Authorities are so far refusing to point to racism as a motive after a black man who vowed to shoot up a school and “kill all white people” reportedly murdered six random white people along biking trails in Kansas City, Missouri.
According to this, police say 22-year-old Frederick Demond went on a random killing spree last August, leaving six strangers dead along walking and biking paths. Five were middle-aged white men, while one victim was a homeless white woman. All six had been shot with a handgun. Scott was indicted for all six murders late last week.
The Washington Post reports:
The killing stopped following the August arrest of Fredrick Demond Scott, a 22-year-old Burger King employee. As The Washington Post reported in September, Scott, who is African American, had allegedly threatened to shoot up his high school and “kill all white people.”
Last fall, Scott pleaded not guilty to three murders — the deaths of Karen Harmeyer, 64; John Palmer, 54; and Steven Gibbons, 57.
He was the suspect in three additional deaths and on Friday a grand jury in Jackson County indicted Scott in connection with them. The victims, according to the Associated Press, were Michael Darby, 61; Timothy Rice, 57; and David Lenox, 67.
Despite the racial profile of his victims and the fact that Demond had previously expressed wanting to murder white people, the Washington Post reports that "Authorities have not publicly addressed a possible motive for the killings, racial or otherwise."
On top of that, Demond’s mom claims her son wasn’t racist.
“As far as I know Fredrick never had a problem with white people,” his mother told the Kansas City Star. “He would do odd jobs for people and some of those people were white men.”
Of course, I didn't know Scott, his mama, his life, or what on earth would possess anybody to run out and shoot six random strangers to death for no reason.
I do, however, know exactly how this story would have played out in the national news media if a white guy had vowed to "kill all black people," then ran out and shot a bunch of innocent middle-aged residents.
Hint: no one would be questioning the motive.