Anthony is Black. Metcalf was white. Every Black prospective juror was removed during selection. The jury deliberated for less than three hours.
Texas congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, who represents Dallas’ 30th district, called the verdict “evidence of a broken system” in an interview with TMZ, saying race and venue played a decisive role in the outcome.
“Collin County is right north of Dallas County, and I can tell you that I have had cases that I felt like played out differently because of the counties that they were in, and unfortunately that was not the county for a Black boy,” she said.
She argued the facts of the case warranted a manslaughter conviction, not murder, and that a 35-year sentence for a teenager who ducked under a tent during rain and didn’t want to be put out by someone larger than him reflected a system with no mercy for Black boys who say they were afraid. In a separate livestream, she went further: “Black women, especially Black women who have Black male children, live in fear and agony every single day — a fear and agony that I promise you, the Metcalfs probably never spend a day living that way.”
Rapper Cardi B didn’t mince words on X either. “Wow! Just freakin wow! DISGUSTING…This is not justice, this is trying to make an example!!!” she wrote in a post that quickly racked up millions of views.
