A Florida judge is these days deliberating whether or not so as to add hate crime fees towards two of the 3 men who allegedly chased a Black guy into an alley and killed him in Jacksonville on May second. The 39-year-old sufferer used to be discovered shot to loss of life at the back of a dumpster at 6:45 a.m. Two days later, government arrested Ryan Christopher Nichols (19), Daniel James DeGuardia (18), and Holden Emery Dodson (21). Nichols used to be charged with second-degree homicide and changing bodily proof, whilst DeGuardia and Dodson have been charged with accent to homicide after the reality. During DeGuardia’s arraignment, Circuit Court Judge Kim Sadler discussed the potential of upgrading their fees to a hate crime, that means harsher consequences would follow below Florida legislation. The id of the deceased guy has no longer been made public.
Surveillance pictures printed {that a} white Jeep Grand Cherokee arrived via 100 North Julia Street and parked at 2:25 a.m. Three white men exited the automobile and began strolling. Shortly after, the Black sufferer used to be observed operating clear of the men as they chased him at the back of a dumpster; the 3 white suspects then returned to the jeep and drove off. Another video close to a 7-Eleven captured the licence plate of the automobile, main government to trace down the automobile to DeGuardia’s mom’s area. DeGuardia had reported his misplaced 9mm Glock that very same night time. Authorities additionally reported {that a} 36-year-old Black lady have been shot and killed within the house of Boulevard and West twenty second Street, however the two homicides don’t seem to be believed to be comparable.
The investigation is ongoing, and the native Sheriff’s Office has no information to indicate the assault used to be a hate crime. (*3*), Florida has an extended historical past of hate crimes and racial terror lynchings. At least 319 lynchings of Black folks happened in Florida between 1877 and 1950, with Jacksonville seeing 8 lynchings all over that duration. In contemporary years, Florida has handed regulations focused on Black historical past and restricting the political energy of Black citizens, exacerbating an anti-Black sentiment. The capturing provides to an already prime charge of gun violence within the nation, with extra Americans having fallen sufferer to gun violence in 2021 (48,830) than in any earlier yr on document, consistent with Pew Research Center. Guns also are the main explanation for loss of life for kids and youths.