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The leader of a wanna-be “Birth of A Nation-style” white lynch mob in Sarasota, Florida, has been fired from his job. On October 10, Stephen Carega gathered a neighborhood posse to intimidate, stalked, and threatened a Black teen for walking in his neighborhood.
The action of the mob was reminiscent of the Trayvon Martin and Ahmaud Arbery killings. On February 26, 2012, a police larper named George Zimmerman shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
Martin was walking back to his home after purchasing Skittles and Long Island Iced Tea from a neighborhood convenience store. Zimmerman, not unlike these four Sarasota neighborhood menaces, thought Trayvon Martin did not belong in the neighborhood.
The twenty-eight-year-old Zimmerman stalked 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in his car. Martin was on foot. At some point, Zimmerman caught up to Martin. He jumped out of his car in an attempt to falsely imprison and kidnap Martin. While Martin tried to defend himself from his predator–Zimmerman shot and killed him.
Since 2010, the Black population has been on the decline in Sarasota, Florida. The Black population has fallen precipitously from 7,558 to 6,611, or 14.56 percent to 12.05 percent, respectively. Conversely, the Latino population has increased from 16.63 percent to 17.92 percent.
The police have refused to address Stephen Carenga’s reason for rounding up a neighborhood posse to attack an attempt to chase the Black teen out of the neighborhood.
The Sarasota mob thought a Black teen (Cornell) did not belong in the neighborhood. So the posse leader (Stephen Carega) continuously asked him, “Do you live here?” “Do you live around here?” To which the teen (Cornell) responded, “I’m part of the neighborhood.” As the Sarasota confrontation progressed, it appeared that one of the gang members reached for a gun. One of his fellow gangsters restrained him and prevented his intended action.
25-Year-Old Ahmaud Arbery Was Not As Lucky
Four years ago, in Glynn County, Georgia, a similar Sarasota incident happened involving a mob of white men and a 25-year-old named Ahmaud Arbery.
Ahmaud Arbery was not as lucky. “On February 23, 2020, Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, was murdered during a racially motivated hate crime.” Arbery went jogging in the Satilla Shores neighborhood in Georgia. Three white men (Travis McMichael and his son Gregory Michael assumed Arbery was a burglar.
“Do you live here?”
Trying to Gain Sexual Access.
In 1955, a young white woman named Carolyn Bryant accused a fourteen-year-old Black (Emmett Till) of whistling at her. Soon after Carolyn Bryant made the accusation, white men in the neighborhood formed a posse. The criminal group found Emmett Till. The posse pulled him from his house. They beat him to a pulp, then threw his body in a lake.
According to one of the angry mobs that went after the Sarasota teen (Cornell), Cornell tried to pick up his wife.
Hurricane Milton Sent The Black Teen Walking.
Because of Hurricane Milton, the teen (Cornell) reportedly stayed at a neighbor’s house. Cornell’s mother said he left the house to get a cellphone signal to talk to his girlfriend.
A white woman who was in her driveway with her baby complained to her husband that Cornell approached her, seeking sexual access to her.
“Do you have a man?” Cornell asked the woman in her driveway. If you don’t, I’ll take care of you,” he continued. Boy, you live with your momma; you can’t even take care of yourself.”
When the mob caught up to Cornell, they asked him, “Do you live here?” As they followed and questioned Cornell, he giggled like an idiot. Cornell then reminded the mob, “This is harassment, he said. “It’s harassment what you did to my wife,” responded Stephen Carenga. At the time of the incident, Carenga worked for LSEG.
The video of Cornell’s interaction with the white mob went viral.
LSEG (London Stock Exchange) learned of the viral video and investigated the incident. LSEG concluded that Stephen Carenga’s behavior was not within company guidelines. They fired him for conduct unbecoming an employee.
Cornell and his mother set up a GoFundMe account to reap a windfall from the incident. So far, they have raised about $200 of the $175,000 goal they have set. Someone contributed to their GoFundMe. Sad. There are suckers everywhere, And there are bloodsuckers everywhere.
Clinton Franklin is a formally trained Computer Scientist and a writer at heart. Clinton is an avid observer of nature and a lover of people and diverse cultures. He adheres to the adage, “Think globally, but act locally.”
It is crucial to be forward-thinking but not a forward person. “Be kind to everyone you meet because each carries his heavy burden…” Plato.
Embrace the three Constants: Change, Justice, and Rightness.
The thought police are busy at work trying to suppress free speech — if allowed their march to madness — they will arrest your very thoughts.
