Shooting Over Mask Refusal Result In Murder Charge

Look, I get why some people outright refuse to wear a mask. I’m a fairly contrary individual, really. If the masses demand I do something, my standard protocol is to refuse out of general principle. So, when you’re going to demand that I wear a mask, even if it’s not an N95 mask, due to COVID-19, I’m going to raise an eyebrow, at a minimum.

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And I’m someone who lives in a town that was one of the hardest hit in the world at one point.

Yet because of that experience, I also get why some people get really irate about others not wearing masks. However, some people apparently take it way too far.

California security guard was charged with murder Wednesday after prosecutors say he shot a 50-year-old man at a supermarket because he was not wearing a mask.

The incident occurred at the Gardena market in South California on Sunday, when the customer, Jerry Lewis, reportedly entered the store without a mask and got into an argument with the guard, Umeir Hawkins.

Lewis reportedly left the story, only to return a short time later and renew his argument with Hawkins. However, it doesn’t appear that Lewis made any threatening comments or anything that could have been considered to have instigated such a reaction. In fact, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office argues that Lewis was walking away.

Now, someone is dead.

Of course, it would be easy to lash out about the mask mandate and blame it for this. To be fair, there’s certainly a case to be made for it. Yet part of the problem–a huge part–is that Hawkins never should have been an armed security guard, apparently.

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Hawkins and his wife Sabrina Carter were each charged with one count of possession of a handgun by a felon, stemming from a prior conviction in 2013 for assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury, according to a press release by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

Oh, if you’re less than clear who is the felon, it appears that both of them are, which means no guns in that household.

And yet, Hawkins worked as armed security?

How could he have gotten a gun in such a gun controlled state?

We know the answer, of course, because felons have had zero trouble getting guns in California for ages.

A better question, however, is how the hell did Hawkins get hired as armed security with a felony conviction? Did the company not know how to do a background check? Are those forbidden in California or something?

Look, I believe that we need to give convicted felons a chance when they get out, otherwise we shouldn’t be surprised by recidivism. However, there are certain jobs we should probably not let them do. For example, ones they’re not legally allowed to fill, like armed freaking security at a grocery store.

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Someone going to get sued by Lewis’s family. We all know it, and I can’t say that I’ll be overly shocked to see it happen. They’re going to get sued, they’re going to either lose or settle out of court, and there’s no two ways about it.

Meanwhile, Lewis is dead and Hawkins is probably going to prison for it.

Both he and his wife have entered not guilty pleas, for whatever good that will do them.

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