The story of Jerome Hayes’s murder of Fred Turner on I-4 Saturday in a supposed case of “mistaken identity” evokes all sorts of reactions, among them rage—rage at the case of yet another Floridian goon with a gun, another hothead whose temper would not have been an issue had it not been loaded in the chamber of a firearm, another armed idiot whose bloodletting had to be measured by the caliber of his stupidity. Another Floridian is dead, madly and inexcusably, because of the armed insanity of men in a state where weapons permits are Viagra to cowards and conflicts become invitations to violence.
Hayes is 48. He was at a Tampa strip joint called the Gold Club with a friend. The friend got into an argument with someone. Hayes and the friend were thrown out. Hayes retrieved something from the trunk of his car, and saw the man he thought was the one his friend had argued with in the strip club walk to his car. That was Turner. Except Turner hadn’t been in the strip club. He’d been at Tres Equis, a nearby adult store. (Spare me the Jerry Falwell moralism that would so much as hint at blaming Turner for having been at an adult store, or placing himself in the wrong place at the wrong time.)
Turner drives off. Hayes and his friend follow. Hayes waves a gun. Turner calls 911 in a panic, reports the goon, and says what would turn out to be his last words: “If he shoots his gun, I’m gone.”
The goon shot his gun. Turner is gone.
As if that weren’t repulsive enough, the focus of stories since have been portraying this as a case of, as one dimwitted television newscaster (pardon the redundancy) put it, “a tragic case of mistaken identity.” But even the Tampa Bay Times had an indefensible headline on an otherwise fine story about the shooting: “Wrong man shot on I-4,” as if, had the goon shot the man who’d been involved in the fight at the strip club, that would have been the right man.
It would have been murder either way. No verbal argument is ever a reason for a murder, let alone reason to chase someone at the speed of premeditation on a highway, miles after passions would have presumably cooled.
There was nothing “tragic” about the murder, either. A tragedy presumes inevitability at the hands of forces greater than one’s own. Oedipus unknowingly fucking his mom and murdering his dad is tragic. Three thousand people massacred in planes and buildings because they were victims of a genocidal religious ideology they knew nothing about is tragic. A goon setting chase of an innocent man—of anyone—with intentions to kill over an argument isn’t tragic. It’s malice, knowing and ignorant at the same time. There was nothing inevitable about it. It was entirely evitable, in every regard, down to the gun possession.
But we live in a state where gun possession alone isn’t the thing. Using the gun is the thing. Hayes used his gun because he could, not because he had reason to, and because his manhood—that microscopic reflection of a man’s intelligence—compelled him to use it. The South was big on duels. It still is, but concealed weapons permits enable the cowardly to execute their idea of a duel in their more one-sided fantasy of playing judge, jury and executioner.
This is the reason George Zimmerman is on trial. Self-defense or not, it is Zimmerman—the hothead, the arrogant, the vigilante, the racist George Zimmerman—who sought a confrontation by pursuing Trayvon Martin, and killing him. Had Zimmerman not felt stupidly empowered by the gun he carried, he is unlikely to have set chase. Guns don’t speak. They don’t kill people, either, the NRA’s lobotomized lobby reminds us with every shot fired. But they certainly muscle up delusions of grandeur, distorting perceptions and, when the bearer of the gun is a goon, precipitating confrontation. It is Zimmerman who triggered the situation that put him in position to then claim self-defense, which of course is not self-defense at all (though the jury may well see it that way in the end) but rationalized murder.
It’s the same reason Michael Dunn, another racist goon who hates that “thug music”—meaning hip-hop—shot and killed 17-year-old Jordan Davis at a gas station because Jordan wouldn’t turn down the music. It’s the day after Thanksgiving in Jacksonville last year. Dunn is in his car. Jordan is with his friends in another car, all high school students, but black high school students, which in the South means, to unrepentant Confederates anyway, what Palestinians in any guise mean to some Israelis: terrorists. These terrorists were playing loud music. Nothing but loud music. A 17-year-old boy defies Dunn’s orders. Dunn reaches in the glove box, pulls out his gun and shoots, and keeps shooting after Jordan’s friend in a panic speeds out of there. Five bullets hit the car. A bullet hit Jordan in the chest, another in the groin. He dies. Dunn later invents a story about seeing a gun in the kids’ car, a story he never told his girlfriend, who was in the store at the time of the shooting. Of course there was no gun in the kids’ car. There were four high school kids, black kids, going to the mall the day after Thanksgiving. But they ran into a goon with a gun, who now faces a first-degree murder charge and three counts of attempted murder.
