Latest / The Breakfast Club / Celebrities Speak Out: The Debate Over Karmelo Anthony’s Sentence (recommended)

Transcript

Celebrities Speak Out: The Debate Over Karmelo Anthony’s Sentence (recommended) · The Breakfast Club

0:01
Speaker 1: Some of the toys. I'm a homegrowl that knows a
0:03
Speaker 1: little bit about everything and everybody.
0:05
Speaker 2: You know, if you don't lie about that, right, you
0:08
Speaker 2: can't even hot.
0:09
Speaker 1: Hey, y'all, what's up. It's Lauren Rosa and this is
0:12
Speaker 1: another episode of The Latest with Lauren L. Rosa. This
0:16
Speaker 1: is your deally dig on all things pop culture, entertainment, news,
0:19
Speaker 1: and all of the conversations that shake the room. Baby. Now,
0:23
Speaker 1: y'all know here at the Latest with Lonarosa, when we
0:25
Speaker 1: kick this thing off, we always start off with the
0:29
Speaker 1: behind the scenes of the grind checking, So let's get
0:32
Speaker 1: it so when we check in behind the scenes of
0:36
Speaker 1: the Grind here, it's it's just to take a second
0:39
Speaker 1: to see how we feel in a bit. You know,
0:40
Speaker 1: a lot of times you be moving, grooving, doing your thing,
0:43
Speaker 1: and if you're out here trying to figure something out, hustling, bustling,
0:47
Speaker 1: doing all the things, a lot of times you don't
0:49
Speaker 1: really take the time to sit down and checking on yourself,
0:52
Speaker 1: to really just ask yourself how you feel, how's it going? Man?
0:57
Speaker 1: Sometimes I know myself I got to sit down and
1:01
Speaker 1: be like, when did I eat today? I mean, and
1:04
Speaker 1: y'all know how it is like when you're trying to
1:06
Speaker 1: figure something out when you're on the mission, when you're
1:07
Speaker 1: in the building phases and stages or something. So I
1:10
Speaker 1: built this into the show sow that we all can
1:12
Speaker 1: take a second to really sit down and answer the
1:15
Speaker 1: question how are we feeling today? So today I am
1:18
Speaker 1: feeling well. I'm excited that it is towards the end
1:23
Speaker 1: of the week. This week, I'm not even gonna lot
1:24
Speaker 1: to y'all. I am very excited about that, but I'm
1:28
Speaker 1: feeling a little bit like all over the place, like
1:32
Speaker 1: I don't know what it is about this week and
1:36
Speaker 1: how fast it feels like it's moving. But I've talked
1:39
Speaker 1: to you guys before on here about the mantra that
1:41
Speaker 1: I have about not letting the day on me owning
1:43
Speaker 1: the day, baby, when I tell you, I had to
1:45
Speaker 1: tell myself that a few times this week, and I
1:50
Speaker 1: feel like the closer it gets to the end of
1:51
Speaker 1: the week and trying to make sure I get everything
1:53
Speaker 1: done that I need. You know, you got people that
1:56
Speaker 1: need things from you. You're trying to fulfill all those requests. Yeah,
2:00
Speaker 1: also just sleep and make sure you're good. Like a
2:04
Speaker 1: lot of times, it just feels like there's twenty four
2:06
Speaker 1: hours in a day, but like, can I get more
2:09
Speaker 1: than twenty four hours? A lot of times it feels
2:11
Speaker 1: like that, and a lot of times I'm always like
2:13
Speaker 1: Beyonce got the same twenty four hours. That'd be my
2:16
Speaker 1: motto in life about a lot of things, Like Yo,
2:20
Speaker 1: Beyonce has the same twenty four hours, Easter Ray has
2:23
Speaker 1: the same twenty four hours. They maximize the hell out
2:26
Speaker 1: of their twenty four hours. And from what they seem
2:29
Speaker 1: like from the outside looking and I don't know them yet,
2:34
Speaker 1: they're also just like kind of like balanced people, like
2:37
Speaker 1: they had time for the family, Like they figure it
2:39
Speaker 1: out right, Like it's probably not always balanced, but they
2:42
Speaker 1: figure out the flow. Yeah, So that's me this week.
2:45
Speaker 1: My niece has been here with me all week long.
2:48
Speaker 1: She's on her summer break. So also just trying to
2:50
Speaker 1: make sure that we at least get out the house
2:53
Speaker 1: after I get off of work. Yesterday, we went to lunch. Today,
2:56
Speaker 1: we were supposed to go to like a park that
2:59
Speaker 1: does like a water par situation, And when I tell y'all,
3:03
Speaker 1: I fell asleep trying to prepare for work. The following day.
