In Macon, Georgia, 47 year-old Elisabeth Faye Cannon shot 15-year-old Vernon Marcus, Jr. in the head because she--you guessed it--feared for her safety.
She alleges that a group of teens had been throwing rocks and causing damages to her home and vehicle. She claims this had been going on for months. She states that she had called the police several times, but to no avail.
Her initial intention was to fire the gun to scare the teens away; however, she though they would eventually hurt her. As she shot the gun at the teens, one bullet eventually struck Marcus.
One of the teens tells a different story. He states that they were walking home from a convenient store when she fired shots from her gun. He also alleges that Cannon had harassed them previously by using racial slurs and accusing them of breaking into her home.
When asked about the conditions in some Macon neighborhoods in an interview by a local newspaper in 2013, Cannon had this to say:
"...The good Blacks won't get onto the bad Blacks. You try not to profile, but at the same time 99.9 percent of crime is gonna be, most often, a Black male...The good Blacks are too busy."
Ok, there is so much wrong with both this incident and her statement...
These boys DID NOT need to be shot at! Even if they may have been throwing stones at her property as she so alleges. Contrary to popular belief amongst racist Whites, vandalism, especially if it has not been proven, is not a reason to be killed. However, based on her statement in 2013, I think that she was profiling the young men because they are African American. She was scared of them and felt threatened when they were walking along the sidewalk on her property on their way home simply because they are Black.
So-called "good Blacks" have to be on top of "bad Blacks?" What about "good Whites" being on top of the Whites who shoot up schools? That is illogical. People are responsible for their own actions, and someone's race does not predict their actions. There are good and bad people in every race, culture, religion, etc. Thinking otherwise is condoning racial profiling. And it is completely baseless of her to state matter-of-factly that "99.9 percent" of crime is committed by Black males. This is the type of thinking that leads to racial profiling. With that being said, I think she is lying and were targeting these young boys because of the color of their skin.
What are your thoughts on this incident and her statement?
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