Jordan Russell Davis Shooting Sparks Trayvon Martin Comparison
Jordan Russell Davis, 17, was recently shot to death outside a convenience store in Jacksonville, Fla., by a 45-year-old man after an argument about loud music coming from the teenager's vehicle.
While many compared the killing of the black teenager allegedly at the hands of 45-year-old Caucasian male Michael David Dunn to that of slain Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, others believed that the issue was about more than race.
According to a Gawker report, Lt. Rob Schoonover from the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said Dunn and his girlfriend pulled up next to Davis' car and asked the teenager and four of his friends to turn down their music. Dunn, who was in town attending his son's wedding, reportedly fired eight shots at Davis outside of the Jacksonville convenience store last Friday.
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Davis was struck twice by gun fire after the argument ensued, resulting in his death. None of Davis' friends were killed, and Dunn was later arrested at his Satellite Beach, Fla., home the next day and taken to jail without bail.
While the 45-year-old man is expected to plead not guilty to the second-degree murder charge brought against him, his lawyer Robin Lemonidis told reporters that her client acted responsibly.
"It will be very clear that Mr. Dunn acted very responsibly and as any responsible firearms owner would have acted under these circumstances," Lemonidis said in a Gawker report.
The lawyer indicated that Dunn acted in self-defense, but didn't indicate if she would use Florida's Stand Your Ground law to defend her client, according to The Florida Times-Union.
After hearing reports of Davis' death, many compared the incident to that of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, who was shot and killed by a neighborhood watchman near his home in a Sanford, Fla., gated community last April.
"First Trayvon, now Jordan Russell Davis? The end is nowhere in sight," one person commented on Twitter.
Another person shared the same sentiments on the social networking website and questioned if racism was the cause of Davis' killing.
"So if you're an adult, white male in Florida, you can kill a young, black male simply if you say it was self-defense," another person tweeted after reading the story.
However, others were not quick to play the race card concerning Davis' death.
"This is bigger than a race thing," one person tweeted. "This is an ignorance issue."
Another person agreed, and thought the biggest issue at hand was gun control laws in Florida after reading comments about Davis.
"Some guy started off the comments with it being a race and political issue," the person tweeted. "The issues is FL's law about this."
