Free Barry Carrell, Victim of Hate Crime and Legal Lynching

On October 11, 2008 Barry Carrell and his friend Melanie, were the victims of a racially motivated assault. Two drunken white men with lengthy criminal careers that included violent assaults, robberies and other offenses chose Barry and Melanie as their next target. With deadly knives in hand, and blood alcohol levels well over the legal limit, they yelled “Get that Nigger! F*ck that Nigger!” while spitting on Barry and Melanie. Melanie a woman in her 40s and Barry a man with no criminal record who had just stopped to eat some waffles, were now in a fight for their lives for all they knew.

In Barry Carrell however, the career criminals had met someone who believed in his innate human right to self-defense. This human right is specifically referred to in Florida statute 776.013, which states that “…a person has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force if he or she believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or another….”

During the brawl, Barry managed to escape out the Waffle House front door and retrieve his handgun from the glove compartment of his vehicle. Barry issued a final verbal warning that the attackers ignored and as they rushed Barry again he opened fire, killing one attacker and wounding the other.

Initially, Barry was arrested and held with no bond having been charged with murder. Historically, an African man defending himself from white lynch mob violence would never stand a chance, but Barry’s friends, family and other good-hearted people were determined not to let him become a victim of the system. People organized a protest and delivered a petition to the state’s attorney with over 600 signatures from around the world, from Iraq to the United Kingdom. After delivering the petition, the protesters went to Barry’s bond hearing holding up signs that read “Self-Defense is Common Sense,” “Free Barry Carrell,” and “Self-defense from a Hate Crime.” The effect of people’s organized efforts resulted in Barry being granted bail and he returned back home to his loving family and young son. By the accounts of all involved, the people’s participation in Barry’s case brought him home while awaiting his day in court.

Meanwhile, the state’s attorney’s office was plotting a legal lynching.

On the day the “Free Barry Carrell,” petition was delivered, attorney Ken Boston was employed by the state’s attorney’s office. The state’s attorney office is tasked with putting Barry in jail in a case like this.

Days later, the private attorney that Barry’s family hired, secretly brought Ken Boston (the state’s attorney) over to handle Barry’s defense. Yes, you read that correctly. The state’s attorney’s office secretly sent over it’s own attorney to operate Barry’s defense strategy. Barry and his family knew nothing about Ken Boston, who he was or why he was suddenly defending him, when the family had hired Dale Carson as their private attorney.

During the trial, Ken Boston failed to bring up any evidence of value. He didn’t even bother to enter in the most basic evidence of all which was an admission on behalf of the surviving attacker that he and his partner attacked Barry because he was black. Had this single piece of evidence been presented to the jury – it would have been clear without a shadow of a doubt, that Barry was the victim of a racially motivated hate crime. This fact would have made it impossible for the jury to convict Barry as a criminal – because it establishes Barry as the victim. If facts were the only issue, Barry Carrell would never be confronted with spending the next 25 years of his life away from his family as he does now.

As much as the American people have chanted for change, it seems that many things still remain the same. An African man escapes with his life from one lynch mob, only to be set up by a legal lynch mob operated by the state’s attorney’s office.