Jesse Jackson, White House Tepid Responses on Lane Murder Spur Race Debate
Alexandra Ward
The murder of Australian Christopher Lane by three "bored" Oklahoma teens last week has set off a firestorm of controversy about what role race played in the shooting, and now the White House and Rev. Jesse Jackson are taking heat for their treatment of the crime.
Prosecutors say the teen suspects shot and killed Lane "for fun" Friday while he was out for a jog in Duncan, Okla. Lane, 22, of Melbourne, Australia, was in the U.S. attending Oklahoma's East Central University on a baseball scholarship.
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"They saw Christopher go by, and one of them said: 'There's our target,'" Police Chief Danny Ford told reporters Monday. "The boy who has talked to us said, 'We were bored and didn't have anything to do, so we decided to kill somebody.'"
Chancey Allen Luna, 16, and 15-year-old James Francis Edwards Jr. were charged with first-degree murder, while 17-year-old Michael Dewayne Jones, who police say drove the getaway car, was charged with using a vehicle in the discharge of a weapon and with accessory to first-degree murder after the fact.
James Johnson, the man who called police on the alleged shooters, spoke out this week, saying he believes the crime was not "for fun," as reported, but a gang initiation. He says the three youths once tried to recruit his own 17-year-old son to join, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
Supposed racist tweets from one of the suspects, Edwards, were also revealed this week.
| Fox News' Ed Henry Asks White House About 'Three African American' Suspects In Chris Lane Murder - YouTube | |