In May of 2011, Harvey was charged with first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder, but found not guilty.
Harvey might have indeed been innocent of that May 2011 murder. Or he might be one of the many murderers who are indeed guilty but were cut loose by juries in the town known as “Bodymore, Murderland.”
Over the years, Baltimore juries have developed a notorious reputation for acquitting those charged with murder in cases where there was overwhelming, convincing evidence that the defendants were guilty.
But such things don’t outrage Jealous. The thought of a murderer being strapped to a table and getting a lethal injection disturbs him to no end.
But murderers getting acquitted to walk the streets and kill again? Sixteen-month-old boys getting shot while sitting in a car?
I’m not saying these things don’t outrage Jealous. But it’s curious that we heard from him in the matter of the Maryland Legislature abolishing the death penalty, but haven’t heard word one from him about the outrageous killing of little Carter Scott.
The incident happened almost right under Jealous’ nose. The national headquarters of the NAACP is located in northwest Baltimore. It’s about a 10-minute drive from my house.
The community of Cherry Hill is located in south Baltimore. I can get there from my house in about 20 minutes.
So the site where little Carter Scott was murdered is only, at best, about a 30-minute drive from where Jealous’ office is at the NAACP. He could have – and should have – been at the site where the boy was shot, holding a press conference to express some kind of outrage.
By comparison, Annapolis, Maryland’s capital city, is about 40 miles from Baltimore. But when the Legislature passed a bill to abolish capital punishment in Maryland, Jealous made it his business to be there to cheer on the occasion.
This is a guy that sounds like his priorities are with the black criminal, not with the law-abiding black citizen. This is a guy that sounds like he’d have more sympathy for black America’s Cornell Harveys than for black America’s Carter Scotts.
That’s why the gauntlet is being thrown at Jealous’ feet. And I’m daring him to pick it up.
Message to Ben Jealous: Show Sympathy for Little Carter Scott was originally published on blackamericaweb.com
