E.O. Green Junior High shooter has hate crime tacked on to murder charge

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The gunman in the E.O. Green Junior High School shooting has been identified as 14-year-old Brandon David McInerney. Since his victim, 15-year-old Lawrence King, has been declared brain-dead and will not survive McInerney is being charged with murder with what the article calls a hate crime enhancement.

Prosecutors are saying that they do intend to try McInerney as an adult. With the murder charge, he’s looking at 25 to life. The hate crime enhancement would tack on another three years.

Prosecutors are not saying why the hate crime charges were filed but classmates of King say that he was either gay or a crossdresser.

Several classmates have said King would wear feminine attire, making him an unpopular figure with other boys at his campus.

King sometimes came to school wearing makeup and high heels, said eighth-grader Nicholas Cortez, 14.

Another eighth-grader, Michael Sweeney, said King’s appearance was “freaking the guys out,” the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.

“He would come to school in high-heeled boots, makeup, jewelry and painted nails – the whole thing,” Sweeney told the Times.

Personally, I think all crimes are hate crimes but anything that will keep this little ball of hate behind bars longer is ok with me.

Now I’m not trying to cast aspersions on the victim or his family. I have nothing against gay people or crossdressers but at 15 and in a public school you would think his parents would have stepped in and stopped him from dressing like that at school. One would have to know that dressing like that would only invite trouble.

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12 responses to “E.O. Green Junior High shooter has hate crime tacked on to murder charge”

February 15, 2008

Alyric

Honestly, that was the first thing that I thought, too: “What kind of parents would let a 15 year old kid dress like that?”

And yeah, typically I’m against hate crime laws, but maybe it’ll encourage the court to do something besides give the kid a lollipop and say “Play nice from now on.”

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February 16, 2008

Max

I read that the victim, Lawrence King, was abandoned by his parents because he was gay, and, subsequently, placed in foster care. If his fellow classmates were “freaked out” by Lawrence’s choice of fashion and mannerisms, why didn’t the administration step in and address the unreasoning fear in these boys. Remember, this child DIED because his peers didn’t like his sense of fashion.

If this had been racial or religious bigotry, the administration would have intervened immediately however, since it was just some powerless gay kid without the protection of either natural or adoptive parents, they could ignore him.

The sad consequence: one boy is dead and another’s life is destroyed all because of the ignorant fear known as homophobia.

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February 16, 2008

Zach

This is a case that does call for adult sanctions. As for the victim, Lawrence King, having been a victim of bullying myself, if he hadn’t wore the high heels it would have been something else. I hope his parents are proud of throwing him out now.

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February 16, 2008

Heather

While, yes middle school kids are extremely juevnile and hateful in the first place, and typically dressing this way would invite trouble, it’s still sad and unfortunite that we still live in a world based upon our outter appearance. I wish people would just get over themselves and allow others to be who they are. Even if it’s what they consider “different”, it doesn’t make you less of a human or wrong.

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February 23, 2008

Ken

Er, it doesn’t seem right to blame the victim. It kind of smacks of when they used to blame rape victims for their own rape because they were ‘dressed provocatively’ …. so they deserved it. I had hoped we were past those days.

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February 24, 2008

Brooklynn

I think it is sick and twisted that anyone can in anyway blame the VICTIM in anyway. It would be like say that anyone wearing Nike or has glasses should know better and not dress like that. There is always someone out there who doesn’t like what someone else is doing that does not give anyone the right to kill. That little boy did nothing but be who he was and no one should judge him. Judge the freak boy who thought it was ok to kill for any reason.

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March 6, 2008

DanPalmer

Everyone commenting here “assumes” that it was the looks of this young man that caused the problem. LA Times reported that they’d had a “confrontation” the day before.
I attended E.O. Green more than 30 years ago and it is a nice place, and it is a good jr. high school, in a safe environment. I can think of several students who showed signs of “gay” behavior and they were good friends of mine. But they never confronted me with their feelings, ridiculed me, for not “accepting” this behavior issue, nor did any of us “push” our sexuality. We were kids!
If anyone is to blame, it is our culture for bringing up these issues so early in life! My children have to “deal with it” now days and I never had to. With as screwed up as I was dealing with my own negative self-image and such, who can say that any of us, under certain level or duress wouldn’t have reacted the same way. We don’t know what was said, and don’t know the whole story. I can only feel sorry for both of these young men, and their families! 14 is too young for 25 to life! And 15 is too young to die.

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March 6, 2008

Trench

LA Times reported that they’d had a “confrontation” the day before.

And what do you think that confrontation was about? The Election? Sports? Tastes great vs. less filling?

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March 6, 2008

Max

For gay kids, it is not about bringing up these “issues” too early. This is where they’re at. For most kids junior high school is the advent of puberty. It is the time that their sexual orientation comes to the fore.

If you as a straight kid think you had a negative self-image, consider what it’s like for gay kids with nearly everyone telling them that they’re diseased, sinful and somehow weak for not fighting their natural feelings.

Confrontational? For some people, gay people just being alive is confrontational. I refuse to have any sympathy for the murderer. He can still wake up in the morning, still experience life. It’s his own fault (and society’s) that what he sees won’t be very pretty,

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March 9, 2008

Brooklynn

These issues you are talking about are nothing new. People have always had issue with people who are not like them. I am wondering if you would have been happier if Hitler had gotten rid of all Jewish people, African Americans were still slaves, and women still knew their place was in the kitchen. It is time to remove the rose color glasses and realize that it is comment like “With as screwed up as I was dealing with my own negative self-image and such, who can say that any of us, under certain level or duress wouldn’t have reacted the same way. We don’t know what was said, and don’t know the whole story.” how can we expect our children to know what is right and wrong. How can anyone in their right mind imply that killing anyone for any reason is a good solution, or even just a solution to a problem. That is just sick and twisted!!!!!!!!! What really needs to happen is that we need to teach our children by example that all people are equal, and that there is NO reason good enough to kill someone. Much less to kill someone because they had a crush on you, would you still feel that he was justified in murdering that child if he had been a little girl who had a crush on him. Would you still say 25 to life was to long to lock him away if you saw a little girl will holes in her head only because she had a crush on the wrong little boy. I have a feeling you wouldn’t have so much sympathy for that same young man if it was a girl he killed instead of the student who showed signs of “gay” behavior.

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March 28, 2008

Kimberly

I’m sick of hearing about children losing their lives at school, because the schools have failed miserably in making the school a safe environment for our children to be. Although schools aren’t the sole blame for these tragic incidents, they do play a part in it. If they have to start installing metal detectors, so be it anything to put a stop to bringing guns and knives into the classrooms and taking innocent lives. Parents, please start checking backpacks, pockets (a simple hug in the morning may help detect if a gun is on your child) and teaching our kids the importance of tolerance and self control. My heart goes out to Larry’s family and friends, as well as Brandon’s. What Brandon did was horrible and thoughtless, but I know his family and friends are suffering too. C’mon school administration, beef up security in these schools!

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May 4, 2008

E.

Crimes like this should carry a mandatory death sentence..maybe this will make people think twice before killing.

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