3:09
Speaker 1: Didn't even get to take her to the park. So yeah,
3:11
Speaker 1: just trying to be in lockstep with the to do
3:17
Speaker 1: lists I set for myself for today. I'm trying to
3:19
Speaker 1: like be in lockstep with that. But listen, you win some,
3:24
Speaker 1: you lose some, Like that is a matter of my
3:27
Speaker 1: adult life. You win some, you lose some, and the
3:29
Speaker 1: ones that you win, maybe, baby, make them some good
3:31
Speaker 1: wins because the other ones might gotta wait until after
3:34
Speaker 1: get nap or tomorrow. Okay, I don't feel guilty about
3:37
Speaker 1: it like I used to. I used to feel really
3:38
Speaker 1: guilty about not being able to do all things and
3:41
Speaker 1: show up and literally burnt myself out from that. Not
3:45
Speaker 1: happening this summer around. But there's a lot going on
3:48
Speaker 1: in the news. My life is moving fast in the
3:50
Speaker 1: news as well too, So let's get on into the latest.
3:55
Speaker 1: All right. So we have been talking a bit about
3:58
Speaker 1: the Carmelo Anthony case. For those of you guys who
4:01
Speaker 1: are not familiar, Carmelo Anthony is the nineteen year old
4:04
Speaker 1: boy who, at age seventeen, made headlines when he got
4:08
Speaker 1: into an altercation with another teenage boy, another seventeen year
4:14
Speaker 1: old boy named Austin Metcalf. They were at a high
4:17
Speaker 1: school track meet and there was an altercation that ensued
4:23
Speaker 1: of some sort that ended in Carmelo Anthony stabbing Austin
4:28
Speaker 1: Metcalf with a pocket knife, and Austin did not survive
4:33
Speaker 1: the staff He passed away later from his injuries. Carmelo
4:39
Speaker 1: Anthony was just sentenced to thirty five years behind this incident,
4:43
Speaker 1: and we interviewed a community advocate that had been working
4:48
Speaker 1: closely with the family on a prior episode, literally like
4:52
Speaker 1: as the sentencing was coming down, like the thirty five years,
4:55
Speaker 1: like as the world found out. Honestly, as his family
4:57
Speaker 1: found out, we on our interview in real time found out. So,
5:01
Speaker 1: if you guys are listening to this right now, I
5:03
Speaker 1: want to go take a listen to that. Please go
5:05
Speaker 1: take a listen to that prior episode, this episode prior
5:07
Speaker 1: to this one that you were listening to right now,
5:10
Speaker 1: but less than twenty four hours later. I said, things
5:13
Speaker 1: are moving fast, and they are as they should when
5:15
Speaker 1: you're dealing with, you know, circumstances like this. Carmelo Anthony's
5:20
Speaker 1: attorneys have filed for or have filed a notice of
5:24
Speaker 1: appeal now again to reiterate some of the conversation around
5:30
Speaker 1: this case. Race has become a really big conversation in
5:32
Speaker 1: this case because Carmelo Anthony is a young black teen
5:36
Speaker 1: and Austin metcalf Is or was god rest is Soul,
5:42
Speaker 1: a white teenager. So there's been a lot of conversation
5:45
Speaker 1: about race and how this is playing out because of race. Now,
5:51
Speaker 1: the notice of appeal that was filed less than twenty
5:54
Speaker 1: four hours after Carmelo Anthony was in thirty five years
5:58
Speaker 1: basically just lets the court know, hey, we do plan
6:02
Speaker 1: to appeal. We're putting you guys on notice that this
6:04
Speaker 1: is coming. It's happening. We don't want to waive that
6:09
Speaker 1: ability to do so. So well, there will definitely be
6:12
Speaker 1: more there because from now on, moving forward with what
6:16
Speaker 1: happen is there will be documents filed by criminal Anthony's
6:19
Speaker 1: family attorneys of the actual appeal with them outlining everything
6:23
Speaker 1: they think was done wrong or should be paid more
6:29
Speaker 1: attention to from the lower court, and they'll be asking
6:33
Speaker 1: for a few things that they'll probably ask for is
6:36
Speaker 1: a lesser sentence, if not a dismissal altogether of some sort.
