Gov. Rick Scott wasted no time in replacing Aramis Ayala as the prosecutor in the Markeith Loyd murder case after she announced that she would seek life without the chance of parole instead of the death penalty.
Florida Rep. Bob Cortes wasted no time in announcing he wanted Aramis Ayala removed from her duly elected position of state attorney because of her announcement.
Various Republicans around the state have been making similar statements regarding Markeith Loyd and the desire for him to die.
The crimes he is accused of very well may warrant the death penalty.
I asked myself, though, would they be so quick to want to put Loyd to death if his skin lacked a certain level of melanin.
Something tells me the answer is no.
There would be the "let's wait for all the facts" or "innocent until proven guilty" lines.
Especially since the victims are black.
Don't get me wrong, it matters that Debra Clayton was a police officer, and the big push for the death penalty is because of that fact.
To a certain degree.
Poor Sade Dixon and her unborn child, whose lives matter just as much, seem to be an afterthought to these rabid people who don't even seem to know Debra Clayton's name.
All they seem to be able to yell is "Cop killer!"
Imagine if Debra Clayton hadn't been a police officer.
Chances are high that we wouldn't even know she had been killed.
Sad, isn't it?
Rick Scott wouldn't give a rat's crack what her killer was charged with or what penalty was on the table.
Neither would Bob Cortes.
They would let Aramis Ayala do her job without interference.
They should do so now. This political grandstanding is sickening.
Wouldn't it be something if Rick Scott took an interest in the fact that a man was boiled alive down in Miami-Dade, and yet no charges were filed?
Kathy Fernandez Rundle is a state attorney who should be removed if ever I saw one. Where is the outrage there?
No one is questioning her discretion, and it has been questionable for quite some time.
This attempt to bully Aramis Ayala WILL backfire.
Either in the courts, at the polls, or both.
Keep poking the bear. I know this country has gotten away with it for a very long time.
You guys know what "it" is.
We are at a point where criminal justice reform is desperately needed, especially for the black community.
Anyone who says that the death penalty hasn't been used disproportionately against people of color isn't being honest.
Anyone who says harsher sentences for the same offenses haven't been given to people of color isn't being honest.
Let's be honest for a second. Barring any outside factors, Markeith Loyd is going to outlive most of you calling for his death, even if he DOES get the death penalty.
Think about that.
Leslie Wimes, a Sunshine State News columnist, is founder and president of Women on the Move and the Democratic African American Women Caucus, www.daawc.com. Follow Leslie on Twitter: @womenonthemove1.
