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From Law And Crime: "Woman found guilty of murder after citizen’s arrest gone horribly wrong" [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2023-12-14

I bring this story up because we have a young woman who decided to do a “citizen’s arrest” of a man who left the scene of a minor traffic accident. She ended up shooting and killing the man, and now, she has been convicted of his murder. It had nothing to do with politics, but I suspect race played a role in the man’s death. And given how right wing lunatics believe they have the power to arrest anyone nowadays, I thought this dark example of vigilantism would be topical.

A 24-year-old Georgia woman was found responsible for killing a stranger during a citizen’s arrest gone fatally awry several years ago. Hannah Payne hung her head and cried as the verdict was read aloud in the courtroom in a case overseen by Judge Jewel C. Scott. After deliberating for roughly 90 minutes, 12 Peach State jurors determined Payne unlawfully attacked and murdered Kenneth Herring, 62, who was shot and killed following a minor traffic accident he is assumed to have caused on May 7, 2019. Payne faced two counts of felony murder, three counts of possession of a weapon during a crime, and one count each of malice murder, aggravated assault, and false imprisonment. She was found guilty of each and every count. She is set to be sentenced on Friday.

How did we go from a minor traffic accident to a man being shot to death?

Payne and a semi-truck had a green light when Herring breezed through a red light in his Dodge Dakota pickup truck, causing a minor crash with the semi-truck. Testimony at an earlier hearing suggested that Herring stayed at the scene of the crash for roughly 15 to 20 minutes before ultimately getting back in his truck and driving away. She was not involved in the initial crash, pulled over and called 911, she testified on Monday. A witness — a state corrections officer with medic training — also saw the crash and came up to speak to Herring, a detective previously testified. Based on his training, the witness suggested Herring was having a medical emergency — a diabetic shock or something of that nature. For example, Herring was disoriented, displayed red-orange eyes, and had walked around his truck several times. But Payne thought Herring was drunk.

NOTE: As someone who takes care of an elderly diabetic, I can state with assurity that when their sugar goes low, it appears that a diabetic is drunk.

She claims that the state corrections officer flashed a badge like he was a cop, and the CO stated that man was OK but “inebriated.” Payne claims she asked if Herring was drunk, and the CO said, “Yes.” And it was at this moment that Payne took off in her car after Herring.

Payne also called 911 while chasing Herring down, and she was in contact with a 911 dispatcher. The 911 dispatcher emphatically told Payne NOT to follow Herring, but guess who ignored this advice? Payne stated she was just trying to get Herring’s license plate number to report it to the police.

According to Payne’s testimony, she found Herring stopped at an intersection, and she approached Herring’s car. And this is where we get two completely different accounts of what happened next.

Payne stated that Herring grabbed her shirt, and he started to hit the gas and move his truck forward. Payne yelled at him to stop, and a struggle ensued. Payne felt in fear for her life, and she pulled out her pistol and ordered Payne to stop. Herring supposedly grabbed her hand with the pistol, and in the struggle, the pistol fired and killed Herring.

This is what the prosecution proved in court:

The state, on the other hand, proved during trial, relying on witness testimony and recordings, that Payne actually cut Herring off with her car, then jumped out and “very aggressively” ran up to Herring’s car, cursed at him, immediately started punching the confused man through his window, took out her gun, threatened to shoot him twice, and “immediately” shot him.

Did I meantion that Herring was black and Payne is white?

And did I fail to mention this happened in the state of GA?

This is what happens when someone who has zero training in law enforcement decides that they have the “right” to act like a cop and arrest someone. Republicans have been embracing vigilantism for many years now, and it is primarily directed at those who are POC. This is unacceptable. What is done to POC in the name of “citizen’s arrest” can be done to ANYONE.

Look at how right wing terrorists want to “arrest” people like Governor Whitmer of MI. Kyle Rittenhouse got away with shooting multiple people in WI because of the protests there. The state of Texas now has bounties out for anyone who helps a woman obtain an abortion. And this is acceptable among the fascists who make up the Republican Party.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/12/14/2211690/-From-Law-And-Crime-Woman-found-guilty-of-murder-after-citizen-s-arrest-gone-horribly-wrong?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web

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