Don’t dismiss this story of a man gunning down his neighbor while the victim grilled supper as the actions of a madman.
The accused was perfectly justified in his actions. And I’ll prove it.
Rene Stermole acted in pre-emptive self-defense, and he had good reasons to believe his neighbor was out to get him:
Stermole said he believed Wright was a member of the El Rukn street gang, as well as a terrorist. Stermole believed Wright wanted to kill him and believed Wright had repeatedly threatened to kill him.
These beliefs were not figments of an over-active imagination, but based on an actual attack on Stermole:
He had seen two African-American men that he believed were El Rukn gangsters hanging out in a threatening manner near a bus stop. One of the men looked like a guy that had beaten him up in 1986. He drove past another African-American man whom he believed reached into his coat in a threatening way.
Let’s not forget that America was also attacked on 9/11. And our glorious leaders assured us Iraq was involved — somehow — with that attack. Some of the 9/11 terrorists even looked like many people from Iraq.
Let’s also remember that after 9/11, the Federal government launched Operation TIPS (for “Terrorism Information and Prevention Service”) to encourage Americans to alert the FBI if they suspected their neighbors of terrorist activities or sympathies. The program was even expanded to include 10,000 truck drivers to watch the roads for pro-terrorist drivers. So Mr. Stermole was simply acting the way his government had encouraged him to act — fear everyone around you, and shoot first if you think there’s even a 1 percent chance they’re going to harm you. You can always ask questions later.
Which is exactly what he did:
As Stermole pulled into his alley, he stopped his car near Wright, who was in or near his own backyard, pulled out a camera and photographed him.
In the picture, Wright’s arms are spread out in a gesture of apparent disbelief. He is holding a bag of garbage and some cooking utensils. He is wearing a polo shirt, shorts and sneakers.
Stermole told the jury that he interpreted the gesture as an invitation to a gunfight. He believed Wright was wearing a bulletproof vest, was packing two handguns and had a sniper backing him up.
Just because the neighbor didn’t have those weapons doesn’t prove that he couldn’t have. No doubt he had the capacity to possess such weapons, so Stermole was clearly justified in his actions. He was only protecting himself and his mother.
And if you don’t agree, you’re just an American-hating Moonbat.