Mistrial of Michael Dunn: An Intolerable Injustice
February 17, 2014 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
From a reader who has been following the case of the murder of Jordan Davis
The mistrial in the case of Michael Dunn, murderer of Jordan Davis, is an intolerable injustice and outrage.
Dunn was convicted on all the other charges he was facing, including three charges of attempted murder, which could put him in prison for the rest of his life. But the fact that a jury was unable to reach a verdict on the first degree murder charge points to some truths much deeper than the fact that Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law gives carte blanche to racist killers—contemptible as that law is; and more relevant than the now well established ineptitude of Florida's prosecutors when it comes to trying white men who kill Black youths.
For centuries, countless Black men in this country have been killed or sent to prison because they "looked suspicious," because they were "talking loud," because they "looked at a white woman," because they "had something shiny in their hand," and for any reason their assailants could think of. For centuries, over and over with infuriating regularity, killings like these have been upheld in the courts—in the rare instances when the cases even made it that far.
Deepening Oppression, Changing Forms
This country was founded on enslavement of Black people, and genocide of Native Americans. Since then, over the course of hundreds of years, some forms of the oppression Black people face in this society have changed—but the oppression continues and deepens.
Dunn is a product and a zealous proponent of a culture of white supremacy, a culture that is not limited to "fringe" groupings, but is deeply embedded in American history, in the economy, in political, educational and social life, in culture, and law.
Dunn, like George Zimmerman (the murderer of Trayvon Martin) before him, initiated a conflict with a Black youth, then shot and killed the unarmed youth, then was not convicted of this crime. Both Dunn and Zimmerman viewed Black youth as criminals or potential criminals, and acted with the expectation that the law would back them up and society would understand their deadly acts.
At least some people on Dunn's jury argued that he should be convicted of murder. But there is no question that one or more jurors bought into the line that white men have the right to blow away Black youths whose conduct somehow offends them. As Jacksonville journalist Tonyaa Weathersbee wrote, these jurors "believed that Davis' cursing at Dunn and arguing over the volume of his music equaled a serious enough threat to make Dunn reasonably fear for his life."
Ron Davis, Jordan's father said [youth like Jordan] "shouldn't live in fear and walk around the streets worrying about if someone has a problem with somebody else that if they are shot, it is just collateral damage."
Think about it. Why do the youth live in fear that some white man who doesn't like the way they look, or the music they listen to, or who thinks they look suspicious, can kill them and get away with it? Why did the prosecution never bring up the hateful racist ravings of Michael Dunn as evidence not only of the kind of person he is, but of why he would initiate a confrontation with a carload of Black youths? Why is it that in the courthouse in Jacksonville that tried Michael Dunn, a Black woman named Marissa Alexander was sentenced to 20 years in prison because she fired a warning shot into a wall, to try to frighten off an attack by her estranged husband? Why is it that the lawyer who prosecuted both Marissa Alexander and Michael Dunn was able to get a maximum conviction of Alexander with a jury that "deliberated" all of 12 minutes, but unable to convict Dunn of murder?
These are not just isolated stories, random questions, or aberrations from an otherwise just system. They point to a system working the way it is supposed to work.
A Case of Cold Blooded Murder
On November 23, 2012 Jordan Davis was enjoying the long Thanksgiving weekend with some friends. They were hanging out together, having some laughs, going to a mall, listening to music they liked.
Everything changed in a minute when they pulled into a quick mart in Jacksonville. A 47- year-old white man, Michael Dunn, didn't like the music coming out of the youths' Durango SUV, and told them to turn it down. Angry words were exchanged. Dunn then reached into his glove box and pulled out a 9mm handgun. He began firing out his window at the SUV with four teenagers—four Black teenagers—in it. Dunn fired a total of 10 times, and three of those shots tore apart Jordan Davis. Jordan was hit once in each leg. Another bullet went through his liver, both his lungs, and his aorta, and killed him.
