All I can say is that there had better be a really good reason for this.
Recall the grotesque and graphic manner in which Ethan was killed. He wasn't shown any mercy. He wasn't shown any pity. Ethan Liming’s murderers battered his body so thoroughly, and so ferociously, that they left a shoe print in his chest cavity. Let me repeat. They stomped on Ethan's chest with such ungodly fury, that coroners found that they had left a footprint in his chest cavity. On top of that harrowing detail, the assailants fractured the back of his skull and prevented his companions from driving him to the hospital.
Ethan Liming suffered a ghastly and gruesome death. Only a vile person of the lowest order should receive such a devastating and deadly beating. No decent person deserves such a vulgar ending to their life.
Given these horrific facts, it is shocking to discover that his attackers, three young black men, aren’t even facing murder charges. Instead, they’re facing the significantly lesser charges of involuntary manslaughter and assault. In addition, they have all been granted lower bond amounts. At first, they were being held in jail on $1 million bond. But now, one of them is only facing a $25,000 bond, another is facing a measly $5,000 bond, and a third has no bond at all and is free to leave jail until his court date. Furthermore, the ones who have to pay only have to come up with 10% of those amounts to get out of jail before their court dates on August 18th.
This seems wrong. Am I crazy for thinking that this seems ridiculous? How can this be? What have the grand jury and the judge discovered about this case that makes them feel as though the terrible actions of these men are partially justified? Do they feel bad for them? If so, why? They didn’t show any mercy to their deceased victim. Does the judge think that it is standard procedure for a group of young men to savagely batter someone to a pulp and then prevent their victim from receiving medical care? All because they didn’t appreciate being shot at with a splatter ball gun? As a prank? Is there some sort of post-George Floyd social pressure to excuse their despicable behavior because they’re black? What kind of information are the judge and grand jury privy to that has allowed them to conclude that the perpetrators of the horrific killing actually deserve some measure of sympathy? I’m itching to know the details.
There had better be extremely compelling evidence that comes out in the next few weeks and months that shows that brutally murdering Ethan Liming was within the boundaries of what constitutes an acceptable response to whatever happened that day.
Liming’s family is understandably disturbed by these developments.
“They feel they were made victims when their son was murdered and made victims again by the system,” said Mike Callahan, an attorney who is serving as the Liming family’s spokesman. “They are angry and frustrated. It’s very difficult for them.”
The defense team in the case is trying to spin the obviously excessive use of force as self-defense. They had better present damn good proof that attacking and killing Ethan, who wasn’t even a perpetrator of the initial provocation, was a rational and reasonable response to the situation.
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