Hate crime or 3 thugs hanging out together?

Last month in our community, an incident happened which has put Paris unfairly on the national map. A small contingent of malcontent black wannabe activists have tapped into some gullible wannabe Pulitzer winning journalists (and I use the term loosely) to paint a picture of our city as the ultimate racist town where blacks can't even walk down the street without suffering discrimination.

Here's what happened: Brandon McClelland (whose record includes two charges of possession of marijuana, a probation revocation, perjury, reckless driving, and theft), Shannon Finley (whose record includes at least two charges of marijuana possession, at least two revocations of probation, furnishing alcohol to a minor, at least two DWI's, and manslaughter), and Ryan Crostley (whose record includes at least three charges of marijuana possession, two charges of theft, DWI, and probation revocation) went to buy beer in the wee hours of September 16. They somehow ended up on a lonely county road. For some reason, McClelland got out of the pickup they were in. Whether accidentally or on purpose, the remaining two ran over him, his body became lodged beneath the vehicle, and he was dragged about 40 feet. Shannon and Crostley then attempted to cover up the accident or crime by submerging the truck in a pond. Both have been arrested and charged with murder. There is no need to be upset -- the suspects are in custody, have been charged with the highest charge, and the system is working.

So why are the blacks upset? Because Shannon and Crostley are white and McClelland was black. In their eyes, that automatically makes it a race case. But these guys had been running buddies since they were in high school. That perjury charge McClelland has on his record? He did that for Finley when Finley was charged with manslaughter.

This small contingent of blacks in Paris see a racist behind every tree. If they get picked up for shoplifting, it's a race thing. If a black girl hits a teacher's aide and is charged with assault, it's a race thing. If they are stopped for violating the traffic laws, it's a race thing. If they go to jail for selling drugs, it's a race thing. If their water is cut off for non-payment, it's a race thing. But the real thing is that it's a publicity thing. These people, one woman in particular, enjoy seeing their faces in the media. They think they're headed for MLK status. What they don't seem to understand is that MLK picked real instances of discrimination to focus on. What we have in the McClelland death is three thugs out in the middle of the night getting drunk and paying the consequences. I don't know exactly what happened out there, but I'm 99% sure it was not a race thing!