When Dunn's girlfriend returned from the store, he drove off to the hotel where they were staying. Dunn claimed he felt "fear and panic."
The reality is that after he had just shot up a car full of people Dunn went to the hotel, ate pizza, walked his dog, watched a movie, and had a couple of drinks. He never bothered to phone police or anyone else about it, much less wait for authorities to arrive. The next day he drove over two hours to his home before telling anyone of the incident.
Dunn claimed his life was threatened by Jordan Davis. He claimed that Jordan poked four inches of either a 12 or 20 gauge shotgun out the window at him. Or maybe it was a lead pipe, Dunn said. Dunn claimed Jordan began getting out of the SUV and moving toward him. He told the Jacksonville jury that it was "Jordan Davis who kept escalating this to the point where I had no choice but to defend myself. It was life or death."
There was definitely a loud argument between Jordan Davis and Michael Dunn. But nothing else in Dunn's story was corroborated by the evidence, or confirmed by other witnesses. There was no evidence or any other witness who claimed there was a gun.
Dunn didn't have to park in the spot next to a vehicle playing music he hates. He could have just stayed in his car. He could have pulled the car away from the youths and waited for his girlfriend at another parking spot. He could have just sat it out and waited another minute or two until she returned from the store.
He did none of those things. Instead, he provoked and initiated a confrontation with the youths. First he began yelling at them, demanding they obey him and turn down the music. When Jordan Davis argued back, Dunn picked up his gun, unholstered it, put a round in the chamber, and shot repeatedly into a car with four people.
If this isn't "premeditated murder", what is? Everything Dunn did, and didn't do, indicates very clearly that he was thinking about what he was doing, and he carried it out with deadly, cold blooded violence against people he despised. Not because he knew anything about these individuals, but because he regards all Black youth who listen to rap music as thugs and criminals.
Seething Racist Hatred, Arrogant Swagger
While in jail awaiting trial, Dunn wrote to his grandmother that "truth and the law" were on his side. Truth is most definitely not on the side of Michael Dunn. Sorting out the different stories—the "narratives," as some news reports put it—of what happened on that fateful November day is not complicated. Michael Dunn pulled out a gun and unloaded it on an adjacent vehicle with four unarmed human beings inside; he continued shooting at them as they pulled away. Jordan Davis, 17 years old, lay bleeding to death in the SUV after Dunn's barrage.
But what makes a white man think he is perfectly justified, that the law is "on his side," when he kills an unarmed Black teenager?
A whole history and legacy of white supremacy and oppression of Black people, and a legal system that enforces that oppression, were behind Dunn's statement, and gave him the confidence he could shoot and kill a Black youth and drive away without worrying about the consequences. Black people have faced brutal and continual oppression from the days of slavery, through Jim Crow, down to today and the mass criminalization and incarceration of Black people, and especially Black youth.
In Florida, the same year Jordan Davis was murdered, Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by cop wannabe George Zimmerman because he looked "suspicious." And as everyone knows, a Florida jury found Zimmerman not guilty. Mark O'Mara, Zimmerman's lawyer, gave some advice to Dunn's lawyer in the Jacksonville newspaper, when he wrote that to find Dunn "not guilty" of first degree murder on the basis of "reasonable doubt" it was only necessary for Dunn to claim he felt threatened.
In other words, in the United States today, and in Florida in particular, prejudices and hatred of a racist white man are legal grounds for murdering Black youth.
Dunn's seething hatred, fear, and contempt of Black people, especially Black youth, pulse throughout the letters he sent from jail to relatives and friends after his arrest. So do many threats and warnings from Dunn that Black youth are bringing violent deaths upon themselves—they are "asking for it."
Dunn's letters are full of the arrogant swagger of a white man who thinks he is entitled to and deserving of superiority over Black people; who thinks Black teenagers should call him "sir" and jump to obey commands he shouts at them. He writes and acts like a man who has every expectation that society and the law are on his side, and will understand that when he shoots at and kills an unarmed Black youth, this is a perfectly reasonable and justifiable act.
