With Good Samaritans Like This, We're All Doomed

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PushBlack
May 25, 2019

Allegedly, it all started with a minor hit-and-run.

After Hannah Payne reportedly witnessed Kenneth Herring drive away from a fender bender, Payne chased him down and boxed his vehicle in. When she got out of a car with a gun, it didn’t take long for her to pull the trigger. Kenneth Herring was dead soon after.

This hunt, then murder, is strikingly reminiscent of a 2012 killing known around the world.

Trayvon Martin was similarly stalked and murdered by George Zimmerman, a man seeking vigilante justice with racist intent. It’s no wonder Payne has garnered the nickname of the “female George Zimmerman.”

Because these two exemplify the problem with vigilantism.

White vigilantes feel so empowered in their (white) righteousness, they genuinely believe they’re not only above the law, but that they ARE the law. Such entitlement has led to many Black deaths.

It’s why, post-Katrina, many residents of Algiers Point formed a militia to police and kill any Black person in sight.

It’s why Zimmerman killed Trayvon Martin.

And it’s why Hannah Payne killed Kenneth Herring.

Vigilantes are not good Samaritans. They’re on the prowl for trouble, not peace. For Hannah Payne? Kenneth Herring was a problem that needed vigilante justice.

And once again, Black folks are left wondering if we’ll ever see true justice for such senseless murders.

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