Another man gets away with murdering a young black Man with the excuse of self-defense.
By: A.J. Niles
In Toombs County, Georgia it appears that racism reared its ugly head again and resulted in the murder of another young black man. This time, it was twenty-two year-old Justin Patterson. The murder occurred January 29th.
Justin Patterson was shot and killed by Norman Neesmith, a sixty-two year old white man, whose eighteen year-old relative and her friend, invited Justin and his brother into their home. Justin was shot in his side after a struggle between Norman, Justin and his brother Sha’von Patterson. According to Kim Severson of the New York Times,
On that day, Jan. 29, 2011, Mr. Neesmith was arrested. The district attorney brought seven charges against him, among them murder, false imprisonment and aggravated assault. On Thursday, [April 26th], Mr. Neesmith was expected to plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct, which might bring a year in a special detention program that requires no time behind bars.
The parents of Justin Patterson suspected race was a major influence behind his death, much like the Trayvon Martin Case. However, Justin Patterson’s death never received any national attention.
In both cases, an unarmed young black man died at the hands of someone of a different race.
And they began to wonder why no one was marching for their son, why people like the Rev. Al Sharpton had not booked a ticket to Toombs County. The local chapter of the N.A.A.C.P. has not even gotten involved, although Mr. Patterson’s father approached them.
“We are looking into the case,” said Michael Dennard, the president of the chapter, after a reporter called more than a year after the crime. He would not say more.
What is interesting about both murders is that they share very similar characteristics.
Although the facts surrounding the case in Florida and the case in Georgia are quite different, both involve a claim of legally sanctioned self-defense, a dead young black man and, for the Pattersons and the Martins, deep concern that race played a role in the deaths of their sons.
“I definitely believe racism is why he was shot,” said Mrs. Patterson, who recently left her job as director of operations at a uniform company and moved to another small Georgia town. “And for him to get nothing but a slap on the wrist? There is something wrong here.”
The Defense for Norman Neesmith claims that not only Justin and his brother were trespassing, one of the girls that invited them over were under the age of 18.
[Mr. Neesmith and his wife] took in a great-niece, who has a black parent, when she was a baby. She is now 19 and admitted to investigators that she invited Justin Patterson to their trailer home that night, timing it so Mr. Neesmith would be asleep. The two had been flirting on Facebook and in texts.
When Mr. Neesmith pulled the young men out of the bedrooms, he threatened to call the younger girl’s grandfather, according to court documents and interviews. He asked the two, who both have young daughters, why they were not home with their children. He ranted and waved the gun around.
So the brothers made a run for it. By all accounts, while the younger one struggled to unlock a side door, the older one shoved Mr. Neesmith.
As the case unfolded, circumstances became clearer. The other girl in the trailer was 14, though she had told the men she was 18. Mr. Neesmith’s lawyers pointed out that a statutory rape charge could be brought.
This is just another sad case when being black when being black is enough to be murdered. And the person that killed Justin, Norman Neesmith, was basically slapped on the wrist by a District Attorney without a backbone. D.A. Harvey Altman says, “I couldn’t see that I could find a jury that would convict.”
Thanks to Harvey Altman’s handling of the case, Norman Neesmith was sentenced to 360 to 420 days in a detention center and another nine years on probation. He will only see at most one year in prison for this senseless crime. I guess a death of a black male in Georgia can only get you one year in prison. He will most likely be out by Thanksgiving on good behavior.
It is an absolute shame that Rev. Al Sharpton, Jessie Jackson or any other “Black Leader” has not stepped up and got involved with this case. If we do not speak up, those that do not like black men AND women will see this as open season on us. I do not know about you all but I am sick of it.
Hopefully, this article will spread the word around and will inspire many to back the Patterson family, just like we are backing the Martin family in their time of need. It is only right.
Lets us know your thoughts on this travesty.
It’s a shame that we didn’t hear about this. The media is twisted.
I live in Georgia and have not heard about this. I’m not sure why Trayvon Martin’s case took off and so many other similar cases have not been covered by the media.
I can tell you why those two civil rights pimps Jesse and Al Sharpton aren’t involved. The media isn’t all over it yet! People, they don’t bring the injustices to the media, they just jump on the bandwagon when the work has already been done! Nothing but con artists!
So true. They make their living off of black people. What people also don’t know is how outrageous their fees are for appearances. Both are millionaires.
And has anyone noticed the hype for Trayvon Martin has died down? It makes me think that Zimmerman is going to get off. It’s like the silence is preparing us for disappointment.
Yeah the “movements” in the black community with this generation tend to be just temporary/fads. We are not taking the necessary steps to make sure cases like this stop happening.
So this young man was basically murdered for sleeping with a white girl. Crazy. Situations like this just prove that 2012 is just facade. We really haven’t made much progress in race relations at all.
Racism is disgusting. But it goes both ways. Blacks are murdered by whites for being black. Whites are murdered by blacks for being white. I’m sick of people acting like only blacks are victims of racisim. Thats an absolute lie. Where I come from the BIGGOTRY goes both ways.