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Chapter 1: What is the background of the Karmelo Anthony case?
Hi everybody and welcome to the show. Happy Friday, although not so happy subject we're gonna be talking about today. We're gonna be revisiting the Carmelo Anthony case. He is now being tried for first degree murder in the killing of Austin Metcalf, a 17 year old. And now his trial has begun and it started a whole bunch of turmoil all over the place. Big debates happening nationwide.
There's a group of people who are defending this guy. saying that he acted in self-defense. Once we go through the facts of this case, I am of the opinion that he did not. And I think he's going to be found guilty, although we'll see with everything that's happening in this case so far.
Chapter 2: What are the details surrounding the murder trial?
So that's what we're going to be talking about today. The racial tensions that have been sparked by this case, although these racial tensions have been around for a long time. I think people are just maybe using this as an excuse to, uh, espouse their particular beliefs on the given subject. Before we get into all of that, of course, we've got Taylor.
Oh, hey. Yeah. Happy to be here. We used to do fun Fridays. This is not a fun Friday topic. Maybe we'll get back to that eventually, but it's an important one. So here we are. Let's get into it.
Yeah. OK, we're going to start off by getting into this case at a Fox News clip where we sort of lay the groundwork for what's taking place here. And I'm going to walk you through the details associated with this case. I'm going to get you into some of the responses. There are protesters right now outside the court who are there in support of Carmelo Anthony saying that he is guilty.
innocent, at the very least not guilty, that he acted in self-defense. Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been raised for this guy and continue to be raised in the wake of this current trial taking place. So let's get into this Fox News clip and see where we're at with everything.
So now to Texas, where the murder trial of Carmelo Anthony is now underway, and the jury is hearing two very different versions of the moments leading up to the deadly stabbing of Austin Metcalf at a high school track meet last year. Brooke Taylor watching that trial. She is live in Dallas. Brooke, hello.
Hi, Bill. Well, both sides have now laid out their cases. So the defense arguing that this is a case of self-defense, prosecutors calling it unjustified murder. So Carmelo Anthony is charged with murdering 17-year-old Austin Metcalf after admitting to stabbing him in the chest at a high school track meet last year.
Police say the fight started because Anthony was under another team's tent and Metcalf told him to leave.
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Chapter 3: How are racial tensions influencing public opinion on the case?
Anthony's defense attorneys say he stabbed Metcalf, who was unarmed, out of fear as a group was, quote, turning on him. But prosecutors yesterday in court showed jurors surveillance footage they say tells a different story.
The footage, it's grainy and shot from a distance, but reporters inside the courtroom tell us it shows a brief confrontation between Anthony and Metcalf, not a larger group, before Anthony runs from the scene. And that fight, it only lasted about four minutes or so. Jurors heard emotional testimony from Metcalf's track coach.
He said that Metcalf was helping lead setup efforts that day, which basically means he was in charge of setting up the tent and equipment. The coach testified and said athletes don't just go under other teams' tents. This is something that's understood between the athletes. This case, it's drawn national attention with race becoming a major issue. The final jury does not include any Black jurors.
Prosecutors say this case has nothing to do with race and it should be decided on the facts.
Okay, let's go ahead and pause there. And we are going to get into the racial conversation here. We're going to get into the jury conversation. We're definitely going to talk self-defense and first-degree murder here. But let's get into the facts of this case. Now... We've laid the groundwork, essentially. You know who Carmelo Anthony is. You know who Austin Metcalf is.
We're going to head to this ABC News article. The stabbing happened on a rainy morning in April of 2025. Witnesses told police the confrontation began when Anthony sat under a tent belonging to Metcalf's team, according to an arrest report. The teens went to different schools in Frisco. They did not allegedly know each other. before this altercation.
