Finally! The black community has something that they can personally cheer! Theodore Wafer, 55 years old, shot and killed 19- year- old Renisha McBride on November 2, 2013. On Thursday August 7, 2014, Wafer was found guilty of second-degree murder.?
McBride had just been in a bad car accident and was knocking on Mr. Wafer’s door. While the teen was drunk at the time, she was unarmed and apparently knocking on his door to seek help. It ended horrifically as McBride was shot in the face and killed.
Wafer’s attorneys claimed self defense; essentially, the sound of someone knocking on his door in the wee hours of the morning caused him so much alarm that he did what he had to do. Interesting details emerged in the trial that made it clear that Wafer’s story just didn’t make sense.
First, Wafer shot through a closed door. We imagine crazed psychos coming to get us in the middle of the night to, maybe, actually get in the house to cause damage. To have shot McBride through a closed door doesn’t paint a picture of a man who was in imminent fear. Also, Wafer had said that when he shot at the teen, he didn’t know that the gun was even loaded. This again does not make sense. How can he first claim that he didn’t know the gun was loaded and then still claim self defense? Either he did know it was loaded and really fired in defense, or he didn’t know it was loaded and it was all just a huge unfortunate mistake.
The jury didn’t buy Wafer’s story and on August 7, 2014, they found him guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Renisha McBride. He could face up to life in prison for this crime. This was an ending that seemed right and just considering the overwhelming evidence in this case. However,?we know that we have seen crazier things happen, especially recently.
With the shocking verdict in the George Zimmerman trial and the unbelievable non-verdict in the Jordan Davis count of the Michael Dunn trial, communities nationwide, specifically the black and brown communities, have continued to feel that their lives are devalued; that the negative perceptions of them create stories of dangerous individuals being gunned down because of something they had done to warrant such actions. Verdicts in the aforementioned trials, along with the numerous cases of police brutality of late, are leaving many of us to believe that we are to be in fear 100% of the time that we are out just because?of our skin color.
This Wafer verdict ?was undeniably huge for Renisha’s memory and her family and friends. What they are feeling now is most important and I know they are incredibly thankful to see justice be served. However, I am sure even they would acknowledge?the bigger picture here. Renisha’s death will not go down as being in vain. While she didn’t deserve to die and was far too young, it shed light on a culture that still sees black people as threats, regardless of their sex, background, actions, etc. This was not a “scary-looking large man”. This was a teenage female who was still gunned down. The ridiculous claim of self defense could have still been believed, as the justice system seems to be so biased against ?minority communities. But with this guilty we?can now have hope. We can have hope that our loved ones will not get taken from us because these cowardly gun zealots may now?think twice before pulling the trigger. They may now realize that a self defense claim has to actually be legitimate.
This trial gave justice for Renisha first. Justice that she so badly deserved. But it also provided hope. Hope that has been on a steady decline for the people most marginalized in our society and specifically within the justice system. Regardless of the egregious acts that may come and the beloved angels who might be taken from us too soon, we will look back on this case and believe that justice will be served.
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