyone, every person must fight discrimination. This is something I support strongly.

However, I sure as hell don't support a vague and dramatized crusade against a racism that might not even be there in the fucking first place.

If you're going to accuse someone of discrimination, have a basis for it other than the mere skin color of those involved -- I shouldn't need to point out how bigoted that is.

[tachosomoza]

So what!?

If you're going to accuse someone of discrimination, have a basis for it other than the mere skin color of those involved -- I shouldn't need to point out how bigoted that is.

The basis is that he picked that kid, the person of color, out of everyone on the street, to shoot. The common stereotype of blacks as criminals led to him taking action against one when he was the victim of a theft. So what? So fucking what? Your post reeks of white privilege. If you can't understand why myself and others are treating this as an incident of racist hatred, you need to talk to some people and come off your privilege mountain. The article doesn't have to mention race, the element is clear. It's not vague at all. I can't believe you just said this shit.

[Sea]

The basis is that he picked that kid, the person of color, out of everyone on the street, to shoot.

So the fact that the kid was a neighbor had nothing to do with it?

The common stereotype of blacks as criminals led to him taking action against one when he was the victim of a theft.

You have absolutely no hard evidence of this, other than your own stereotypes of cranky ol' NRA members.

Your post reeks of white privilege.

Your post reeks of the victim mentality. Besides, what if I were to tell you that I'm not white......

If you can't understand why myself and others are treating this as an incident of racist hatred, you need to talk to some people and come off your privilege mountain.

I am on no privilege mountain. I'm a bit insulted, to be honest.

[tachosomoza]

Victim mentality? No shit, since the kid was the victim of a racially motivated attack. What the fuck is wrong with you? I'm sorry, but you're not going to sit here and convince me that accusing a 13 year old black kid of being a thief and shooting him in the chest is anything but a racist incident.

[RedCloud]

The old guy walked up to the black kid and shot him point blank in the chest because he thought he stole his guns, even though he had no evidence. It's racial profiling.

... Isn't it racial profiling for you to assume that being a 'black kid' is what got him shot since there was no other evidence?
Who is to say that just because he had no evidence that it was based solely on his race? No doubt it was profiling of some kind but it could have been because he was a young kid and the man was skeptical and/or, like someone else said, got him confused with the person who did take his guns.

Sorry guys, but there is no mention of racism here. I don't think this should necessarily go in the discrimination category.

[Leftsolidarity]

... Isn't it racial profiling for you to assume that being a 'black kid' is what got him shot since there was no other evidence?

No.

Who is to say that just because he had no evidence that it was based solely on his race? No doubt it was profiling of some kind but it could have been because he was a young kid and the man was skeptical and/or, like someone else said, got him confused with the person who did take his guns.

This is dumb. Why would we ignore one of the most pressing issues in our society and not consider it as possibly the motivation for this murder? Why would we dismiss the idea of racial profiling in the most segregated city in America? Yeah, the old man profiled him on something completely different, totally didn't even think about the fact that the kid was black

Sorry guys, but there is no mention of racism here. I don't think this should necessarily go in the discrimination category.

So the article doesn't spoon-feed it to you and that's as deep as your critical thinking goes?

[RedCloud]

I never said it isn't possible for racial profiling to be involved in this.
However, assuming it is just because the victim is Black and the shooter isn't + saying that's the only reason he was shot, is still racial profiling to some degree. You are speculating and you don't really know, so don't talk like you do.