When Metcalfe told Anthony that he needed to move, Anthony reached into his bag and allegedly replied, touch me and see what happens. Now, it's alleged that he reached into the bag because, of course, that's where his knife was. That's where the weapon was. So if you reach into a bag and you have your hand on a weapon and you tell somebody, touch me and see what happens, what are you doing?
First of all, you're provoking them into a violent altercation with you. And it seems like you have somewhat premeditated your response to them acting in any sort of way towards you that involves violence. Touching. So I'm so confused as to how people are coming up to this case and screaming justice for Carmelo Anthony.
I guess the main argument is that Austin Metcalf approached him in the beginning to tell him that he needed to be out of the tent and thus started the altercation. But when you say touch me and see what happens to somebody and then they touch you and you stab them in the chest, you've committed murder. And they're going to run with this self-defense narrative. That's what the defense is saying.
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Chapter 4: What evidence is being presented in the trial?
And basically, there are certain parameters, qualifications. And if you just look at the facts that are known of this case so far, Carmelo's actions pretty much disqualify him out the gate. You have First is a right to be present. If you're gonna stand your ground and not leave a situation, you have to have a right to be in that space. And he was not in the designated space for his team.
And he was also asked to leave. So that's one condition that he does not meet. Another one is provocation. You cannot provoke someone else into violence and then claim self-defense essentially. And when he said,
you know it's alleged that he said make me leave uh before he said touch me and see what happens so again you're you're being asked to leave you're saying make me you're gonna have to physically make me and then you're saying touch me and see what happens those are obvious provocations to uh to violence and those also disqualify you from a self-defense case um and not to say nothing of the fact that you brought a knife to this situation
then is proportionality. And the law distinguishes between lethal force and non-lethal force. So even if Austin pushed him, that's non-lethal force. So to respond to that with lethal force changes the proportionality of that situation. And now that would disqualify you from self-defense.
in that regard uh as well so there's no in that situation there's no reasonable person would say that Carmelo uh assumed his life was in danger that Austin and his brother were going to kill him uh if he didn't leave the situation um so you know if he would have shoved Austin back you know maybe that that that is a legally protectable form of self-defense but he didn't shove him back he stabbed him in the chest with a knife so that that is not proportional so just you know
Again, my non legal expert analysis of this, it seems pretty clear, though, that he's not meeting the conditions necessary to mount a self defense case here.
yeah it's it's so insane to say you know touch me and see what happens to somebody to then go on to do that i mean there's a ton of people around presumably people who work for the school coaches things like that i i can't i find it hard to believe that they're going to argue that he thought his life was in danger in any way shape or form at the hands of austin metcalf here yet when this story was released when it hit the news immediately
hundreds of thousands of dollars were raised for carmelo anthony and here's his gifts and go they've actually raised the goal on this um as things are taking place and as this trial is underway so far six hundred and twenty thousand dollars raised by what, over 18,000 donors on this who are calling for justice for Carmelo Anthony.
And I'm confused because I think justice is going to be served here. And it's going to probably be a guilty verdict for this young man. I can't see it going any other way. And I don't know how the defense is going to pull out of their bag some sort of self-defense argument for what ended up taking place.
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Chapter 5: What arguments are being made for self-defense?
They send black kids to these schools where majority of the teachers and leaders are white and they see kids as bad or scary. And then the punishment starts.
Now, the defense team did try to argue on behalf of Carmelo Anthony, saying that there was some discrimination in the selection process because there were black women who they believed fit the same profile as some of the women who are seated on the jury. And clearly that didn't matter because opening statements and opening arguments are still scheduled to start today.
Today, and I would be interested to know if they did any background checking on how these people understand racial bias and how that shows up in situations like this.
Okay. You'd be curious to know whether or not they did any background checking as to whether or not Racial bias is going to be present for these people. Yes, of course they do that in picking jurors for a case. In fact, there were many black people presented in this pool of jurors, which I believe was like 500 to 600 people deep, okay?