He wrote to his grandmother that he is "not really prejudiced against race, but I have no use for certain cultures. This gangster rap, gang thug 'culture' that certain segments of society flock to is intolerable." In another letter Dunn wrote that "it's spooky how... biased towards blacks the courts are. This jail is full of blacks and they all act like thugs. ... This may sound a bit radical but if more people would arm themselves and kill these fucking idiots when they're threatening you, eventually they may take the hint and change their behavior."
Of course, Dunn knew nothing about Jordan Davis, or the other youths when he began shooting into their car. The only thing he knew of Jordan Davis and the other youths was that they were young Black men listening to music he doesn't like, and they didn't turn down the volume for him.
A Trial Aimed at Not Getting at the Truth
The state prosecution team—which included State Attorney Angela Corey, who supervised the prosecution of George Zimmerman, and John Guy, who also was a prosecutor in the case against George Zimmerman—did nothing to contradict Dunn's lawyers about his motive for killing Jordan Davis. The hatred of Black youth that Dunn poured out, the explicit and veiled threats against Black people and what Dunn calls "thug culture," the demand that Black youth "change their behavior" or be killed was not an issue in the courtroom.
But how could all this not be relevant to the prosecution of Michael Dunn? Why wasn't Dunn's virulent racism forcefully brought out to contest Dunn's claim that he was acting "in self defense," when in fact he initiated and then escalated a verbal conflict, and turned it into a murderous assault?
The dominant culture in this society is saturated with the criminalization of Black youth. Generations of Black youth have been treated by the police, the courts, the educational system and other social institutions as generations of criminals, and imprisoned in great numbers. Of about 2.3 million people in prison today, about 60 percent are Black or Latino. Portrayals of Black youth as thugs and criminals are so common on TV and the movies it is almost a surprise when a Black youth isn't depicted that way. The "nightly news" in city after city across the country spins out one story after another of Black youth supposedly engaged in terrifying and violent crimes.
Dunn is someone who embraces and participates in that culture of white supremacy; at least one of the jurors accepts it and sees Dunn's murderous aggressive actions as reasonable. The entire legal system, operating under its self-proclaimed banner of "equality before the law," masks and perpetuates a system of deep inequality embedded in its economic and social structure, reflected and reinforced in its dominant institutions.
Everyone who feels anger over the hung jury in the trial of Jordan Davis needs to ask themselves, what will it take to get to a place where all the youth are cherished and nurtured, where their creativity, initiative, and energy is prized, where their innovations and insights are welcomed, not feared. What will it take to get to a social and legal system that does not repeatedly find excuses and justifications for gunning down Black youth because they are said to be "suspicious," or because their music is too loud?
This system of capitalism-imperialism we live in has extracted fortunes over centuries from the brutal exploitation of Black people—from the days of enslavement, through the Jim Crow years of segregation and lynching, to the subjugation of "last hired/first fired" and staying at the bottom in the factories of the North. But now we are in a place where this system can no longer profitably exploit the masses of Black people in the same way. This system has no place and no future for the youth especially.
As Carl Dix says in his statement on this verdict:
"By not convicting Dunn for the murder of Jordan Davis, Amerikkka is declaring, once again, that Black people have no rights that white people are bound to respect. How long are we going to put up with Black people being gunned down, or lynched, by racists and by the police? Nothing short of revolution is needed to uproot the white supremacist capitalist system that is responsible for these racist murders. And as part of getting to the point when it's time to make revolution, we have to powerfully come together against these outrageous injustices. Get with the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP) and the movement for revolution it is building and get into the works of Bob Avakian, the leader of the RCP. These murders have been going down too damned long. They must be stopped, once and for all."
Carl's full statement needs to get out urgently and widely!
Volunteers Needed... for revcom.us and Revolution
If you like this article, subscribe, donate to and sustain Revolution newspaper.