via Maxpixel
Franklin and Jessica Richardson are a couple that was minding their own business. They decided to go to a Kampground of America campsite seeking a place to picnic and to walk their dog, by Oktibbeha County Lake near Starkville, Mississippi. Then things went terribly wrong.
Ruby Nell Howell pulled up on them and hopped out waving a gun, telling them "Get, get," and trying to run them off like stray animals. She told them they had no reservations and no business there. Jessica filmed what happened and asked what the gun and hostility was for.
Her own husband admitted to the couple before they left the grounds that they didn’t need a reservation. Ruby pulled up on them AGAIN, cursing them out and demanding that they leave. We all know why! She was lying, arrested, and was convicted of a misdemeanor charge.
But get this. According to NBC News, “She was fined $250 and ordered to pay $182.50 in court fees. Howell will not be jailed.” So, apparently this Black couple’s lives being threatened turned out to be worth less than $500. Does she get to keep her gun? What about probation?
Meanwhile, Franklin had recently returned home from overseas on a military deployment. As an Army National Guard Sergeant, he was shocked to “go over there and not have a gun pointed” at him only to return home and experience this. It says a lot about how threatened we are in the USA!