And of course armed stupidity is the reason Flagler Beach’s Dana Mulhall is dead and Paul Miller is serving life in prison for murdering Mulhall over an idiotic argument about barking dogs. Miller’s bigotry wasn’t blacks, at least not then and there, but it played a role in the murder, too. Miller, a good-old Tennessee boy with the tattoo of a cross on his arm, has a problem with Northerners, as he made clear in his rancorous and spiteful testimony. Mulhall was from Maine. (He has a problem with strong women, too.) But Miller was nothing if not methodical, down to the way he retrieved his gun after Mulhall had gone back into his house. The way Miller was ready to sit and wait for Mulhall on his porch, gun at the ready. Mulhall didn’t make him wait: he came back out to yell some more about the dogs. Miller pulled the gun, aimed, shot, shot, shot, shot and shot. Another murder by an idiot with a gun. Another man who wouldn’t be dead today had it not been for the presence of a gun in the hands of a man who should not have been wielding anything more dangerous than a remote.
At one point or another, one of us, any one of us, our children included, can cross paths with these goons, can be the next Jordan, the next Mulhall or Turner. Not because these things happen, but because we make them happen, by law. That’s what celebrating a million concealed weapons permits gets us: these avoidable murders, stupidly called “senseless” and “tragic” but made possible only by the pre-meditated recklessness of state laws that have replaced gun ownership’s civic responsibilities with gun ownership for its own sake or worse: to protect against government, or against neighbor, or, as Florida bleeds so often, to clobber the innocent in the name of testosterone. Muslim fanatics yell Allahu Akbar. Their Floridian equivalents yell Second Amendment.
Every one of these goons from Hayes to Zimmerman to Dunn to Miller lawfully carried a gun. Every one of these goons killed when he didn’t have to. And every one of them manages to have his defenders, his fans, his advocates. It isn’t enough to needlessly kill. In Florida, we celebrate our murderers. And reward them with new ammunition come the next legislative session.
Pierre Tristam is FlaglerLive’s editor. Reach him by email here.
Florida native says
Mr. Tristam I know as hard as it may be to believe,guns don’t kill people. People kill people. Go peddle your socialist agenda somewhere else.
Sgt Saber says
These article against guns are getting old Peirre Water. Get over it ! Zimmerman will be found innocent of murder because he was DEFENDING himself from a thug punk. I suggest you go get some training and a gun and learn the proper way to handle firearm responsibility which is EVERY American’s right. Its NOT going away. Guns will continue to be a part of America for another 237 years. If you don’t like it, LEAVE !!!!!
Karma says
Washington DC has the highest death by gun rate at 24.5 per 100,000. The truth of the matter is that Florida (12.5 per 100,000) ranks 20th in the nation and states like Idaho,Montana and even Alaska have higher murder by gun rates.
Yet the Author wants to criticize Southerns and the NRA and defend strip clubs even though the people of your community made sure the one in Flagler Beach was forced to shut down. (I guess it’s only good in other peoples neighborhoods). I would be more than happy to show stories of how the same gun you demonize have saved people from the goons you speak off.
Never let facts interfere with a good story.
confidential says
Perfectly said! We are all at risk.
anonymous says
Most people with concealed weapons permits don’t go around killing people. Criminals and crazy people with or without permits kill people for reasons other than self-defense because they are just that…crazy, or just plain evil. Some states with the highest gun control laws also have the highest murder rates by thugs carrying guns illegally! Not all gun owners are irresponsible, by any means! People who want guns will get them….legally or by other means.
Geezer says
Mind your business. Live and let live. Be slow to anger.
These three things increase your odds of a full life in Florida.
You need to be mindful that hostility in people is at at all time high.
I can’t recall a time when so many people were willing to hurt and be hurt.
And I’ve been around…. Never, ever have I seen it this bad.
