Reading time: 3 minutes
Carmelo Anthony’s conviction has gained a troubling new layer of controversy.
Just days after Anthony was sentenced to 35 years in prison, the father of slain teen Austin Metcalf took to social media to share his thoughts on the sentence.
Instead of offering his condolences to Carmelo’s parents or calling for compassion and empathy, as many had hoped, Jeff Metcalfe is fanning the flames of racial hatred.
During an appearance on Sarah Fields’ “JinxedSip” podcast, Metcalfe unleashed a wave of anger, much of it laced with truly shocking bigotry.
Metcalf began calling out Carmelo’s father, saying, “Andrew Anthony, you’re a coward and a coward, and you raised one.”
Then he turned his attention to Carmelo’s mother, saying:
“Kala, you drunken bitch. What did you do to that boy to make him stab someone? God, what kind of mother are you?”
Austin then turns his attention to someone named Kevin Hayes, who he allegedly wants to fight.
He refers to Hayes as “the only person in your family who doesn’t have a record,” then says, “I think that’s something worth bragging about in your culture.”
At this point the rant becomes more explicitly racist:
“You people have hung your hat over the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen,” Metcalfe said angrily.
“Let me make something racist so you can all go viral. I’ve got a new name for ‘Melo… how about ‘Watermelon Felon?'” How does that strike you? “
Metcalf then taunts Calla and Andrew about Carmelo’s future:
“I hope he enjoyed his first night in that cell last night. Because he’ll have many nights to think about what the hell he did.”
Metcalfe then makes a somewhat dubious claim, saying:
“I forgave him so that I would not carry hatred and anger, and so that I would not eat. Like cancer, it kills you from the inside.
“So when people ask me: How can you forgive him?” “If I hadn’t done that, I would have ended up killing him and going to prison myself.”
When discussing Anthony’s case, it is important to keep in mind that we are talking about two sets of parents exhausted by grief over the lives of two promising young men cut short.
Austin Metcalfe died at the age of 17. Carmelo Anthony will be about 40 years old before he becomes eligible for parole.
All this during a makeshift brawl at a high school meet.
The situation is almost unfathomably tragic, and despite his claims to the contrary, we have no doubt that Jeff Metcalfe is consumed with rage over the senseless circumstances of his son’s death.
But none of this gives him an excuse to make the situation more horrific and dangerous by encouraging racist hatred toward Anthony’s family.
The reaction to Metcalf’s comments was predictably negative, but unfortunately, he has already found a fair number of supporters in the dark corners of social media.
In other words, he succeeded in making a terrible situation worse.
We will have further updates on this developing story as new information becomes available.
