MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Karmelo Anthony and Austin Metcalf were both 17, both track athletes, both strong students, when they had a confrontation at a track meet. At some point, Metcalf pushed Anthony, and Anthony stabbed Metcalf, killing him. After deliberating for just a few hours, a jury convicted Anthony of murder. And this week, the judge sentenced him to 35 years in prison. To the prosecution, this was a straightforward case of unjustified violence, but many in the Frisco community do not see it that way. It has convulsed this rapidly growing and diverse suburb of Dallas, Texas, and become a national story.
To ask why, we've called the Reverend Billy Echols-Richter, who is involved in an interfaith alliance there. He leads services at Grace Avenue United Methodist Church in Frisco. Reverend Billy, thanks so much for joining us.
BILLY ECHOLS-RICHTER: Thank you for having me.
MARTIN: Well, first, stating the obvious, Anthony - the accused - is Black. And Metcalf, who was killed, is white. But how quickly did that fact become the dominant issue?
ECHOLS-RICHTER: I don't really think it became the fact until after the tragedy occurred. This was not a white student seeking out a Black student to attack them. This was not a Black student seeking out a white student to retaliate or to push back. This was a track meet. These were two students from rival schools. Each school sets up their tent and says, this is our territory for our school. And apparently, Karmelo Anthony came into the other school's tent, and that's when the dispute occurred.
MARTIN: Very soon after the killing, these right-wing provocateurs, led by a January 6 insurrectionist who was pardoned by the president, started leading these racist protests. He called for Karmelo Anthony to be lynched. How much has that contributed to the atmosphere there, or was that already there?
ECHOLS-RICHTER: I think when somebody like that comes in, what they are able to do is to reach down to a small minority of people who have been sort of lurking in the shadows, waiting for someone to come along and to promote something that is bigoted. And one of the things that was very clear after this happened - the father of Austin Metcalf, when Jake Lang showed up here, said very clearly, we don't want you here, and you are not helping the situation by what you are espousing.
MARTIN: It's my understanding that Karmelo Anthony acknowledges that he had a knife. He acknowledges that he stabbed Austin Metcalf. His argument was that it was self-defense. It's my understanding that the reason some in the community are decrying this prosecution as racist - they say that a white student who felt similarly threatened by Black students would have been treated more sympathetically by the authorities. Is that the basis of it?
ECHOLS-RICHTER: I don't believe that to be the case. Some of the students that they presented as witnesses were African American, who testified to the fact that Karmelo Anthony chose to reach into his backpack and pull out the knife. I want to just say too, I think one of the things here is to talk about the difference between responsibility and blame. We want to assign blame. What I've discovered in my life is that when we do that, it takes any responsibility away from us. I think in this case, we have to all claim responsibility.
MARTIN: And why do you say that?
ECHOLS-RICHTER: I say that because of the way we've taught children in our community that you should have a certain pride in your school. And I'm not saying that's necessarily a bad thing. But when that turns into, this is our territory - we're going to defend our ground - that becomes problematic. And we have to all look at ourselves and say - how do we all accept some responsibility? - as opposed to immediately jumping in and saying, oh, well, I know who's to blame.
MARTIN: How do you think people go forward from here?
ECHOLS-RICHTER: Well, I think we've got to get back to a concept of neighborliness. And part of what that means is being able to learn from one another, to sit down together, to break bread together, to be hospitable with one another. We're all here and have been given the opportunity to share in something very, very special. Why are we trying to destroy that? And I think, again, part of it just simply is there are people that are afraid that they are losing their sense of their own territory.
MARTIN: That's Billy Echols-Richter. He's lead pastor at Grace Avenue United Methodist Church in Frisco, Texas. Pastor Echols-Richter, thanks so much for talking to me.
ECHOLS-RICHTER: Thanks, Michel. It's been a pleasure.
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