Just let it go when someone does something stupid short of touching you.
Walk away. Especially if you’re armed.
Learn from articles like this.
Roy says
Seems, a little (no VERY) judgmental: ” Zimmerman—the hothead, the arrogant, the vigilante, the racist”…these comments serve NOT the public.
Anonymous says
I could not agree more! The last time I checked, any crime committed with a firearm could in fact fall under The Patriot Act……and land the perpetrator with life in Gitmo! Something our government might want to look into…..maybe it will reduce the number of these senseless murders which are nothing more than overblown pissing contests!
A.S.F. says
I am tired of hearing the argument that “guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” People kill people WITH their guns. In Florida, any idiot with an attitude problem can own a firearm, give in to a moment’s paranoia and/or rage and then claim self-defense. Many gun-lovers in this country have a peculiar way of interpreting the second amendment, as though it was written just to give them the personal right to own unlimited weapons for fun (or worse.) There must be some other way to feel safe, powerful and in control besides stock-piling weapons. Nobody wants to take away your personal freedoms. We are simply sick of all the unnecessary loss of life and limb that is a direct result of too many people being reckless with too many guns.
A.S.F. says
You are not Daniel Boone. Grow up and get another hobby.
downinthelab says
I carry it, I don’t show it, and hopefully will never have to use it.
But it is there for when I DO need it.
I do agree, too many goons, nuts, etc.
Ninety miles an hour down Seminole Woods Parkway, in the rain, between two cars and just inches in front of my bumper. My baby girl in the backseat.
You didn’t see it.
Selling drugs out of the rental house across the street, cops won’t come because they don’t care or whatever.
You didn’t see it.
Had to stop at the ATM after dark for some reason, you were there lurking around the parking lot.
You didn’t see it.
Just minding my own business picking up groceries from Publix on a Sunday afternoon, you and your thug friends got in my familiy’s way AND had few things to say about it.
You didn’t see it.
Your girlfriend is pounding on my front door at 1 am becasue you are beating on her and she needs help. I called the cops, didn’t open the door and
You didn’t see it.
Let’s keep it that way.
tom jack says
pierre, are you not aware that a gun by itself is an inadiment object? it cannot hurt anyone by itself. for your information pierre, a gun must be held and shot by a person to do its dirty work. i suggest you learn to handle one as they are not going anywhere. you however are welcome to go anywhere else. perhaps back to the middle east, they need bleeding heart liberals like you.
notasenior says
If Socialists don’t want to be shot dead while minding their own business, then I guess I too am a socialist. The gun Craze has got to stop!
Nikia says
Muslims are not the only Arabs that say Allahu Akbar. It is a translation of praise to God used by Christians as well in the Arab world. Yes, there are Arab Christians for all who don’t know. Misinformation breads hatred so let’s nip that in the bud right off the bat.
Background checks are good but anger management courses and IQ tests for gun ownership showing we can really execute good decision making are better. That being said, Chicago has the strictest gun laws in the country and highest crime rates making the argument of further restriction loose ground. Lack of connection to others , worshipping of drugs, money, ect are the root causes of such stupidity do what are we going to do to build our communities back up and teach people that they are connected to those around them?
The changes that have been going on in our country are making people feel very out of control with what is going on around them and they are clinging to matetial things that make them feel more in control. As a country we need to get back to basics.
Dlf says
Again the author seems to forget the mass killings in Chicago,but they are black on black and the liberals overlook that. The liberals forget to mention that Travon was not a kid,six foot and 178 pounds,and a record of flying off the handle.
Outsider says
The moment I started reading this I thought of the 41 shootings in Chicago resulting in ten deaths a few weeks ago. The fact that you did not mention these atrocities makes me believe you can’t be objective when discussing the subject, and in fact have your own prejudices against people from the south, and gun owners in general. All that from a liberal who decries prejudice when it comes to “traditional” victims of discrimination. I suppose you don’t believe there are any gun problems in Lebanon, either.
