People across America were shocked and sickened by the appalling case of Cannon Hinnant, a 5-year-old boy in North Carolina who was shot dead at point blank range by his adult neighbor.
Still, very few media outlets, if any, have sought to portray the heinous killing of a white child by a black man as an act that was motivated by racial animosity.
But that generally sober response to such an horrific crime did not stop one social media loudmouth seeking to inject race into the story in a way that could not be more offensive to the boy’s family and anyone that knew him.
Rome Smith, who works at the Cumberland County Juvenile Detention Center, wrote on Facebook Friday about the Aug. 9 shooting that killed Cannon.
“He should’ve ducked,” Smith, 49, allegedly wrote, a screenshot shows.
“Y’all always trying to sneak diss and discredit a black person being killed innocently by police. Blame cannon’s parents for not watching him!!! F Y’ALL.”
Smith’s Facebook account appeared to be no longer available early Wednesday. County officials did not identify him by name, but confirmed the suspension and denounced the online comments as “shockingly insensitive and racist in tone,” NJ.com reports.
“We will not tolerate county employees using social media to broadcast hateful messages,” Cumberland County Freeholder Director Joseph Derella said. “This is not who we are and we intend to pursue the strongest action available to us.”
Smith, who is black, has been enrolled in the state’s pension system for 26 years and currently earns $56,678, NJ.com reports.
Smith’s post was attacked by other social media users as racist and “very disturbing”.
“He is obviously racist against caucasians,” one post read. “He laughed at a 5 year old boy being executed.”
Cannon was playing outside with his sisters when he was shot. A next-door neighbor, 25-year-old Darius Nathaniel Sessoms has been charged with first-degree murder in the boy’s death.
Police investigators did not release any details about a possible motive last week, the station reports.
The boy’s devastated father, Austin Hinnant, has dismissed the notion that race played any role in the shooting whatsoever.
“This is no racial issue,” Hinnant told the Wilson Times earlier this month.
Sessoms’ parents have said they suspect their son had taken drugs and was hallucinating during the shooting.