6:41
Speaker 1: I don't really see them doing the dismissal thing though,
6:43
Speaker 1: because Austin was stabbed, life was lost. But I can
6:48
Speaker 1: see them asking for a shorter sentence, a retrial to
6:53
Speaker 1: get to that shorter sentence. Those are normally things that
6:55
Speaker 1: people do when they're trying to appeal certain situations of
7:00
Speaker 1: Right now, Carmelo Anthony is in police custody. He is
7:04
Speaker 1: in prison. There was a story that was reported by
7:07
Speaker 1: TMZ that mentioned that he's currently being held on a
7:12
Speaker 1: secure lockdown and isolation while officials at the prison that
7:17
Speaker 1: he's at determine, like what his long term placement is
7:22
Speaker 1: going to look like. Because this has been a high
7:24
Speaker 1: profile case up until this point, because it went from
7:27
Speaker 1: just a local case, it's something that made national news headlines.
7:32
Speaker 1: Now with it making national news headlines, there are a
7:35
Speaker 1: lot of celebrities that are starting to weigh in on
7:38
Speaker 1: this conversation, and I think everyone's sentiment is, you know,
7:42
Speaker 1: pretty much echoed the same, like, you never want to
7:45
Speaker 1: see no family have to bury that baby ever, white, black, green, purple.
7:49
Speaker 1: You never want to see that, And feeling that heartfelt
7:55
Speaker 1: feeling for Austin Metcalf and his family, who you know
7:59
Speaker 1: also is no longer here, his family no longer has
8:02
Speaker 1: their their child anymore. On the other side of it,
8:07
Speaker 1: the conversation about race plays a major factor, and the
8:11
Speaker 1: fact that Carmelo Anthony said that this happened in self defense,
8:16
Speaker 1: and the fact that the court, the all white Jewelry
8:19
Speaker 1: did not believe him, and the way that he was
8:22
Speaker 1: sentenced thirty five years, with some people believing that it
8:26
Speaker 1: was too harsh, being as though he is standing on
8:31
Speaker 1: the fact that it was in self defense. Now, during
8:35
Speaker 1: the trial, the jury had, like the court had this,
8:39
Speaker 1: the court could have looked at this as a manslaughter situation,
8:43
Speaker 1: which would have lesson did or lessened you know, the
8:46
Speaker 1: time that Carmelo Anthony was looking at but they decided
8:52
Speaker 1: not to. And I think and you guys again can
8:55
Speaker 1: go back to the conversation we had with an advocate
8:58
Speaker 1: who was I'm not for sure if he's still working
8:59
Speaker 1: with the face. I've seen things that have said that
9:02
Speaker 1: he's not because the family decided no longer to work
9:05
Speaker 1: alongside him. I don't know. I think getting into all
9:07
Speaker 1: that stuff is so meticulous at this point, because there's
9:09
Speaker 1: a child that lost his life and there's a child
9:11
Speaker 1: that is sitting behind bars for thirty five years who
9:13
Speaker 1: is nineteen years old. But in that conversation I brought
9:19
Speaker 1: up the fact that I don't think that there was
9:22
Speaker 1: enough done in court. I don't think that his attorneys
9:25
Speaker 1: did enough in court whatsoever Carmelo Anthony's attorneys that is
9:29
Speaker 1: to prove that, yes, this happened, but it was self defense,
9:35
Speaker 1: you know, and really establishing a timeline of what led
9:38
Speaker 1: up to that moment. And that's just my opinion. I'm
9:42
Speaker 1: not an attorney, but just from you know, the court
9:44
Speaker 1: minutes and everything that I was following leading up to
9:46
Speaker 1: the actual verdict day now. I mentioned some celebrities who
9:50
Speaker 1: are speaking out about this, and I remember, you know,
9:58
Speaker 1: various cases like that I've covered, whether it be you know,
10:03
Speaker 1: police brutality to whatever it is when it comes to
10:06
Speaker 1: you know, fair sentencing and anything systematic when it comes
10:10
Speaker 1: to black people, black children. Often a lot of celebrities
10:14
Speaker 1: speak out because I think, you know, you look at
10:15
Speaker 1: them at celebrities, but these are people that are raising
10:18
Speaker 1: kids themselves, like and that are people themselves literally like
10:22
Speaker 1: you know, they're operating in the world the same way
10:24
Speaker 1: we are. And jay Z said it best, like when
10:29
Speaker 1: on four for four I believe was on four for
10:30
