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AshleyWilsonSecondEssay 3 - 05 Jun 2022 - Main.AshleyWilson
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< | A Teenagers Death and an Attorney's Legacy | >
> | A Teenager's Death and an Attorney's Legacy | | | -- By AshleyWilson - 26 Apr 2022
The Morning of November 3, 2013
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< | In the freezing early morning hours of November 3, 2013, Renisha McBride, a Black teenager, crashed her car in the City of Detroit. Hours later, bleeding and possibly experiencing head trauma, McBride walked less than a mile from the crash site into neighboring Dearborn Heights, Michigan. At 4:30AM, she “pounded” on the door of the home of Theodore Wafer, a white middle-aged man. Without calling the police or turning on a light, he shot her through the door of his home with a pre-loaded shotgun, killing the girl. | >
> | In the freezing early morning hours of November 3, 2013, Renisha McBride, a Black teenager, crashed her car in the City of Detroit. Hours later, bleeding and possibly experiencing head trauma, Renisha walked less than a mile from the crash site into neighboring Dearborn Heights, Michigan. At 4:30AM, the unarmed teenager “pounded” on the door of the home of Theodore Wafer, a white middle-aged man. Without calling the police or even turning on a light, he shot her through the locked screen door of his home with a pre-loaded shotgun, killing her. | | | | |
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< | The case caught national attention, with Wafer arguing a castle doctrine defense. Castle doctrine allows for the use of deadly force when one’s home has been entered by an intruder, and Mr. Wafer argued he was afraid the person on the porch was someone from Detroit looking to break into his home. But why would Wafer immediately resort to lethal force? To answer this question, it is necessary to look to geographical and social context of the interaction. Specifically, the history of segregation and racism in Dearborn Heights, and the legacy of Dearborn, Michigan mayor Orville Hubbard. | >
> | Like in many cases where white people have killed Black people claiming self defense, Wafer was [[https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/2013/11/08/protesters-civil-rights-groups-seek-justice-after-detroit-area-man-kills-woman-on-his-porch/[not immediately investigated or charged] in Renisha's death. Michigan is a "stand your ground" state, which would have given Wafer no duty to retreat and allowed for the immediate use of deadly force in a confrontation. When Wafer was asked why he felt he needed to use deadly force against an unarmed teenager who was not breeching his home but was on his porch, Wafer argued he was afraid the person on the porch was someone "from Detroit" attempting to break into his home. How could that explanation have been enough to justify the murder to the cops and the community initially? The answer lays partially in the relationship between Dearborn Heights and the City of Detroit, which has been twisted by institutionalized and incentivized racism orchestrated by Dearborn Mayor Orville Hubbard for over 40 years. | | |
35 Years of Terror |
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