Pissed off Native says
Pierre, if you hate Florida and Floridians so much as is very evident in a lot of your “articles”, then leave it. I am sick of hearing all of the ungrateful non-Floridians griping about my home state. Go live in the cities where guns are banned like Chicago, New York, and Washington D.C. I hear they have a much lower gun murder rate. As for saying that we stand on the 2nd amendment is the equivalent of Muslims yelling Allahu Akbar that is BS. 99.9% of us concealed carry holders are responsible and will not ever even have to use our weapon however there is that chance that something could happen and I would like to be able to defend myself and or my family or maybe even a fellow human that is in danger. Pierre I ask you to please stop downing Floridians you live here we are good people yes there are some bad as in any part of the world but the majority of us are good.
NortonSmitty says
If you promise not to shoot me I’ll tell you that Socialism is an economic philosophy that has nothing to do with guns. But being uneducated and proud of it kinda’ goes with the whole Southern Right-Wing Gun Fetish thing you got goin’ there Bubba.
NortonSmitty says
Tell that to Treyvon.
Realty Check says
For all of you who say guns do not kill people, you are correct; the problem is the moron who owns the gun does. I am in no way against guns (since I own 2) but they should not just give out a license to every moron that asks. The concealed weapons permit in this state is a joke, Zimmerman is a grown man who went looking for trouble, and he thought I can take this young punk but got his ass kicked. So how is getting beat up by a child after you instigated it “stand your ground” The problem is you give guns to idiots and they kill people. I am an avid gun owner with respect for the weapon, but most of all respect for the human and animal race (I do not shoot what I do not plan to eat) The argument over 30 round clips and assault riffles is held up by people who are weak, the same people who want a Pit-bull because it looks tough and may kill someone, no respect for the breed. This argument will go on forever, this is just an opinion but I am tired of being wrangled in with the gun lunatics as an owner. Carry on Piere, people need to hear both sides of the story, this war will rage on forever, but we gun owners lose another step every time another IDIOT kills someone.
CHECK PLEASE says
Wow judge much? Does this mean you are being racist against legal gun carrying Americans?
As for Zimmerman how about you give him his day in court and let the JURY be his judge and not hop on that bandwagon of the so called righteous? Lets see how how your Zimmerman naysayers behave if he gets acquitted! Will they behave like peaceful Americans or Animals?
Jack Stewart says
Tristam …how come you never mention anything when a thug kills someone? For once in your life try to see both sides,I know it’s hard to see when you are looking from behind your liberal blinders….get off your soapbox…and look us in the eyes and tell us you would not protect yourself and your family any way you could from murderous thugs!
bfg says
hey asf you’ re wrong if you think nobody wants to take away our rights and personal freedoms just check whats been going on for the last 5 years and that my fellow citizen is exactly what the 2nd amendment is for not for hunting and target shooting. it serves 2 purposes to protect you from thugs and criminals and from the federal govt from infringing on your freedoms WAKE UP
Rocky Mac says
Sgt Saber: So Trayvon was a thug punk? Zimmerman did not know this. He just assumed it by his attire. Do you feel it is okay to kill someone because you see them as a thug punk? The kid was on his way home from a store. Regardless of his gang attitude, he was an innocent kid. and I bet if your son or grandson was approached by a creepy guy, who DID NOT identify himself, he would pummel the guy or get a few swings in.
I believe GZ will be found guilty, but whatever, a son, grandson, nephew is gone. And GZ life will be over too. I am speaking from experience as my family lost an innocent niece to hot headed goons.
Rocky Mac says
To Florida native: If you do not like the author’s “socialist agenda” why don’t you go somewhere else. You can always get on the Tea Party website. So what was “socialist” about this article anyway?
Sherry Epley says
Excellent article Pierre. . . and my thoughts exactly. To everyone who loves to mindlessly repeat the NRA “sound bites”. . . just imagine a world where guns were not much too handy. . . where people resolved differences by talking with one another in a respectful manner. Yes, that is possible. . . our culture was much closer to that in the past. Australia melted down the vast majority of their guns years ago and now their citizens sleep much more peacefully at night.
Yes, it’s true that it does require a person to squeeze that trigger. BUT, if that trigger were not so readily available then other options would be exercised and lives would be saved. Even 1 life injured or lost because a gun was at someone’s fingertips is too many. No, we can’t find and stop all those who may perpetuate violence against another living being, but we can STOP it from being so incredibly convenient and easy.