Speaker 1: four when he said I'm not black, I'm oj yeah, okay,
10:34
Speaker 1: like there's not an amount of money that can change
10:37
Speaker 1: the way that the system deals with black people and
10:40
Speaker 1: people of color, period, and we're never going to tiptoe
10:43
Speaker 1: around that fact. So when you see the celebrities getting involved,
10:46
Speaker 1: number one, I think anything that brings light to anything
10:50
Speaker 1: that may be an injustice, like having a celebrity voice
10:54
Speaker 1: on it, if even just to say, hey, here's how
10:56
Speaker 1: I feel as a mother, as a black man or whatever,
11:01
Speaker 1: I'm not against that. I'm for it because I think
11:03
Speaker 1: it brings light, right, and it keeps like the more
11:05
Speaker 1: attention to a case, the more people are gonna have
11:08
Speaker 1: to be held accountable for certain things that go well
11:10
Speaker 1: and don't go well. But also too, I think the
11:18
Speaker 1: dynamic that you're seeing with celebrities getting involved with things
11:22
Speaker 1: that are like systematic or political is because the way
11:26
Speaker 1: that the world that we live in is set up
11:27
Speaker 1: right now, it's like you going you, You're either gonna
11:31
Speaker 1: understand the system and how these things work, or it's
11:34
Speaker 1: gonna do you. Period. So CARTI b uh. When Carmelo
11:38
Speaker 1: Anthony was first sentenced, she posted, Wow, just freaking wild,
11:45
Speaker 1: disgusting in all caps. This is not justice. This is
11:48
Speaker 1: trying to make an example, and then she's been retweeting
11:52
Speaker 1: some things about Carmelo Anthony. She retweeted a post that said,
11:57
Speaker 1: almost four years ago, Carmelo Anthony someone's life. Don't allow
12:01
Speaker 1: these trolls or mainstream media to tell you otherwise. They're
12:04
Speaker 1: trying to characterizsassionate against his image like the dominant societies
12:09
Speaker 1: always do. She then was on her Twitter spaces and
12:15
Speaker 1: she had a lot to say, coming from the point
12:18
Speaker 1: of she's raising black children, a black two black young boys.
12:23
Speaker 1: Let's take a listen to Cardi now.
12:27
Speaker 2: As a mom, right, what I would tell my son's son.
12:32
Speaker 2: Don't let nobody punk you, don't ever let nobody make
12:36
Speaker 2: you feel less of a man, and always defend yourself.
12:40
Speaker 2: If Austin and his team fallstertain type of way, then
12:43
Speaker 2: he went to the tent. He should have went to
12:46
Speaker 2: his coach. What do they tell us in school, if
12:48
Speaker 2: you have an issue with somebody, go to a teacher,
12:51
Speaker 2: go to an adult. If Austin had an issue with
12:57
Speaker 2: Anthony being in the tent, he should have went to
13:01
Speaker 2: the coach and to the coach take him out of
13:05
Speaker 2: the tent. But Austin took into his hands to get
13:09
Speaker 2: aggressive with Anthony now in life something that I have
13:14
Speaker 2: to learn. Just because somebody provoke you, and they could
13:17
Speaker 2: provoke you, They could provoke you if you put your
13:19
Speaker 2: hands on them, it's still wrong. It's illegal to put
13:23
Speaker 2: your hands on somebody. He put his hands on somebody.
13:29
Speaker 2: Austin was twice his size. And not only that, but
13:32
Speaker 2: I also heard he knows how to fight jiu jitsu.
13:34
Speaker 2: He was surrounded, he was protecting himself. Is it wrong
13:40
Speaker 2: to lose your life over something so petty? Absolutely is wrong.
13:45
Speaker 2: Like I said, it's a lose situation on both. It
13:49
Speaker 2: would have been so different if it was a white
13:52
Speaker 2: boy that went to a black football player's tent and
13:57
Speaker 2: the aggressive was black and big.
14:01
Speaker 1: It is the truth, and I think that's the thing
14:05
Speaker 1: for me. It's like man, h when I was so
14:08
Speaker 1: We're in the interview and we find out that Carmelo
14:11
Speaker 1: Anthony in the interview with the community activist Dominique that
14:17
Speaker 1: was working alongside Carmelo Anthony's family at one point and
14:21
Speaker 1: he says to me, he breaks the news to me
14:23
Speaker 1: in the interview that Carmelo was sentenced thirty five years.
14:28
Speaker 1: I literally I couldn't not like cry like I got
14:31
Speaker 1: it together and we will do on. Let's take a
14:32
Speaker 1: listen to that moment we.
