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Loading ...Prosecutor: Boy accused of Larry King murder owned White Supremist materials
10.02.2008 12:28pm EDT
(Oxnard, California) Ventura County Deputy District Attorney Maeve Fox said that the discovery of white supremacist materials in the bedroom of the 14-year old boy accused of killing openly gay teen Larry King led to the murder charge being upgraded to include a hate crime charge and for the case to be tried in adult court.
“The discovery of these items in large part prompted the filing of the hate crime allegation in this case,” Fox wrote in a court filing this week.“[These are] not the type of things that are typically associated with the study of World War II. Rather, these items depict racist skinhead philosophy of the variety espoused by Tom Metzger, David Lane and others. They included hand-drawn sketches of swastikas, references to the ‘14 Words’ and the number 88, which is commonly used by skinheads to represent the words Heil Hitler and Hitler’s SS,” the filing said.
King was shot in the head during a morning class at an Oxnard school in February. More than 20 other students were in the room at the time. McInerney was arrested shortly after the shooting.
King died in hospital after his mother agreed to have life-support removed.
He was honored earlier this year at schools across the country as part of the National Day of Silence.
The prosecution document was submitted after McInerney’s current attorney, William Quest, asked the court to have the prosecutor furnish all files and confidential school records.
In an interview with the Ventura County Star newspaper Quest called the evidence “vague” and a “stretch” to suggest McInerney is a white supremacist.
“His best friends at school were blacks. His best friends at school were Hispanics. We have character references of teachers who are Jewish who will say that it is a stretch to say that very small amounts of drawings and scribbling of a 13- or 14-year-old, to say this guy is a white supremacist.”
“There are certain drawings and scribbles that I think are attributed to my client, a very impressionable young man who was studying Hitler and was writing a paper. He made some drawings of wartime Nazi Germany,” Quest told the paper.
It may be Quest’s last appearance for McInerney. The boy’s family has fired him and other public defenders and has hired a Los Angeles firm to represent McInerney.
A hearing has been scheduled for October 14. If convicted of all charges, Brandon McInerney could be sentenced to 51 years to life.
Hate crime or not, this waste of human flesh should never again see the world from outside prison bars. How someone can pleade innocent to a murder that was witnessed by so many is beyond me. I still say its a shame he cant be executed when he is found guilty, preferrably with a bullet to the back of his head.
I’m an illustrator, and when the classes were boring when I was in school, I would grab my notebook and pencil and drew everything I could think of. I dont remember if I ever draw a swastika or not. If I did maybe it was because the geometric design it involved. I drew cars, robots, drops of water were my favorite. But if he liked to draw and they found swastikas that doesn’t mean he was a supremacist. He killed another human being in cold blood and he should stand trial for that. But because they found a notebook with some random drawings they shouldn’t add the hate crime enhancement. More likely and sadly I think he might be confused and gay as well. I’m saying this because I remember not so long ago, after the the 9-11 attacks a kid was accused of terrorism for some drawings he did. These dawings were not other than characters from Dragon Ball. He was 14 at the time, if they find literature or maybe even an uncle who belongs to that kind of thing and influenced him. But not because some drawings, especially not in a teen. Hate crime shouldn’t be used so lightly. It just gives more material to right wingers who always complain about minorities “special rights”.
Nevermind the swastikas, the kid was murdered BECAUSE HE WAS GAY.
THAT is the basis on which this should be determined to be a hate crime - the fact that he was member of an identifiable group and was killed because of it.
Absolutely, I second George. Young Larry King was murdered because he was a member of the GLBT community. That is a hate crime. Arguing whether the murderer is a white supremist or not is a distraction.
This is an outrage. It was a hate crime from the beginning and we all knew it. It’s just not technically a crime because, well, gay folks just don’t matter. If we think he was killed because he was brown skinned, well, that’s a federal case.
Don’t get me wrong, violence based on skin color should be a hate crime. But to include categories of people who are so widely and deeply hated, such as gays, when we see people getting killed for it, is a travesty.
Hillary. Please, Hillary. You can’t be my President, but could you still be our champion and push ENDA through? And the end of DADT while you are at it?
Lawrence was shot in the back of the head not once, but twice, while sitting in school, a supposed safe haven from violence. McInerney brought a gun into school, it is well-known you don’t do that, there was premeditation, there was malice, there was hatred toward a fellow student. It should have always been a hate crime from the very beginning.
Is anyone looking at this boy’s parents? Did they harbor any hateful feelings towards Gays or other minority groups that might have influenced their son? Where did he get the hate mail? From the web? From hate-inspired websites? If so, what was he doing accessing such? Websites that encourage hate and murder should be shut down and their web masters prosecuted otherwise any one group or person(s) advocating killing or marginalizing minority groups will always hide behind the first amendment to justify their hatred like the cowards they are.
I totally agree. He killed another person for being gay. They are risking loosing the case if they go the swastika route. He can’t be tried for a second time for the same crime.
