The horrific tragedy of Lawrence King and Brandon McInerney is about to enter its second act; and the question stands as to whether or not the trial will be yet another painful horror costing the life of yet another young boy.
The challenge facing this nation and the California court as 14-year-old Brandon goes on trial for the nightmarish murder of Larry, is not Brandon's guilt or intent, but rather a series of profound and uncomfortablel questions about society that must be faced before kids killing gay kids becomes an epidemic.
What is wrong with a culture that allows children to arm themselves with guns? How flawed is a school system that permits an environment in which children snap? And how much longer must we tolerate institutionalized American homophobia knowing full well that it is destroying minds, souls and lives?
Brandon is one of three things: a natural born psychopathic killer, a heterosexual child who has been taught that queers are not human, or a homosexual child who has been instilled with a pathological fear of his own nature.
The evidence of Brandon's life suggests that the first option is not Brandon McInerney.
And that leaves us with two remaining options, neither one of which is valid cause to convict and imprison for life this young child. Rather it is cause to convict and condemn an America that is profoundly sick.
In my view, if objective experts determine that Brandon is not a criminal psychopath, those on trial should be the teachers, the clergy, the parents, the politicians and the media that have mind fucked this young boy into a state of rage and/or fear of another child's sexual orientation, and possibly his own.
And if we ignore this opportunity to scrutinize the horrors that drove this child to such an act of violence, we are on a level with any and every society that uses it's children as weapons. In fact we are beneath them, Hamas, the Taliban, Al Qaida, the very "terrorists" we war against; and we are beneath them because they, at least, are not hypocrites pretending to be something other than what they truly are.
We must not sweep the truth and Brandon under the rug. It would be one of the blackest marks on American history and it would be a complete and utter condemnation and mockery of the American system of criminal justice. If ever a case was more about justice than about law, this is it.
Last week, Brandon's lawyer told the court that he wants to get the case in front of a jury quickly now that a Ventura County judge has turned down his request to move it to juvenile court.
Deputy public defender Willie Quest said he was disappointed by Superior Court Judge Douglas Daily's finding last week that there was no constitutional violation in Dist. Atty. Gregory Totten's decision to try Brandon McInerney, 14, as an adult.
"We hope a jury will look at it in a much more reasonable light," Quest said. "I'm not going to allow a 14-year-old to go to prison for the rest of his life without someone other than the D.A.'s office looking at this."
Quest said the public defender's office may appeal Daily's decision but would probably wait until after his client has been tried. It can take months, or even years, to get an appellate court ruling, he said.
By then, McInerney will no longer be a child but rather a hardened and brutalized adult.
"If people get to know Brandon and see Brandon as who he really is, I think they will be very unlikely to want him to die in prison," Quest said.
McInerney is being tried in adult court under the provisions of Proposition 21, which allows prosecutors to bring murder charges against juveniles as young as 14 for certain serious crimes.
McInerney turned 14 three weeks before he walked into a classroom at E.O. Green Junior High School on Feb. 12 and shot Lawrence in the head.
An obviously barbaric district attorney ruled that the crime's severity merited a murder charge, with a special hate crime enhancement, in adult court.
Apparently the DA believes that a child should pay for the pervasive hate crime that is the standard operating procedure for American society.
If convicted on all charges, McInerney would face 51 years to life in prison, with the possibility of parole after 43 years, Fox said.
McInerney's arraignment is set for Aug. 7.
This is the moment for HRC, LAMBDA, The Task Force, GLAAD, GLSEN and every other gay advocacy group with the resources to stand up and demand attention to come to the defense of Brandon McInerney. Brandon is as much of a victim of a hate crime as was Larry and it is time to point the finger at the true murderers, those who murdered Larry King and those who would now murder Brandon McInerney.
Brandon McInerney is the child raised to be a suicide bomber by Islamic extremists. He is in need of rehabilitation not prison; and those who wrapped him in explosives are the ones who must be made to pay.
(A footnote, if you want to read more about my views you need a password to enter my blog. Just email me for it at rjr10036@aol.com)