Public reaction was mixed when a racially diverse Florida jury announced the outcome of the Michael Dunn trial. In November 2012, Dunn, a middle-aged white man, fatally shot black teenager Jordan Davis in a convenience store parking lot in Jacksonville, Fla., after a dispute about the loud music blaring from the SUV the 17-year-old’s sat in with three friends. Davis and the other youth were unarmed, but Dunn said that he repeatedly fired into the SUV because he spotted a weapon in the vehicle and needed to shoot to defend his life.
Florida’s infamous “Stand Your Ground” law allows residents to protect themselves through the use of deadly force rather than retreat if they believe their life is in imminent danger. The jury, however, could not make up its mind about the veracity of Dunn’s claims. On Feb. 15, 2014, the jury announced a mistrial in the case. However, the jury did convict the 47-year-old of three counts of attempted murder for shooting at Davis’ friends during the incident. In the aftermath of the killing, everyone from Davis’ parents to a Hollywood actor has shared their thoughts about the case. This roundup highlights reaction to the Michael Dunn trial and how the deadly shootings of young black males have gripped the nation.
Stand Your Ground Responsible for Killing
Less than a week after a Florida jury failed to come to a consensus about whether to convict Michael Dunn of killing Jordan Davis, the slain teen’s mother, Lucia McBath, held Florida’s Stand Your Ground law responsible for Davis’ death in a USA Today column.
“Much of the debate over the shooting has focused on whether race played a role. Jordan and his friends were black; the shooter is white,” McBath wrote. “While I understand the racial significance of this discussion, I believe the blame lies with the culture that emboldened Dunn to pull a loaded gun from his glove compartment and a law that encourages unnecessary violence. Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law is the reason my son is dead. Florida’s permissive gun laws and its culture of ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ is why a stranger shot my child. Instead of settling a dispute over loud music in a reasonable manner, Dunn overreacted. His actions were not only senseless, tragically, they also were irreversible.”
Verdict Not About Race
Creshuna Miles, Juror No. 8, in the trial of Dunn, said that race did not factor into the jury’s decision. “I never once thought about, oh, this was a black kid. This was a white guy,” said Miles, a 21-year-old African American, after the trial. “We didn't even think about the race aspect of it. Race was never a factor ... when I was making my decision.” Instead, Miles said she aimed to obtain justice.
In a statement that surprised Davis’ parents, however, Miles said that she considered Dunn to be a “good guy.” She said, “I don’t think he hates everybody. I don’t think he walks around wanting to shoot everybody. I think that he made bad decisions.”
Davis’ father and mother said they felt Miles’ remarks were inauthentic. Ronald Davis, Davis’ father, asserted, “For her as an African American female to go into this case with this type of evidence with this type of rage, with him saying ‘thug music,’ how can you as a juror think this is not about race?”
Dunn Was a Bigot
The leadership team of African-American advocacy group ColorofChange.org not only expressed dismay after a Florida jury failed to find Michael Dunn guilty of murdering Jordan Davis but also accused Dunn of being a bigot. “In the years and months since Michael Dunn murdered 17-year old Jordan Russell Davis in cold blood at a convenience store in Jacksonville, his hostility towards black folks has been made abundantly clear,” Color of Change stated in a message to its membership. “In a letter to his daughter written from his jail cell while awaiting trial, he wrote, ‘This may sound a bit radical but if more people would arm themselves and kill these [expletive] idiots when they're threatening you, eventually they may take the hint and change their behavior.’ Although not submitted as evidence in the trial, these letters paint a chilling portrait of a man consumed by racial bias, exacting vigilante justice on an unsuspecting — and unarmed — black child.”
Jordan’s Killing Not Just a “Black Problem”
Hours before the jury announced the verdict in the Michael Dunn trial, “Grey’s Anatomy” actor Jesse Williams explained to HLN’s Jane Velez-Mitchell why Jordan Davis’ killing and others like it have sparked such public outcry.
“People are tired of this criminalization of the black body,” Williams said. “This is a tradition in this country, when people are able to go ahead and kill black people because they got sassed because we were an inconvenience. And we become a victim of a fantasy, this fantasy of what the black body does, and can do, has become more important than the reality, and we pay for it with our lives. It’s disconcerting, obviously.”
In addition, Williams pointed out that the killings of black teenage boys aren’t just a “black problem.” He remarked, “This is a white problem. This is an American problem. This is a societal problem, where people should be outraged when a man is able to instigate an interaction with kids and then shoot them when it doesn’t go well.”