Tiger Tzu:
The BOY was FOURTEEN! I don’t know what you were like at 14 - perhaps you were a fully-developed moral person - but I was certainly pretty mixed-up at that age. Happily, I live(d) in a country where it was hard for mixed-up adolescents to get their greasy mitts on fire-arms. The issue here is not whether a pasty-faced, self-loathing teen hated gay people (and who, at moments, does not?). The issue is the barbaric state of American gun-laws. It is a disgrace among civilised nations.
Whether the accused hated gay people or non-whites is a matter for speculation. That he had access to a gun is a matter of fact. Give the poor kid a suspended sentence, and repel your precious 2nd amendment. It will save more lives than any number of ‘hate crimes’ laws.
rjb - Perhaps you are right, lets get rid of the guns and stab each other to death the way they do in the UK. If people dont have guns, they find other tools to kill with, and for the record, it is illegal for someone that age to possess a firearm anyways. When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns. And I really dont give a damn if he was 14 or 44, he knew better. It was premeditated murder for the purpose of killing someone for merely existing. I dont see any speculation concerning his hatred of gay people as I would say his actions speak much louder than any words. Suspended sentence indeed. I also find it curious you state, at times, you hate gay people. There but for the grace of god go you?
rjb, at 14 I was working as a volunteer camp counselor at a camp for handicapped individuals.
To call a 14 year old a simple child is not looking at what 14 year olds are able to accomplish. This “14 year old” chose to murder another individual. I certainly hope that he has 51 years to life to think of that choice in a small cell.
This is a very sad state of affairs, that a 14 year old is dead and another is about to lose his life as well.
I don’t believe that McInerney should face the death penalty or anything more than 20 years in prison. True, he committed a very serious and premeditated (as the courts may decide) crime and should face a serious sentence. But he’s also 14, 4 years below the age where he is considered an adult. You can’t just decide that his life is worth throwing away. People don’t figure out who and what they truly believe until they’re in their late 20s. I completely disagree with courts being able to charge a minor as an adult.
Do you think Larry King’s family is going to care if his murderer is sentenced to death? They’ve lost their boy, and there’s no justice (punishment, as many are thinking) that will equal giving their boy back.
I’d rather have McInerney sit in prison or go to a mental institution (there are no reports of a psychiatric eval on him) where he’ll have the chance to understand the gravity of what he’s done, and maybe (I’m being hopeful here) he’ll be able to prevent others from having such hatred.
I say 20 years minimum, and then they can figure out if he’s okay with gays. If not, then keep him in there, away from being able to kill again.
I thought McInerney was being tried as an adult?
In Newsweek, they tried to claim that this fool killed King because he couldn’t stand being allegedly “flirted with” so that’s why he shot him.
Anyway, McInerney took the gun and shot King in the BACK of the head…can he be redeemed, who knows but he’s going to be damaged goods when he gets out.
Because of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roper v Simmons (2005), the state may not seek the death penality for a juvenile offender under any circumstances. That is the law of the land. And we must obey.
However, any other penalty is fair game. The District Attorney has chosen to proceed with the strongest case possible. No deals. I happen to agree with that decision, as a slap-on-the-wrist doesn’t cut it with premeditated murder. And if convicted, I believe McItnerney should be punished to the fullest extent of the law.
I agree with everyone advocating punishment to the full extent of the law. He killed someone and we don’t need him free in our society to repeat it. We are too soft on real crime in this country while we lock up pot smokders. 20 years or 50 years? What happens if it is 20, he is 35 when he gets out and continues killing (especially after developing more hatred of gays due to his treatment while in prison by fellow inmates). 50 years is better, he may be too old to think about killing anymore. Yes he’s young, where do we draw the line? I don’t know..but here’s a suggestion.
Give his father the option to go to jail with him and split his term. That man obviously instilled some hatred in his son, and if he doesn’t think the sentance is fair, cut it in half by sharing it.
That only after we figure out where he got the gun from..if from his father, then he should be tried on his own charges.
People should be responsible for the actions of their children if they don’t want their children tried as adults. And they should be hauled in on negligence or negatively influencing a minor charges if it can be shown they prodded this behaviour by making a gun available or teaching them to hate. Breeders let their children run around restaurants, disturb us on flights, make the mall and Walmart TOTALLY off limits for me due to not being able to stand their behaviour and there are no consequences. Why don’t parents get ticketed when their children are ill-behaved (I remember behaving poorly in public only once…because I really remember the big slap I received for it).
This case points to lack of parental responsibility and lack of the parents accepting the consequences of their actions. They should have the child plead not guilty, forget the lawyer and throw him away. They already failed him, it is too late.
And let’s not make excuses for this kid, he was confused, might be gay himself etc. b.s.! We all knew bullies when we were young, and all the ones in my town ended up losers. These kids are not just adolescents that need to grow up, they are parental failures and should be held accountable for their actions. We simply need a tough society to shame parents out of producing such horrible little people instead of making excuses. We are not a tough enough society on the real issues like bad parenting, instead we focus on “immoral” acts that religious people can’t stand like alcohol consumption and sex. It is pathetic what now passes as acceptable behavior. We need to speak out.