He can’t be serious…
Today for the first time, we got to hear from the family of Karmelo Anthony, the 17-year old student charged with murder after fatally stabbing 17-year old Texas high school football player Austin Metcalf.
Anthony was arrested on April 2 following the altercation at Kuykendall Stadium in Frisco, Texas.
According to the police report, a witness told police that Metcalf and his teammates were sitting under their school tent in the bleachers at Kuykendall Stadium in Frisco, Texas when Anthony, who was a student at an opposing school, came to sit under their tent. The witness says that Metcalf told Anthony that he couldn’t sit there because he wasn’t a student at their high school.
A separate witness told police that Anthony grabbed his bag, reached inside, and told Metcalf to touch him and “see what happens.” The witness says that nobody believed Anthony really had a weapon, and that Metcalf then touched Anthony to try to get him to move. Anthony again told Metcalf to “punch him and see what happens,” and a short time later, Metcalf grabbed Anthony to remove him from under their tent.
The witness reported that Anthony then pulled out a black knife and stabbed Metcalf once in the chest before running away, leaving Metcalf to ask the others nearby to get help.
Once police arrived on the scene, Anthony was quickly identified as the suspect and detained, quickly telling police that he was “protecting himself” and that Metcalf “put his hands on me” and that Anthony had “told him not to.”
When an officer identified Anthony as the “alleged” suspect, Anthony reportedly responded:
“I’m not alleged, I did it.”
Metcalf passed away in his twin brother Hunter’s arms, according to his father Jeff Metcalf:
“They were twins, identical twins, and his brother was holding on to him, trying to make it stop bleeding, and he died in his brother’s arms.”
Anthony claims that the attack was self-defense, and his family has supported their son since his arrest and claimed that he’s been unfairly attacked in the media:
“Everyone has already made their assumptions about my son, but he’s not what they’re making him out to be. He’s a good kid. He works two jobs. He’s an A student, has a 3.7 GPA.”
The teenager was originally held on a $1 million bond, but was released on house arrest earlier this week after a judge reduced his bond to $250,000.
The family held a press conference today which was organized by the Next Generation Action Network, an advocacy group that says on its website focuses on “combatting oppression and discrimination for the Black, Brown, and indigenous communities.” But things got tense even before the press conference started after the press conference was delayed when Metcalf’s father, Jeff Metcalf, showed up and was escorted out by police at the request of Next Gen Action Network founder Dominique Alexander.
When he finally took the podium, Alexander blasted Metcalf for showing up to support his son:
“I want to start off this press conference to say something as a deep note. A deep note that I can tell America. What we seen at the beginning of this press conference. The father being at this press conference. These are my words, don’t quote anybody, is a disrespect to the dignity of his son…
That was disrespectful, and just shows you all the character. He was not invited. He knows that it is inappropriate to be near this family. But he did it. And so I say to people, actions speak louder than words.”
And later in the press conference, he also seemed to blame the Frisco Independent School District for the altercation for…holding a track meet in the rain.
Yes, really.
“What I have not heard the media say, as many media outlets have asked us what went on, I’m trying to find how many of y’all have asked the superintendent or one single board of trustee, ‘Why didn’t you cancel or postpone with weather in that magnitude?’
You couldn’t have a track meet in rain or thunderstorm or clouds. Y’all are the media, ask your weather journalist how the weather was that day and that time. Y’all do that research. Because as a person who is the administrator of your children, you are responsible for the safety of the children, and so it seems as if Frisco ISD is trying to push this off…”
Can’t have a track meet in the clouds? Now, I’m not a track runner or anything like that but I’m pretty sure they still hold track meets when it’s cloudy…
But that wasn’t his only criticism of the school district: Alexander also criticized them for moving to expel the high school senior from school – despite the fact that he’s been charged with murder:
“For the last week and a half the Next Generation Action Network has engaged in communications with Frisco ISD to ensure that Karmelo Anthony’s due process is not violated. We know that in the state of Texas there are things that are discretionary things and decisions by the leadership of Frisco ISD. There are clear guidance in the state and education code regarding expulsion of a student.
We have asked several times…and we have stated that it is just outright wrong to get involved in this. Karmelo Anthony doesn’t have to walk, he doesn’t have to involve in any senior activities. But Karmelo Anthony is a 3.7 GPA student. And if he doesn’t even go to class for the remainder of the year, he would graduate.
We’ve asked that Frisco do not make a decision in this situation. But Frisco ISD has notified of their intent to expel Karmelo Anthony from school one month before his high school graduation.
That just shows me that Frisco ISD is trying to push off the blame.”
Push off the blame? Is this dude really trying to say that the school district was responsible for Anthony stabbing Austin Metcalf?
It’s been a while since I’ve been in school, but I feel sure that bringing a weapon onto school property is grounds for expulsion, whether he used that weapon in self-defense or not.
In fact, I decided to go to the Frisco ISD handbook and sure enough, it says right there that students shall not possess or use “a razor, box cutter, chain, or any other object used in a way that threatens or inflicts bodily injury to another person,” “a location-restricted weapon,” or “a pocket knife or any other small knife.”
The handbook also says that students may be expelled for murder, or for “unlawfully carrying on or about the student’s person a…location-restricted knife,” or “possessing a prohibited weapon.”
Pretty sure that he qualifies for expulsion just for carrying the knife…not to mention, you know, killing a kid, whether it was self-defense or not.
I understand that tensions are high surrounding this case, but it seems like ridiculous statements like these only make the whole thing worse and not better. Besides, I feel like Anthony has bigger problems than worrying about being expelled from school when he’s facing murder charges and could potentially spend the rest of his life in prison if he’s found guilty.
