Have you ever missed your alarm clock, got lost on the way to school, asked for directions, and got shot at by an angry white dude for being one of “those people”? Well, neither have we, but Brennan Walker sure the hell can tell you exactly what it feels like to be almost murdered for exactly that reason. If you are confused by who “those people” are, we will explain it to you in simple terms that even a 4 year old can understand: “those people” are black people, and sometimes “Mexicans.” Also anyone not white.
Fourteen-year-old Brennan Walker is one of “those people,” and he is also one of those teenage people who oversleep and miss their alarm clocks and buses, resulting in having to walk to school. Unfortunately for Brennan, he ran into one of those "other people" when he got lost and realized he clearly had no idea how to get to school (he'd been trying to follow the bus route). So he decided to ask for directions. Normally in America, asking for directions is a time-honored tradition that everyone tries to avoid by yelling at their companion that “I KNOW WHERE I’M GOING! SHUT YOUR FACE!” Brennan, however, had no companion, therefore he had no one to blame for having no idea where the fuck he was, so he decided to knock on a door and ask a neighbor.
Such a mild request. Such an uncontroversial reason for bothering people on a spring morning. The absolute unthinkable reaction would be to scream irrational bullshit while attempting to cold-bloodedly shoot a child dead in the streets of Rochester Hills, Michigan, for knocking on the door. Right?
Young Brennan had no reason to think that asking for directions could be deadly when he stepped up to the door of a home and knocked a few times to get the attention of the homeowner. The door was answered by the lady of the house, who immediately began accusing him of felonious crimes like trying to break into her home. This, of course, prompted him to explain that he was simply asking for directions. To school. Because he was lost.
You may be wondering, “How often do burglars knock on the door to ask for directions on Thursday mornings in Rochester Hills, Michigan?” and that is a perfectly rational thing to wonder. Good job. Brennan may have wondered that very same thing when the woman’s yelling caused her husband to come downstairs. Brennan says he saw him holding the gun through the window. He says, “I saw it and I started to run.” But as he ran away the husband chased him down, aimed, and shot at him. Yes, you read that right. He chased him down. He aimed. He shot at him. For knocking on the door.
Brennan’s slightly bad morning had turned into a death defying trip, and he is still shaken up by his brush with death. Thankfully, he was far luckier than Jordan Davis, who was murdered for “loud music” by a pizza eating sociopath. Brennan related to WXYZ Detroit that, “I’m kind of happy that, like, I didn’t become a statistic.” It is sad that children, like Brennan, have to fear death daily. It is extremely sad that black children are scared to ask for help because people like to shoot at them. Get it together, America.
Jeffrey Ziegler may face up to life in prison for assault with attempt to murder, along with a felony weapons charge for running outside to discharge his weapon at Brennan. Apparently the police arrest people in Michigan for chasing children down and shooting at them, even if they are black children. So, please stop shooting at our children, thanks in advance. We want them alive and eating up the food we specifically write our names on so that they won't touch it. Also, our kids like living.
Brennan’s mother, Lisa Wright, says she worries for both of the men in her life, her son who was shot at on the way to school, and her husband who is special forces deployed in Syria. That's right, her husband is an actual soldier, unlike the asshole who reportedly tried to murder her son. She is very sure that racism was a factor since she says the surveillance tape showed the woman screaming about “those people.” There was only one person at that door, and it was her child. A child who needed help but almost got dead instead. Do better, America.
JFC, that is scary.
Yellow. As in coward yellow.