Ronald Gasser, the man who shot former NFL player Joe McKnight to death during a road-rage incident, has completed his prison sentence less than eight years after the killing. Gasser’s release marks the end of a complicated legal ordeal which included an overturned murder conviction, a subsequent guilty plea to manslaughter, and the Supreme Court ruling that non-unanimous jury verdicts are unconstitutional. The case spotlighted Louisiana’s “stand your ground” law. Gasser initially claimed he shot McKnight in self defense, and was initially given a 30-year sentence for manslaughter in 2018, a conviction later overturned because of a non-unanimous verdict. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter again in 2022 and received a 10-year sentence, a significant portion of which he’d already served.
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South Carolina executed Richard Moore, a black man convicted of murder, after the Supreme Court denied his appeal claiming prosecutors unjustly excluded black people from his trial’s jury. Moore, 59, killed James Mahoney, a convenience store clerk, in a 1999 robbery. His attorneys argued that he had killed Mahoney in self-defence. This was the second execution in South Carolina since the state resumed capital punishment after a 13-year pause due to difficulties obtaining lethal injection drugs. Moore had requested clemency from Governor Henry McMaster, which was denied.
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As I sit here reflecting on the news of a white Florida woman being convicted in the fatal shooting of her Black neighbor during an ongoing dispute, I can’t help but feel a sense of sadness and anger. The details of this case are disturbing to say the least. The fact that this woman searched about probable cause and self-defense laws prior to the shooting, and then tried to regurgitate legal terms to justify her actions, is chilling.
The premeditation behind this senseless act of violence is clear. The fact that she felt justified in taking the life of her neighbor over a dispute about children playing loudly outside speaks volumes about her character.… Continue reading
As a resident of North Carolina, I cannot help but be appalled by the existence of Confederate monuments that continue to glorify a dark period in American history. The recent lawsuit to have a monument dedicated to ‘faithful slaves’ removed is a step in the right direction to rectify the twisted narrative that these statues perpetuate. The fact that these statues were erected long after the Civil War ended, during a time of racial tension and segregation, speaks volumes about their true intent.
It is crucial to understand that these monuments were not built out of a genuine desire to honor history or commemorate those who suffered under slavery.… Continue reading
John Q. Hosedrinker