Nancy N. says
Unfortunately, a scary number of people who are carrying guns DON’T have that kind of self-control and judgement, because we see the results in the news everyday.
Bottom line…I want someone to do some math for me about the number of lives saved by a weapon in a year (being carried by a civilian) versus the number those same weapons cost. I’m pretty confident that number is way out of whack in the direction of lives being lost.
A.S.F. says
A little paranoid, aren’t we? But, then again, in a universe gone wild, where even a Black man can be elected President, who knows when the end of the world might come? So, I guess, you’re right–STOCK UP YOUR WEAPONS, FOLKS…The redcoats, I mean the Liberals, I mean the Russians, I mean the government, I mean the criminals hiding in your basement and the bogeymen under your bed are ALL coming!
Roy says
Hey Pissed Off Native…Rocky Mac says leave….I say stay right here. Remember the days “yankee go home”…YOU GUYS WERE RIGHT! It kept troublemakers like Tristam OUT OF THE SOUTH…tHIS GUY HAS A “PLATFORM” FOR HIS CRAP TO SPEW…there is much Power to this platform he has created…it is called WAR…and that is his intent…to fight with his words…and we should CONTEND VERBALLY on this platform he has made.
I/M/O says
Neither George Zimmerman or Michael Dunn have been convicted of anything yet.
Won’t bother to review the Zimmerman trial since it is already all over the news.
In the Dunn case I do believe he is stating a shotgun was pointed at him from the van before he retrieved the gun in his auto and fired. Since the van fled the scene and did not return until after the police arrived it is hard to tell if Dunn is telling the truth. Was there a shotgun in that Red Dodge Durango Mr. Tristam? I guess we will never know. But what has been determined is the men in the van lied to the police that they had fled the scene of the shooting. Not to say I would not drive away from a scene where I was being shot at but I would not lie to the police about that.
Sgt Saber says
“Nobody wants to take away your personal freedoms.”…Well guess what , NO one is going to…EVER !!
So get use to it. And probably add another 50 million gun owners by 2015.
Sgt Saber says
Oh yes, Australia melted their guns which they STOLD from their citizens. Now their crime rate for murder ,rape, and robbery is THREW the ROOF !!! Now the innocent citizens have to build wooden bats with nails in them and carry large knifes. Some are using the original boomarang with razor edges files on them…WHY ? Because their government thought by removing all firearms Australia was going to become Peace-Love-Fairyland…..WELL ITS NOT…Its turned into a country who FEARS for their lives because criminals still HAVE guns and ammo…..You people live in a FAIRYLAND !!!!
Sgt Saber says
A thug punk is a THUG PUNK. Its not your little 7 year old son or grandson ANYMORE. Its a grown man who has decided NOT to follow societies rules and live a life of crime and drugs..Hence the words THUG PUNK !!!!!!
Geezer says
Prediction: George Zimmerman will walk.
Why? Trial excerpts as of today.
Mr. Zimmerman and the subdivision he was “guarding” will be sued for millions.
NortonSmitty says
Did you even read the TITLE of the article?
A.S.F. says
Well, I guess that should make us all feel so much safer!
Outsider says
Of course they will, Geezer. “Never let a crisis to to waste.” And by the way, Sherry, it’s nothing personal, but you’ll have to reduce your comment’s like count by one. I accidentally brushed across it on my iPad and gave you one more. ;)
A.S.F. says
Yes, the nerve of that Trayvon Martin to be a young Black male wearing a hoodie while buying skittles and then walking home through a decent neighborhood like he has some right to be there!
A.S.F. says
I guess this is what is known as “saber-rattling.”
Anonymous says
@ Geezer HOA already settled with the family close to a million, true amount undisclosed.
I/M/O says
The gated community already settled with Martin and Fulton for 1 million dollars in damages.
Geezer says
Thanks, I didn’t know that. My crystal ball is reporting old news.
No more crystal balls from Hong Kong.
A million bucks heh? Life is cheap in Florida.
