A two-year-old case involving the shooting death of an unarmed 18-year-old white man by a black police officer is gaining attention on social media in the wake of this week’s protests and rioting in Ferguson, Missouri.
Gilbert Collar, a white, unarmed 18-year-old under the influence of drugs was shot and killed Oct. 6, 2012, by Officer Trevis Austin, who is black, in Mobile, Alabama. Despite public pressure for an indictment, a Mobile County grand jury refused to bring charges against Officer Austin, concluding that the officer acted in self-defense.
The circumstances mirror those of the Aug. 9 shooting death of Michael Brown, a black unarmed 18-year-old under the influence of drugs by Officer Darren Wilson, who is white, in Ferguson.
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A St. Louis County grand jury’s decision Monday not to indict the officer ignited violence and looting in Ferguson and days of protests nationwide against racial injustice.
The discrepancy in the reaction to and coverage of the two grand jury decisions has not been lost on social media, where critics are citing the Collar case to counter those who say Brown was the victim of racism in both law enforcement and judicial system.
On Thursday, the website Conservative Tribune headline trumpeted the case: “Unarmed White Teen Gunned Down by Black Cop … Where’s the Outrage?”
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Former CNN host Piers Morgan blasted the police response in Mobile days after Collar was killed, saying he “didn’t deserve to die,” but otherwise the case has received little attention outside Alabama, prompting critics to accuse the national media of a “whiteout.”
Said Julie on Twitter: “Hello? Media? Two years, and still only crickets. Where’s Al Sharpton for #GilCollar?”
Critics also note there has been no rioting or sustained protest in Mobile, even though the slightly built Collar, unlike Brown, never touched the officer and, because he was naked when he was shot, was more obviously unarmed.
Both shooting victims were found with marijuana in their systems.
“There’s riots for #MikeBrown but none for #GilCollar,” said one commenter, @samstuff, in a Wednesday post on Twitter.
“Nobody burnt buildings to the ground for them,” said commenter Gomer Pyle on Twitter, referring to Collar and Dillon Taylor, a white 20-year-old shot Aug. 11 by a minority police officer in Utah. “You never even heard of them until now.”
Others have pointed to the cases as evidence that police are routinely using excessive force against young men no matter what their race.
“To those of you who called #MikeBrown a thug please reconsider your stance on the issue now that the thug is a white male, who the system failed as well!” said India Washington on Instagram.
In what may be a sign of things to come in the Brown case, parents Bonnie and Reed Collar filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the officer in July.
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