I think the NAACP is filling in for Sharpton on this one. Sharpton may show up at the appeal stage. It was actually only one bat. It seems improbable that John and Aaron White would have left the security of the house to go out to confront these teen drunks unless they were pretty sure the kids had no guns. If you think the guys outside have guns you don't step out to shoot it out with them point blank range; if it looks like it's going to come down to shooting you stay inside and shoot through the windows - or maybe you do something radical, like call the cops! In any case, It's a middle class area and it's understood that kids don't pack guns there. The Whites were pretty sure they had overwhelming force going for them before they stepped outside. Sure, John White was entitled, even if not in law, to do something. He could have aimed for a leg, or he could have shot up their cars - but to walk up to the kid and shoot him in the face! Very disproportionate. If John White is sympathetic it's because he was trying to better himself and provide a safer environment for his family - an iconic American ambition - but his background ( ghetto street justice ) got the better of him. It's a sad situation, but John White has to atone somehow; that 17 year old kid will be still be dead long after John White gets out of jail.
Isn;t this kind of thing allowed and encouraged in Texas? A white guy would have been released, because we all know how the image of the "violent black man" has been drummed into us for decades now.
Yeah, it's one of the nuances about our country. With that in mind, Tough job for one man (President) to keep everyone happy. And to top it off, we do try and sometimes spare no expense to accommodate everyone.
Every time a black murders a white we hear this "If the killer had been white and the victim black it never would have gone to trial!". Maybe 60 yrs ago but not now. If a 30 year old white celebrity knocked up a beautiful black teenager then later cut her throat and a white jury let him walk the whole country would have been leveled by rioting blacks. If the man was black and the girl white the worst that would happen is some whites might do a little grumbling and black celebrations might get a little out of hand.