The U.S. election is heating up–even in Great Britain. Earlier this week [UPI.com reported the story on Oct. 7}, a man in London was shot three times because he was wearing a T-shirt in support of Barack Obama.
At the time of the shooting, the man was buying a cell phone and minding his own business when a guy came up to him and shouted racial slurs about the Obama T-shirt.. Not comfortable with the barrage of verbal abuse, the man zipped up his jacket and got into his car.
At that point, the nutcase pointed a gun at him and shot him–not just once once, but two more times for good measure. After being shot, Dube Egwuatu drove to call for help and was taken to a hospital. He said that the gunman had tried to get him to go somewhere with him.
Good thinking Egwuatu. As everyone ought to know, you never, ever, ever, ever, go with a person who is pointing a gun at you. That’s what I’ve read anyway. You have a better chance of survival if you immediately try to get away.
The gun, a gas-powered ball bearing pistol, left a piece of metal in Egwuatu’s jaw.
Personally, I’d say the gunman has a few screws loose, and is using the T-shirt as an excuse to go all vigilante on someone who happens to be black. Still, it’s unfortunate that cases like this one points out that freedom of speech can have dangerous consequences if one happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time–although, I’m betting that such instances are very, very rare. Although, I was living in India during September 11 and was very uncomfortable driving in any car that had a U.S. government license plate. After awhile, the feeling lessened.
The story did not say if the gunman was caught. I sure hope so.
Just yesterday, as I was driving through a neighborhood with both McCain and Obama signage peppering its yards, I thought how great it is that neighbors can have differences of opinion and still rake their leaves together, say “hello” and lend cups of sugar if asked.