Tag: stand your ground

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White Man Claims Self-Defense In Shooting Death Of Black Lover, Gets 1 Year In Prison

Gardner Kent Fraser
Gardner Kent Fraser
Gardner Kent Fraser (mug shot)

Folks are outraged over the one-year prison sentence given to a white Florida man who shot and killed his Black male lover.

Gardner Kent Fraser, 32, was charged with – and pleaded guilty to – tampering with evidence in the investigation of the 2018 shooting (and killing) of 31-year-old Dominic Jerome “DJ” Broadus Jr.

But Fraser was never charged for the actual killing of Broadus. Fraser told investigators he shot Broadus in self-defense, and under Florida’s ‘stand your ground law,’ prosecutors are tasked with proving the accused wasn’t acting in self-defense.

A spokesman for the 4th Judicial Circuit issued a statement regarding the charges filed which read, in part, “The investigation has not generated evidence to disprove Fraser’s claim of self-defense.”

“The evidence in this case, Fraser’s unwavering claims of self-defense, and Florida law do not provide support for homicide charges,” added the spokesman. “We are ethically prohibited from instituting criminal charges that we cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.”

Dominic Broadus Sr, the father of the victim, said Fraser “fatally shot my son in the back of the head twice” to “hide his feminine, bisexual nature.”

He added Fraser attempted to “destroy any evidence of their relationship by deleting all text from his phone and destroying/hiding my son’s phone, then calling three people before reporting the shooting to the proper authorities.”

After shooting Broadus, Fraser was asked if he knew the victim. “Ahh, I believe I do” was his reply.

Police say Fraser got rid of Broadus’s phone in an effort to hide communications between the two men. Even without Broadus’s phone, police were able to determine via forensic analysis of Fraser’s phone that the two men had been involved in an intimate relationship.

Although Fraser had deleted text messages from his own phone, investigators were able to recover 115 phone calls and 35 text messages between the men from Fraser’s phone. According to reports, many of the messages and images were “sexual in nature.”

Broadus Jr.
Dominic Jerome ‘DJ’ Broadus Jr. (image via family)

Because Fraser is the son of a retired Baker County police deputy, the case was turned over to the 4th Circuit State Attorney Melissa Nelson in an effort to avoid the appearance of conflict of interest.

But many locals say they believe prejudice and racial bias still came into play in the case.

Anita “Baker” McGoogin, who co-organized protests in support of the Broadus family, told News4Jax, “It’s brought light on to what everyone already knows: The prejudice is here. The racism, that’s here. The favoritism, that’s here.”

Additionally, The Root has reported that Fraser’s family has “deep ties to the Ku Klux Klan.”

At his sentencing, Fraser was adjudicated as guilty, and sentenced to one year in county jail to be followed by 4 years supervised probation with community service.

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A Gay Teen Had Enough Of Being Called ‘F*ggot’

Jordan Steffy had had enough. In his Twitter bio, Jordan writes, “Don’t let one word define who you are.” He had been called ‘f*ggot’ one time too many and was DONE. The LaPorte High School junior in Indiana says that he’s been the target of homophobic bullying since he came out in seventh grade. Steffy shared with Insider.com that a classmate recently posted a homophobic message on Snapchat using a photo of him. “He made an anti-gay post with a picture of me on it saying how he hated gays and a bunch of throwing up emojis all over it,” Steffy told Insider. “I walked up to him and said ‘Why did you post this?’ He said ‘It was just a post.’ And I said ‘Well, it’s not just a post. It’s a post about me, saying how you dislike who I am, and I don’t appreciate that.’ He went on to say ‘Okay, but what are you going to do about it?’ I said ‘I’m not going to deal with this, this is the last time I’m called anything.’ “And then he said ‘What are you going to do about it, faggot?’ And that’s when I was like ‘No, I’m not doing this.'” What followed was the slap seen round the world. https://twitter.com/JordanSteffy1/status/1193002314879184898 The video has been viewed more than a million times on Twitter in less than a day. In subsequent responses to others, Jordan was surprised by the show of support, saying “I really can’t believe people actually are around to tell me that it was ok to stick up for myself!” “I honestly was just looking for an apology,” said Jordan. “But he acted like it was no big deal and that has been the word to define me since 2nd grade.” Apparently the fallout was the school suspended him and the bully, but his suspension was longer “due to the fighting.” Jordan added, “But I am taking it as a lesson to not be anyone’s doormat and to leave your shoes at the door.” One Twitter user asked if he was ok and he answered with a resounding, “Yes I’m good better than ever – I honestly can’t thank people enough for all the support! Thank you for taking the time to check!” One parent wrote, “As a mom, I think you did good.” Jordan responded that his mom totally has his back. He shared that while his mom doesn’t condone fighting, she felt it was ok to stand up not only for himself but for others as well. In fact, because his mother didn’t like the way the school administration handled the event, Jordan says she’s decided to homeschool Jordan. As folks offered their support, Jordan said he doesn’t think he’s “any better than any person just because I stuck up for myself.” He went on to add he wants other kids “who are going through the same thing day in, day out from friends, classmates, random people” to stick up for themselves “and to have confidence!” And the collective consciousness of bullied LGBTQ students rose up and cheered. https://twitter.com/DoctorJonPaul/status/1192984942537363457 https://twitter.com/davitydave/status/1193007679230185472 https://twitter.com/Joshooahvee88/status/1193023310679986177 https://twitter.com/invertibrate/status/1193082071368916993 https://twitter.com/jarekendel/status/1193016086112980993 https://twitter.com/loudandobvious/status/1193009454574264321 https://twitter.com/IsbaeMinsuga/status/1193163356015869952 https://twitter.com/anthony_MB75/status/1193076975390380032 https://twitter.com/CRUELCASSIUS/status/1193065966550355968 https://twitter.com/Kangaesugiru/status/1193059704903102464 https://twitter.com/Vindemiaee/status/1193215751416619008 https://twitter.com/YungxZorua/status/1193015184052367362   Some had no time for the unseen teacher who chimed in with a tame, “Hey, hey, Jordan, that’s enough.” Or, maybe the teacher wanted Jordan to get some licks in…? https://twitter.com/readkropotkin/status/1193150343359664129 https://twitter.com/ScrapeSquadMK/status/1193041967799816192 https://twitter.com/heschristofer/status/1192992735705231360 https://twitter.com/rob_bieber/status/1193151177271267328   I want to be clear that violence shouldn’t have to be ‘the answer.’ But, as we can see in the outpouring of support for Jordan, there are a LOT of folks out there who understand this scenario all too well.

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Sen. John McCain supports President Obama’s call to reexamine ‘stand your ground’ laws

Sen. John McCain says he supports reevaluating so-called “Stand Your Ground” laws in light of the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman murder trial:

“The ‘stand your ground’ law may be something that may needs to be reviewed by the Florida legislature or any other legislature that has passed such legislation,” McCain said on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday, two days after President Obama discussed Zimmerman’s acquittal in the killing of Trayvon Martin.

The Arizona Republican said he thinks the self-defense law should be reviewed in his home state, too. “I’m confident that the members of the Arizona legislature will, because it is very controversial legislation,” McCain said. Florida and Arizona are among 30 states with “stand your ground” laws on the books.