As they went through these people trying to pick potential jurors, many of the black people present said that they in fact had racial bias, that they could not be impartial in this case because they would allow the skin tone of both the perpetrator and the victim to influence their ruling, what they decided, okay?
So when you get a headline that stipulates there's no black people on the jury for this Carmelo Anthony case, one would be moved to think, oh, the court is racist. This is the criminal justice system that is hating on Black people. They're doing it again. They're coming after this young Black boy who acted in self-defense, when in reality, they had Black people.
They interviewed those Black people. They came forward and said, I have racial bias. And guess what? You're moved out of the jury. And this is not an all-white jury. You're also going to see articles and social media posts saying that it's an all-white jury. It's not. There is a racial mix within this jury. And it's because Black people came forward and said, I have racial bias.
And others happened to be educators, which created a whole conflict of interest with them being jurors on this particular trial. So it's just like, I look into half these things. And I think most of the people who are defending this kid do not have the actual facts of what happened in this case. They do not care about the actual facts that have happened in this case.
They are so moved by racial bias that that is dictating everything that they think and feel about this. And they are a one track mind and tunnel visioned on the outcome that they want based off of their own bias. And that's literally about it, because I don't know how you look at this case and and get confused as to what has taken place here, but maybe
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Chapter 6: How does the jury selection process impact the trial?
Huh? When? Who, what, when, where, and why? Like, what the hell are you talking about? And that's how you know you're dealing with an ideologue. If you literally tell them, if I can show you definitive proof that he is guilty, will you change your mind? No. We're going to stand by ours. We're going to stand by ours. Okay. Just cut the mic.
Okay.
Cut the mic. I can't have a conversation with you anymore. There's nothing else to talk about. But that does seem to be the prevailing narrative and the prevailing mindset among the group of people who are out here protesting for Carmel Anthony's sake.
We're going to stand by ours regardless. I'm a mother first. I'm a Black mother. Let me put that on there. I'm an African-American mother. So I have to put away my color first and step into the motherhood.
When did you do that? When you said, we gon' protect ours, you know, we gon' rally for ours, huh?
Nobody wants to see their child slain. So I do want to send prayers. Oh, so he was slain. Interesting. To Austin Metcalf, their family. But at the end of the day, I got to think like, okay, what did you do to him or whatever to cause this to happen, the reaction? We got to start taking accountability for our kids.
Because then again, if my kid, that's why I said catch twin too, if my kid was Carmelo and I feel like his back was up against the wall, I'm going to tell you straight up, better mine than yours. Better mine than yours. So either way it go, everybody loses. A black boy allegedly erred, and I say allegedly, heavy on the allegedly, allegedly erred at somebody. You see what I'm saying?
So, yeah, this is about race. Because if the shoe was on the other foot, they wouldn't give a damn. Who wouldn't give a damn? Let me say this. Let's say the community. So if Carmelo Anthony was the one stabbed and killed by Austin Metcalf. They wouldn't give a damn.
Just like, what do you have to make that assumption? I just don't. At this point, the idiocy that we have to listen to every single time something like this happens is getting ridiculous. I am tired. I am tired. And there's more.
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Chapter 7: What is the significance of public support for Karmelo Anthony?
And from what I looked up in this, okay, what you have to prove for first degree is that it was willful. The defendant acted with a specific intent to kill. So they're going to argue that back and forth. If you go and stab somebody in the chest, I imagine you're acting with the specific intent to kill that individual. Is it deliberate?
The defendant carefully weighed and considered for and against their choice, knowing the consequences and still decided to kill. So did he have time to reflect at all about whether or not to stab somebody? this 17-year-old boy in the chest and whether or not that would result in the death of Austin Metcalf.