14:34
Speaker 2: Find out that Carmelo has been sentenced to thirty five years.
14:40
Speaker 1: Oh my god, m oh, I wasn't expecting that. But
14:47
Speaker 1: the first thing I thought of was, like, man, I've
14:50
Speaker 1: been a teenager doing dumb things and just reacting in
14:54
Speaker 1: the heat of the moment. And uh at that age
14:59
Speaker 1: or so, like, those decisions just cost someone their life,
15:04
Speaker 1: cost two people their life. One person is no longer here,
15:10
Speaker 1: a family had to bury a kid, and any other
15:12
Speaker 1: person is about to spend the majority of their life
15:15
Speaker 1: behind bars. Like, But then you get into the conversation
15:25
Speaker 1: of like, and this is a question that it's fairly
15:27
Speaker 1: being asked and should continue to be asked. Would the
15:30
Speaker 1: outcome of this be different if Carmelo Anthony was a
15:32
Speaker 1: white teenager, would it be thirty five years? Would the
15:37
Speaker 1: jury have roled differently? There are research and studies that
15:40
Speaker 1: show that having an all white jury, for you know,
15:45
Speaker 1: anyone that is on a trial, especially in a criminal trial,
15:48
Speaker 1: that is a black individual, especially a black man, if
15:53
Speaker 1: fares not as equally just because of you know, you
15:59
Speaker 1: come with your preconceived notions, no matter people are human,
16:02
Speaker 1: jurors are human. Now. Waka Flaka rap artist Waka Floka
16:08
Speaker 1: also posted about this on his social media and I
16:11
Speaker 1: thought his take was pretty interesting and now, and I
16:16
Speaker 1: know Waka, so this is no shot at him, but
16:19
Speaker 1: a lot of the things he's been talking about recently
16:20
Speaker 1: when it comes to politics not here for whatsoever period.
16:25
Speaker 1: But I thought that this post that he put up
16:28
Speaker 1: about the Carmelo Anthony situation was pretty fair and I
16:34
Speaker 1: appreciated him speaking out from his perspective on this thing
16:38
Speaker 1: because the other stuff he's been talking about, you can
16:40
Speaker 1: say that, but here we go. So Waka Flocka says.
16:43
Speaker 1: What I keep coming back to is fairness. I also
16:46
Speaker 1: believe we cannot ignore what led up to that moment.
16:48
Speaker 1: From what I understand, Carmelo Anthony was being bullied, intimidating,
16:51
Speaker 1: and put in a situation where he felt threatened in corner.
16:55
Speaker 1: When young people are pushed, surrounded and made to feel
16:57
Speaker 1: like they have no way out, fear can take over
16:59
Speaker 1: a second. That does not mean Austin Metcalf deserve to
17:03
Speaker 1: lose his life. He did not. My prayers are with
17:05
Speaker 1: his family because they are living with a pain. Nobody
17:08
Speaker 1: should ever have to carry. But I also believe Carmelo's side,
17:11
Speaker 1: his fear, and the circumstances leading up to that moment
17:14
Speaker 1: should have mattered more. This is why so many people
17:17
Speaker 1: are hurt and frustrated with the justice system. It feels
17:19
Speaker 1: like justice isn't always equal, not always compassionate, and not
17:23
Speaker 1: always willing to see the full story, especially when a
17:25
Speaker 1: young black man is the one on trial. I'm praying
17:28
Speaker 1: for Carmelo, his family, his safety, and his mental well being.
17:31
Speaker 1: I'm also praying for Austin's family because none of this
17:34
Speaker 1: is right. Two families are broken and life was lost.
17:38
Speaker 1: Another young life has been changed forever. My prayer is
17:40
Speaker 1: that truth, fairness, healing and real change will come. Very
17:44
Speaker 1: unfortunate like this whole situation is just so heartbreaking. Man. Yeah,
17:55
Speaker 1: So there will be updates here and we will keep
17:57
Speaker 1: you guys posted as though those updates as it develops.
18:04
Speaker 1: I'm Laura l Rosa. This has been another episode of
18:06
Speaker 1: the Latest with Laura Rosa. I tell you guys all
18:09
Speaker 1: the time that I appreciate you all, my Lowriders, because
18:11
Speaker 1: I do. You could be anywhere with any old body
18:14
Speaker 1: talking about all of the things that you guys choose
18:16
Speaker 1: to be right here with me, and for that I
18:19
Speaker 1: appreciate it. I'll catch you in my next episode.