At the funeral of a gang member, a mourner touches the dead body “disrespectfully,” setting off a gun fight outside the funeral home in which two are killed and 12 more wounded

Sorry, I got that all wrong. By uncritically repeating the facts as reported in the news story from CBS Miami, I missed the true significance of what happened. The above title should have been:

More blacks attacked and killed by racist white America

Here’s the article:

Fourteen people have been shot and two are dead in what may be one of the worst mass shootings in South Florida history.

The shooting took place around 9:30 p.m. outside the Funeraria Latina Emanuel funeral home at 14990 W. Dixie Highway Friday night. [ … ]

A senior police commander told CBS4 investigative reporter Jim DeFede the shooting took place during a wake for 22-year-old Marvin Andre who died about two weeks ago while trying to evade police in Aventura.

According to the police commander, Andre had some connection to several South Florida gangs and some of those gang members were in attendance at his wake to pay their respects.

However, the commander said, someone at the wake touched Andre’s body in the casket in a way that other gangs took as disrespectful. This led to an argument inside the funeral home which spilled out to the street.

Members of one gang retrieved an assault rifle and a handgun from a car and opened fire at other gang members in front of the funeral home, according to the CBS4 source.

Investigators believe that a white vehicle may be involved, according to Miami-Dade Police.

Pastor A.D. Lenoir Sr., who presided over the funeral service for Marvin Andre, said it was a chaotic scene after the shooting and he tried to calm everyone down.

“It was horrific, people were going crazy, screaming, running, just chaos.”

Pastor Lenoir was with the victim who died on the scene. “It’s horrible seeing someone pass on like that.”

Lenoir had a message to community following the shooting.

“It’s horrible the way our young people are responding to anger, to frustration, to their fears, to whatever issues they’re experiencing, it’s a low-down shame and I think it should quit. If you have problems, I think you should talk to your pastor, talk to someone that can help you, not to respond violently.”

Witness Jacques Leonet agreed.

“It’s more than crazy. They are destroying the community.”

No arrests have been made.

A total of 14 people were shot which makes it one of the worst mass shootings in the history of South Florida.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at March 31, 2012 03:27 PM | Send