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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsRemember Yoshihiro Hattori? 16yo Japanese boy murdered in Louisiana
fuck any law that says this if ok. it was murder, plain and simple, and Trayvon's life was also taken from a place of irrational fear.
Two months into his stay in the United States, he received an invitation, along with Webb Haymaker, his homestay brother, to a Halloween party organized for Japanese exchange students on October 17, 1992. Hattori went dressed in a tuxedo in imitation of John Travolta from Saturday Night Fever. Upon their arrival in the quiet working class neighborhood where the party was held, the boys mistook the Peairses' residence for their intended destination due to the similarity of the address and the Halloween decorations on the outside of the house, and proceeded to step out of their car and walk to the front door. (Fujio 2004; Harper n.d.)
Hattori and Haymaker rang the front doorbell but, seemingly receiving no response, began to walk back to their car. Meanwhile, inside the house, their arrival had not gone unnoticed. Bonnie Peairs had peered out the side door and saw them. Mrs. Peairs, startled, retreated inside, locked the door, and said to her husband, "Rodney, get your gun." Hattori and Haymaker were walking to their car when the carport door was opened again, this time by Mr. Peairs. He was armed with a loaded and cocked .44 magnum revolver. He pointed it at Hattori, and yelled "Freeze." Simultaneously, Hattori, likely thinking he said "please," stepped back towards the house, saying "We're here for the party." Haymaker, seeing the weapon, shouted after Hattori, but Peairs fired his weapon at point blank range at Hattori, hitting him in the chest, and then ran back inside. (Kernodle 2002; Fujio 2004; Harper n.d.) Haymaker rushed to Hattori, badly wounded and lying where he fell, on his back. Haymaker ran to the home next door to the Peairses' house for help. Neither Mr. Peairs nor his wife came out of their house until the police arrived, about 40 minutes after the shooting. Mrs. Peairs shouted to a neighbor to "go away" when the neighbor called for help. One of the Peairses' children later told police that her mother asked, "Why did you shoot him?"
The shot had pierced the upper and lower lobes of Hattori's left lung, and exited through the area of the seventh rib; he died in the ambulance minutes later, from loss of blood.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshihiro_Hattori
Hassin Bin Sober
(26,330 posts)samsingh
(17,599 posts)aint_no_life_nowhere
(21,925 posts)I remember thinking that the homeowner took the opportunity to engage in human target practice just because he could.
noiretextatique
(27,275 posts)District Attorney Doug Moreau concentrated on establishing that it had not been reasonable for Peairs, a 6-foot-2, well-armed man, to be so fearful of a polite, friendly, unarmed, 130-pound boy, who rang the doorbell, even if he walked toward him unexpectedly in the driveway, and that Peairs was not justified in using deadly force. Moreau stated, "It started with the ringing of the doorbell. No masks, no disguises. People ringing doorbells are not attempting to make unlawful entry. They didn't walk to the back yard, they didn't start peeking in the windows."
"You were safe and secure, weren't you?" Moreau asked Peairs during his appearance before the grand jury. "But you didn't call the police, did you?"
"No sir." Peairs said.
"Did you hear anyone trying to break in the front door?"
"No sir."
"Did you hear anyone trying to break in the carport door?"
"No sir."
"And you were standing right there at the door, weren't you - with a big gun?"
Peairs nodded.
"I know you're sorry you killed him. You are sorry, aren't you?"
"Yes sir."
"But you did kill him, didn't you?"
"Yes sir."
hlthe2b
(102,283 posts)As a foreign exchange student, I think he hasn't been remembered to the extent he deserved and as compared to Trayvon Martin. But, I certainly remember. Another blatant murder sanctioned and promoted by NRA and its fear-obsessed constitutency.
noiretextatique
(27,275 posts)i had not heard about this other case, but at least he was convicted:
Suspicions of implicit racism in the acquittal of Peairs further gained traction when, shortly afterwards, a homeowner named Todd Vriesenga, inside his house in Grand Haven, MI, similarly shot and killed a 17 year old named Adam Provencal through the front door. Vriesenga received a 16 to 24 month term for "reckless use of a firearm resulting in death", causing both Japanese and Asian-American advocacy groups to speculate on whether the difference between Vriesenga's conviction and Peairs's acquittal was related to the race of the victims. Other groups publicly stated that Vriesenga should have been convicted of the more severe charge of felony manslaughter.
freepers keep saying Trayvon's death had nothing to with race. I am sure that said that about Yoshihiro too.
KG
(28,751 posts)JI7
(89,250 posts)it's like they are just hoping and looking for any chance to shoot someone.
how the fuck can someone be ok with laws that allow for this shit ?
these people are also in positions where even if they are scared they are mostly safe and have the chance to call the cops .
but they don't do it. their first thought or hope is to shoot someone.
Logical
(22,457 posts)Lilyeye
(1,417 posts)This mess about shooting first and asking questions later is sickening. The kid wasn't even threatening and what type of "criminals" ring the door bell before attacking? Terrible that he got off for that. He deserved some time for his irresponsible behavior.