Sherry Epley says
NOT TO CONFUSE ANYONE WITH ACTUAL FACTS:
This from Wikipedia:
The American National Rifle Association claimed in 2000 that violent crimes had increased in Australia since the introduction of new laws. The federal Attorney General Daryl Williams accused the NRA of falsifying government statistics and urged the NRA to “remove any reference to Australia” from its website.
In addition, John Howard, the Former Prime Minister of Australia, stated during an interview that there have been ZERO mass shootings, and a 50-60% decrease in gun violence since the 1996 BUY BACK of AUTOMATIC weapons there: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pOiOhxujsE
In addition, I have spent extensive time in Australia and have good friends there. My personal experience, and those of my friends, is that they enjoy a more secure and peaceful life than we currently have in the United States.
May I suggest that those who wish to keep an open mind and be truly “educated” on this subject (with some laughs along the way). . . take a look at all 3 excellent episodes.
GUN SAFETY should continue to be pursued in our country. . . if Australia can do it, so can we!
I/M/O says
Chicago Murders Soar: 67 Shot, 11 Killed over July 4 Weekend–So Far
Iva Hadit says
Where’s the dislike button?
Karma says
@Sherry
You may want to check your facts from other sources than Wikipedia. Many “good” colleges will not even allow them as source.
The prior 6 years to the buyback program, Australia averaged 550 gun related deaths a year. During the buyback program, Approximately 650,000 were turned in or about 1/5th of all guns. Within 14 years of the buy back, the same number of guns (single shot) were back in the country.
The next five years after the gun buyback, gun deaths averaged 356 per year( That’s not 60%) But the actual number of homicides (other than gun) increased the following five years.
One final note, Armed robberies increased from about 6,000 a year in 1996 to about 10,000 a year between 1998 to 2001. it leveled back out to pre 1996 numbers after that.
The Australian Firearms Buyback and Its Effect on Gun Deaths
http://www.class.org.au/Baker-McPhedran.htm
Sherry Epley says
While some quote from the Coalition of Law Abiding Sport Shooters, this from Harvard:
The Australian Gun Buyback
I. Introduction
The 1996 National Firearms Agreement (NFA), passed in response to the April 28, 1996 Port Arthur, Tasmania massacre of 35 people, banned semi-automatic and pump-action rifles and shotguns, bought back more than 650,000 of these weapons from existing owners, and tightened requirements for licensing, registration, and safe storage of firearms. The buyback is estimated to have reduced the number of guns in private hands by 20%, and, by some estimates, almost halved the number of gun-owning households.
This issue of Bulletins reviews the evidence on the effect of the NFA on firearm deaths. There have not been any studies examining the effect of the buyback on crime other than homicide. Some scientists believed that the buyback might reduce firearm crime, but most saw no reason to expect that it would significantly affect non-firearm crime. Most crimes in Australia before the NFA did not involve firearms, and few Australians owned handguns or carried them on their person, either before or after the buyback. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics indicate that after the buyback, the percentage of robberies where the assailant used a firearm did drop significantly. There was little change in “unlawful entry with intent,” one of the few types of crime where one might make a case for a possible deterrent effect of having a gun in the home.1
II. Evidence the Buyback Saved Lives
For Australia, the NFA seems to have been incredibly successful in terms of lives saved. While 13 gun massacres (the killing of 4 or more people at one time) occurred in Australia in the 18 years before the NFA, resulting in more than one hundred deaths, in the 14 following years (and up to the present), there were no gun massacres.2
The NFA also seems to have reduced firearm homicide outside of mass shootings, as well as firearm suicide. In the seven years before the NFA (1989-1995), the average annual firearm suicide death rate per 100,000 was 2.6 (with a yearly range of 2.2 to 2.9); in the seven years after the buyback was fully implemented (1998-2004), the average annual firearm suicide rate was 1.1 (yearly range 0.8 to 1.4). In the seven years before the NFA, the average annual firearm homicide rate per 100,000 was .43 (range .27 to .60) while for the seven years post NFA, the average annual firearm homicide rate was .25 (range .16 to .33).3
Additional evidence strongly suggests that the buyback causally reduced firearm deaths. First, the drop in firearm deaths was largest among the type of firearms most affected by the buyback. Second, firearm deaths in states with higher buyback rates per capita fell proportionately more than in states with lower buyback rates.