And then lastly, premeditation, the defendant decided to kill before committing the act that caused death. And I think that's probably going to be the hardest part for them to argue with the prosecution. But again, in hearing the report, if you reach into a bag with a knife in it and you say, touch me and see what happens...
you are not only indicating to the person that I have something in this bag and I will use it on you, but you have a moment to reflect. You are quite literally telling them, touch me and see what happens, meaning you have planned what is going to happen after they touch you. And if stabbing somebody in the chest is not a proportionate response to them touching you, you've in fact premeditated
their murder. So I have a feeling this is going to be open and shut. They have, I guess, two weeks for this trial, or that's what it's speculated to be taking. And I feel like this is a quick jury in and out. I don't know what they're going to be really deliberating on, to be honest.
Yeah, I mean, the nuances of the premeditation and whether it constitutes first degree is admittedly, I'm not, I mean, what you laid out makes sense to me. But all I know is that a district attorney is not going to approve a prosecutor's charging, uh, first degree murder if they don't think they can prove that case on the merits.
And because if you overcharge someone, you risk, uh, them facing no time at all and getting off scot-free, uh, if, if you don't have a strong enough case to prove what you're charging. So I can only imagine that they feel very confidently that under Texas law, the Carmelo's actions as they have evidence for do constitute that, that first degree murder. So, uh,
um it i don't it's it's sound a little i mean i don't know at first it's kind of like depending on how you look at it that's that's part of this case is like so much of the as is the framing because i've seen some videos that frame it as like oh he's carmelo's five foot eight hundred thirty pounds there was you know two big white brothers there are six one and you know he's in this hostile you know opposing tent uh so he's he's feeling fearful for his life and all this sort of
you know, depending on how you can spin it all these different ways. But at the end of the day, having a knife provoking, responding to a shove with a stab in the chest, uh, that those are the facts, you know, and that's, what's going to be judged. And you can't, even if someone's being mean to you, even if they're bullying you, even if they shove you, that doesn't justify, uh,
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Chapter 8: How do societal biases affect perceptions of justice in this case?
He put his hand in his bag. Howard said everyone read it as a warning. Austin looked at him and said, I know, you ain't got nothing in that bag. Okay, as long as you don't touch me, we're cool is very different from touch me and see what happens. Now, I don't know if there was more words exchanged in this back and forth than we know of. And there is video footage of this.
There are eyewitness accounts. There's a ton to be unpacked here in this trial. But you see how you're getting a very different story in this video. Real students started standing up. A fight was forming around him. And then Austin made physical contact first. In that split second, Mello has a decision to make. He stabbed once. He ran. He didn't stab again. He dropped the knife.
He didn't hurt anyone else. When police caught him, he didn't try to escape. He stood there and told them exactly what he did. Are you joking? If somebody makes physical contact with you, you have a split decision to make, a split second decision to make whether or not you stab them in the chest and kill them. I'm sorry. This is the defense's argument. I don't know what else to say here.
It's also being said that he didn't know that he wasn't supposed to be in this tent, which there are rules according to the coaches and some of the school staffers here that it is a well-known policy that the tents are for specific teams, that certain people are meant to be under this tent and others are not.
And it is being said that he would have been well aware of the rules regarding whether he should have been in this specific tent at this specific time. There's just a lot going on here that if you're listening to that video, I could understand why you might hear that and go, oh, justice for Carmelo Anthony. Let me start sending money to give, send, go.
But it takes two seconds of looking into this to hear the facts. And the facts tell a very different story, a much murkier story than the one you just heard in this video. But it's so interesting. But this is the prevailing video when you look it up on a platform like TikTok.
Yeah. And that's where there's like a couple of layers to this conversation. There's like the case itself. What do we think about that? There's the way the local kind of black community there is responding and say, we're going to side with our own no matter what.
And then there's the broader public perception that's being created by the media, by TikTok, where the narrative that's being spread about this case is specifically designed to
support this continuing oh black people are the victims of white aggression and this is yet another case in this long you know recurring theme in American life and this is just always what happens and justice for Carmelo Anthony and let's support let's have 18,000 people donate to his defense fund and give send go and there's
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