Black Florida man given house arrest after killing white man who used n-word
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I don't know whether @raphjd would consider either act a "hate crime" or "being racist", but somehow this shit always happens in my back-yard! (I live in Central Florida, USA).
So here's the gist:
- 77 y/o Vonelle Cook, white, and a frequent customer of a Tampa, FL Dunkin (Donuts) store, drives up & tries to order - but employees cannot understand him.
- Instead of doing anything rational, Cook continues to shout his order, becoming increasingly abusive, at the drive-thru. Eventually, a Dunkin employee (unnamed) asks him to leave.
- Rather than leave, the old man parks and comes into the store - NOT to place his order and leave, but to further abuse and berate the staff verbally.
- Staff and other customers ask (even implore) Cook to leave, until 27 y/o Corey Pujols, a black employee, came out into the store to attempt to get Cook to leave. Pujols also asks another employee to call Police.
- Rather than leave, the elderly Cook calls Pujols the n-word (and not in a friendly way), and turns his verbal abuse full force onto Pujols.
- Pujols warned Cook against using the n-word, but Cook repeated it - at which point, Pujols punched him in the mouth.
- Cook fell backwards, hit his head, and died 3-days later.
In an odd (for Florida) twist, the black Pujols was offered a plea deal: 2-years house arrest, 3 years probation afterwards, 2,000 hours of community service, and he must take an anger management class. [The State of Florida has a long and colorful history of race-based criminal justice. A black man killing a white man - regardless of circumstances - is almost always a murder charge and 20+ years in prison here! It's also the underlying cause (triggering event) for our oft-abused "stand your ground" laws].
In an ironic twist, it turns out Cook was a registered sex offender - he liked to lure young men (and boys - which is what got him into trouble in 2006) to his home, ply them candy & video games, sexually molest them - and video tape the whole thing! (Who knows, maybe some of his vids are on here somewhere?)
Anyway - as I've always suggested: get the facts from LOCAL sources, not the national media: Here is the story from the local newspaper.
