It Didn't Stop With James Byrd

by: KatRose

Sat Oct 25, 2008 at 13:11:21 PM EDT

I saw this headline and hoped I wasn't seeing it correctly:

Black man dragged to death 200 miles from site of Byrd murder 10 years ago.

Details:

Brandon McClelland, 24, was dragged to death beneath a truck driven by two white men in Paris, Texas last month. McClelland was black. The site of his death is about 200 miles from the location where James Byrd was murdered in a similar manner ten years ago.

McClelland's murder took place on September 16, 2008. Parts of his mangled body were found strewn along the highway at great distance.

Now, I first saw mention of this in an e-mail forwarding of the blog entry - so, following the Susan Smith-esque, McCain campaign wet-dream desperation 'B-girl' hoax, I was leery.

A set-up to generate yet another false equivalency for the McLame Palindrones to sneer about? 

However, here is an item on the murder from the Paris (Texas) News from a month ago:

Two men have been arrested and charged in the death of 24-year-old Brandon D. McClelland, whose body was found on a Lamar County road nine days ago.

Charles Ryan Crostley, 27, was arrested in Paris shortly after 8 p.m. Wednesday and remains in Lamar County Jail on charges of murder and of tampering with physical evidence with intent to impair the investigation of murder, preliminary charges that could change pending review of the case by the Lamar County and Distrit Attorney.

U.S. Marshals, Texas Rangers and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers are handling the investigation, and have determined McClelland’s death may have been intentional.

...

First responders believed McClelland was the victim of a hit-run accident, but after interviews with people who saw McClelland earlier, it was determined he was in the company of Crostley and Finley.

Claims McClelland’s death was a race crime surfaced last week on the Internet, by e-mail and from friends and relatives of McClelland.

“This has been examined from day one last week as a vitally important case, and it has been given full attention by the right law enforcement officers,” Young said earlier this week. “There is no indication at this time that this is a racially motivated crime, but rest assured, it will be dealt with accordingly if that becomes an issue.”

Any bets as to which Repug will play the 'all crime is hate crime' card?  More after the flip

The Paris News ran an op-ed on Sept. 28:

Sympathies extended, let’s now be clear in regard to the horrible and questionable death of Brandon McClelland.

As the editor of this newspaper and a resident of this community, I call on the Texas Department of Public Safety troopers, the Texas Rangers, the U.S. Marshals involved in this case and our Lamar County District Attorney’s office to be thorough in this investigation and to leave no stone unturned as to what happened prior to the discovery of this young man’s body in the early morning hours of Sept. 16.

Surely there is DNA evidence that will tell much about this crime. And, a full disclosure of autopsy reports should indicate how this young man died and the condition of his body when it was found. Because I realize this information may not be readily available to the public until time of trial, I call on the public to be vigilant but patient as law enforcement officials complete their investigation and those involved are brought to trial. Rumors run rampant on the Internet. I call on everyone to let this investigation run its course before we rush to judgment. And even if our worst fears prove to be true, let us realize that the actions of single individuals should in no way bring condemnation to an entire community.

But also let us not be naive enough to believe that there is no possibility that such actions are actually indicative of the atitude of the community - or of certain elements within the nation.