Raw Story:
A white man in Austin has been charged with first-degree murder after shooting and killing a black teen over a fireworks dispute early on Independence Day.
The Austin-American Statesmen reported Friday that 41-year-old Jason Roche claimed he shot 19-year-old Devonte Ortiz in self-defense after the young man allegedly reached for his gun. According to police, video evidence taken at the scene of the crime proved otherwise.
Roche told police in his sworn affidavit that he shot Ortiz after coming outside for a second time early on the morning of July 4 to ask him and his friends to stop shooting fireworks. In his testimony, the older man claimed he saw the teen reach for a gun that he’d taken out of his car. The Statesmen‘s report noted that although police did find a rifle and a handgun at the scene, cell phone video shows that Ortiz was not holding a gun when Roche shot him.
“Jason Roche is observed displaying a firearm at Ortiz, re-holstering the firearm then displaying the firearm multiple times,” the affidavit, as quoted by Austin’s KXAN, stated. “During this point of the video footage, Ortiz was not holding a firearm.”
The affidavit also noted that the older man was seen in cell phone video following Ortiz around a car, and that “police believe Ortiz was moving away from the firearm and not lunging toward it like Roche had told detectives.”
So tell me again how you just don't get "Black Lives Matter" - or that you can't understand why so many (eg) NFL players are willing to risk financial penalties and outright career assassination by kneeling during a national anthem that celebrates a history that's partly about the murder of people with brown skin?
Roche told police in his sworn affidavit that he shot Ortiz after coming outside for a second time early on the morning of July 4 to ask him and his friends to stop shooting fireworks. In his testimony, the older man claimed he saw the teen reach for a gun that he’d taken out of his car. The Statesmen‘s report noted that although police did find a rifle and a handgun at the scene, cell phone video shows that Ortiz was not holding a gun when Roche shot him.
“Jason Roche is observed displaying a firearm at Ortiz, re-holstering the firearm then displaying the firearm multiple times,” the affidavit, as quoted by Austin’s KXAN, stated. “During this point of the video footage, Ortiz was not holding a firearm.”
The affidavit also noted that the older man was seen in cell phone video following Ortiz around a car, and that “police believe Ortiz was moving away from the firearm and not lunging toward it like Roche had told detectives.”
So tell me again how you just don't get "Black Lives Matter" - or that you can't understand why so many (eg) NFL players are willing to risk financial penalties and outright career assassination by kneeling during a national anthem that celebrates a history that's partly about the murder of people with brown skin?
