February 12th, 2009
A year ago this week, 14 year old Brandon McInerney calmly walked up and shot two bullets into the back of 15 year old Larry King’s head. The students who knew both children said that King was killed because he was gay.
Almost immediately, McInerney’s lawyer started an image campaign designed to present King as the aggressor and McInerney as the victim. The pinacle of his efforts came in July of last year when Newsweek’s gossip writer Ramin Setoodeh ran a hit piece on King, claiming that he “flaunted his sexuality” and engaged in “inappropriate, sometimes harmful, behavior” and insinuating that King was a sexual predator who pushed McInerney beyond his breaking point.
Many in the gay community, being kind of heart and sympathetic to those who are hurting, joined the voices of those who called for leniency for McInerney.
And unless you’re heartless, one can feel badly for a kid who was raised economically disadvantaged in a family without structure and perhaps subjected to teasing. It is easy to think that this is just an otherwise good kid that snapped and in a brief moment acted impulsively. Maybe compassion would be a better response than incarceration in a cold penal system.
But in October, the LA Times revealed some information that suggested that perhaps Brandon McInerney wasn’t the all American good kid that his defense team would have us believe. We learned that he had a fascination with Adolf Hitler and like to doodle swaztikas. And the prosecution’s insistance on trying the child as an adult – with hate crimes enchancements – seemed less callous.
Until now the district attorney has not told the prosecution’s side of the story. But now the LA Times has reviewed court documents which tell of a very different Brandon McInerney and a very different Larry King.
Lawrence “Larry” King wasn’t sexually harassing fellow eighth-grade student Brandon McInerney in the weeks leading up to King’s shooting death, prosecutors contend in court documents.
McInerney was the aggressor, teasing the effeminate King for weeks and vowing to “get a gun and shoot” him, according to a prosecution brief.
The additional charges of the prosecution include:
It is difficult to know the appropriate response when a very young kid commits a premeditated act of murder, especially when the motivation appears to be bias based. But as more of this story comes out, it seems less like a mystery of children behaving impulsively and more of a cautionary tale about cauldrons of hate and the tragedies they brew.
This is, for all, a tragic story and a time for introspection. I truly wish all of those who are called to serve justice on this case much wisdom, compassion, and the ability to look to what is best for society.
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David C.
February 13th, 2009
Casualties, 2:
—One life obliterated;
—One life destroyed.
Winners:
—None.
Lesson:
—Be careful what you say, children will listen.
Miles
February 13th, 2009
Put a needle in it’s arm and get it over and done-with. That’s the “appropriate response”.
Alex H
February 13th, 2009
Definitely “no winners” in this case.
And even if the Newsweek article was accurate, it does NOT excuse or give the right to McInerney to execute another person. If it was, straight men would be an endangered species since they hit on women all the time.
Spare me the “he had a bad life” crap! I had a bad life too and I never shot anyone in the head.
As far as sympathy for the shooter… would there have been such an outcry for compassion if King was the-boy-next-door/jock-football player? I don’t think so.
Attmay
February 14th, 2009
This piece of garbage had better get the death penalty. I don’t care about his age. The death penalty needs to be MANDATORY for fatal hate crimes.
Jason D
February 14th, 2009
while justice and vengeance sometimes have the same outcomes, they are not the same thing.
Mark F.
February 16th, 2009
I see no reason for sympathy. This young man should be locked up in prison until he dies.
Mark B
June 17th, 2009
having been bullied and teased over my sexuality, knowing that teasing alone can cause irrepairable damage; I have absolutely no sympathy for McInerney, people are too soft these days, a life for a life!
King’s family are in the wrong for sueing everyone and saying he should have censored himself.
King did NOTHING to ‘provoke’ McInerney and recieved two shots in the head.
Life Sentence, Death Penalty. No Remourse.
Bree
November 16th, 2009
Why do people seem to think that just because he’s “young” means that he can’t release the same hate an older person does. There should be no mercy for him, not for this crime.
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