If the victim had been a Black 17-year-old, this would be the biggest news story in the USA, and there would be significant rioting.
Hunter Britain, an unarmed 17-year-old White male, was shot and killed by a Sgt. Michael Davis of the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Department. Two people witnessed the shooting.
Rebecca Payne, who was sitting in Britain’s truck, is Britain’s grandmother. Payne was also Britain’s caretaker for the past five years and currently employing Britain. Jordan King, 16, was also a witness who was in the truck.
Britain and the two witnesses took the truck to Mahoney’s Body Ship auto shop in Cabot, AR, to work on the transmission in the middle of the night. The shop is less than two miles from where Britain lived, and it is own by a family friend.
As they left the auto shop at 3:00 AM, the transmission was still operating erratically. Officer Davis pulled over the truck near the auto shop. Britain got out of the truck with a quart of motor oil to chock one of the wheels, so the truck would not roll. That is when Davis opened fire on the unarmed 17-year-old, killing him.
After four days, the Sheriff’s department has revealed no more details and has not said if there is body cam footage. The Arkansas State Police have launched an investigation.
Lonoke County is an impoverished, very rural, primarily White area. However, Cabot is also part of the Little Rock metro area. It is only 25 miles from downtown Little Rock. Black Lives Matter [BLM] held mass marches and protests in Little Rock for weeks last year. These protests were on behalf of Blacks killed by police hundreds of miles away in different states.
Friends and family of Hunter Britain actively pleaded for the Little rock BLM machine to take up their cause. This fell on entirely deaf ears. Payne has been leading small daily protests in front of the Lonoke Sheriff’s department, twenty-seven miles from downtown Little Rock. However, the Little Rock BLM machine has taken zero interest in joining or holding any protests for the White teenager.
On Facebook, the #JusticeforHunter hashtag is only being shared by family, close friends, and a Little Rock sportbike club. The NAACP even openly snubbed protest efforts, saying they felt “reassured” that police are conducting a thorough investigation. Many have found the NAACP’s response to be insulting compared to the group’s history of aggressive agitation over Blacks killed by the police.
Officer Davis has been suspended pending an investigation. He is said to be a White male who is married to a Black spouse.
Britain leaves behind a newborn son, according to some sources.
THE BEGINNINGS
Rudyard Kipling
(altered by me for current conditions)
It was not part of their blood,
It came to them very late
With long arrears to make good,
When the White Americans began to hate.
They were not easily moved,
They were icy willing to wait
Till every count should be proved,
Ere the White Americans began to hate.
Their voices were even and low,
Their eyes were level and straight.
There was neither sign nor show,
When the White Americans began to hate.
It was not preached to the crowd,
It was not taught by the State.
No man spoke it aloud,
When the White Americans began to hate.
It was not suddenly bred,
It will not swiftly abate,
Through the chill years ahead,
When Time shall count from the date
That the White Americans began to hate.