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Isaiah Johnson Professor Lynch PSCI2200 February 4, 2019

In April 2018, the bodies of Jarron Moreland and Alize Smith were found dismembered and chained to cinder blocks in an Oklahoma City pond. Three white men were charged with the gruesome murder of these two African American men, four days later after they were announced missing. Kevin Garcia-Boettler and his younger brother arranged to meet up with the two victims in a grocery store parking lot to complete a firearms sale. Garcia-Boettler drove his younger brother with the intentions of him purchasing a gun from Moreland, which was established on Craigslist. Garcia-Boettler told police that, “Moreland got out of a sedan and into the back seat of his van. He claims that he heard a gun ‘rack’ and witnessed his brother open fire killing the two men.”. When they heard a gun being ‘racked’, this basically means they thought Moreland and Smith were about to shoot so they shot them. The two brothers then went on to take the bodies to a nearby residence where they met with Johnny Shane Barker(Mother’s Boyfriend) who assisted them in cleaning the van and disposing the bodies. In addition, the next step they took was removing the clothes from the bodies and burning them in a barrel to eliminate evidence. Too finish off the job, they then tied cinder blocks to the bodies so they would quickly sink to the bottom of the pond. Although this incident has not gotten much media attention, some sources are referring to this crime as “modern day lynching or lynching 2.0”. The mother of the victim has described this as a hate crime but an official from Oklahoma City deems this might not be an accurate term to use. Cleveland County District Attorney Greg Mashburn said his office looked

into the possibility of this being a hate crime and he said the investigation showed the victims were attempting to rob the suspects when the shooting occurred, therefore it was determined that the motive was not race related(Cleveland County District Attorney Greg Mashburn). Karlos Hill, Interim Director of African American Studies at the University of Oklahoma, believed “calling it lynching is taking it too far. Were there a demonstrable racial motive behind the attack and/or mistreatment of the victim’s remains it would likely be prosecutable as a hate crime, but would still fall short of qualifying as a lynching, says Karlos Hill”(Snopes.com). In conclusion of their perspectives, they feel actual “lynching” requires public/community approval and people who condone those inhumane actions.

It is pretty confusing how you would just shoot and disgustingly kill two people from hearing guns ‘rack’ at a firearms transaction. Being that the victims were engaging in a sale that cannot be seen in a positive light, it does make the situation seem less justifiable. I believe the three men who were charged had premeditated intentions of taking the lives of these men and it was not the first time it could have possibly happened. The two brothers did not react as acquaintances to the victims, that acted as if they were already opponents. From that observation, I feel that this should be considered as a hate crime and should have gotten way more attention from the media than it actually did. One specific topic this could relate to is the social learning theory, when children learn negative attitudes and discriminatory behavior from family friends. The family all seemed to be on board with plans to cover up the deaths so I feel it could be history behind this one situation. I believe this issue is related to the broad aspect of explanations for prejudice and discrimination because it touches upon many of the possibilities that could have resulted to this incident.

WORKS CITED Emery, D., & Emery, D. (n.d.). FACT CHECK: Were Two Young Black Men Lynched in Oklahoma Without Media Attention? Retrieved from https://www.snopes.com/factcheck/lynched-oklahoma-media/

Written By NewsOne StaffPosted May 2. (2018, May 14). Two Young Black Men Lynched In Oklahoma By Four Whites And It's Getting No Media Attention. Retrieved from https://newsone.com/3796415/ramon-smith-jarron-moreland-oklahoma/...