The Chicago Tribune tells the tale of Homer Wright, an 80-year-old man who shot a young black man who was walking by his home and decided he needed a drink by climbing through Homer’s bathroom window and snatching a bottle of his booze. Homer shot the little sprite in the leg. Clearly, a black youth climbing through your window isn’t necessarily a criminal because the Chicago police have arrested Homer.
“Here’s an 80-year-old man who’s defending himself against a teenager that’s breaking the door in … What if he didn’t have a gun? We’d be having a press conference about something very different,” [Darryl] Smith said.
Oh, incidentally, Homer is black, too. No word on whether the impetuous youngster, Anthony Robinson, 19, was wearing a hoodie or carrying a bag Skittles.
OK, I know it’s not a racial profiling case, but it made a better headline.
Video report at the link. Thanks to Old Trooper for the link.
That’s Chicago justice. The criminal has all the rights and is innocent until proven guilty. The victim is the one who is scrutinized. If he had just given this poor, impoverished 19 year old what he wanted, nobody would have been shot and everyone would be happy (except the victim, of course).
Wright was charged with one felony count of unlawful use of a weapon after police discovered he had two prior weapons convictions from 1968 and 1994, officials said. Records show Wright also was convicted of theft in 1990.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-elderly-man-shoots-burglar-in-englewood-both-charged-20120326,0,3175723.story
@Flagwaver – However, political connections trump all other rules, right or wrong…
Any episode of the First 48 has the same type of situation every week. A black man shooting another black man the only difference is one week the shows is in Miami the next its Houston or St Louis. It makes for good tv I guess.
@2 – Interesting. The issue here may not be that he shot someone breaking into his house; but rather that his convict status may preclude him from gun ownership.
Arizona has some political/politician problems but at least you’re allowed to defend yourself!
Was Robinson charged with Minor in Possession of Alcohol?
Susan: the other issue is that even if he’s not a convicted felon, he may not have bothered to get what serves in IL as a de facto firearms ownership permit. IL appears to require all owners of any type of firearm to have a Firearms Owner ID (FOID) Card. Period. Possession of a firearm without one appears to be a crime. And if I recall correctly, some municipalities in Illinois have local ordinances banning handguns virtually outright – and Chicago is one of those locations.
http://www.isp.state.il.us/docs/ptfire.pdf