Yes, Karmelo Anthony will receive the diploma he earned and this wouldn’t be up for debate if people didn’t get their feelings hurt over realizing Black people can also practice Stand Your Ground!
FRISCO, TX – In the month and half since the altercation at Frisco Centennial High School that ended with Austin Metcalf (17) dead and Karmelo Anthony (17 at the time) charged with killing him in a case that appears to be one of self-defense, scant reports can be found on major news outlets, if any at all. The case has been a regular topic of discussion on social media outlets such as TikTok, Facebook and Twitter. A cursory search on Google generates just one story about the case on CNN and one on MSNBC. When the story broke, initial reporting paled in comparison to the coverage given to other stories that involved self-defense, such as those of George Zimmerman, Kyle Rittenhouse and Daniel Penny. One exception is the coverage that the right-leaning Fox News has been giving to this case, which speaks to how invested the right has been in spinning the story into a race-baiting campaign against African Americans. The latest salvo in this regard has been to express outrage over Anthony being allowed to graduate from his high school.
According to a press release by the Next Generation Action Network (NGAN), an organization that has been advocating for Anthony and his family after community and public outcry, he will be able to graduate with his class at Centennial High School despite any charges he is facing. After his arrest, Frisco Independent School District had announced that Anthony, who at the time of the incident had a 3.71 grade point average, would be expelled from Centennial High School just two months shy of his graduation.
NGAN President Min. Dominique Alexander, who has served as the family spokesperson in recent weeks, says that Anthony will now be allowed to graduate high school and receive his diploma. “We are proud to share that Karmelo Anthony will graduate and receive his high school diploma, and that his academic achievements will not be disrupted,” she said. Alexander continues, “As the largest social justice organization in North Texas, NGAN has worked diligently alongside the Anthony family’s legal team to bring about this fair and student-focused resolution. This is a moment of dignity for Karmelo and a reminder of the power of advocacy done right.”
Per an agreement between the school and NGAN, Anthony will be able to receive his diploma, but not be permitted to attend any school sanctioned graduation events.
According to police reports, eyewitnesses to the April 2 altercation stated the incident began when Austin Metcalf and his twin brother Hunter told Anthony to move out from under a tent set up for members of their high school track team on the field that rainy day. A verbal argument ensued that escalated to the point that Anthony allegedly reached into his bag while telling Austin Metcalf, “Touch me and see what happens.” Reports say Austin physically attempted to move Anthony out of the tent area, and Anthony pulled out a knife and stabbed Metcalf once in the chest. Anthony immediately fled the tent. When the arresting officer arrived Anthony reportedly said, “I’m not alleged, I did it,” further stating, “He put his hands on me. I told him not to.”
Immediately, neo-fascist and White Supremacists seized on the story and have made it a cause célèbre, shaping the narrative to demonize African Americans as criminals, ignoring or deflecting any arguments that Anthony was defending himself. Matt Walsh, a self-styled “theocratic fascist” podcaster was one of the first, using the incident to declare on a Tweet, “Young Black males are violent to a wildly, outrageously disproportionate degree.” To that end, conservatives have maintained a racist campaign against Anthony on social networks and right wing media outlets and a White Lives Matter – themed rally was held at the high school by Jake Lang, who was among the people pardoned by President Donald Trump after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and Phillip Anderson, a Black man who was best known as promoting himself as a Proud Boy when he held a rally in 2020 in San Francisco. Anderson ended up getting in an altercation and getting teeth knocked out. He was charged for his actions in Jan 6, but those charges were later dismissed.
Lang’s racist rally held at Anthony’s high school was confronted via phone by Jeff Metcalf, Austin Metcalf’s father, who stood up to Lang for using his son in a racist campaign. Lang countered by accusing father Metcalf of having “white guilt.”
The neo-fascists who are angry about this black self defense story interjected an article about the story development from The Gateway Pundit (TGP), a far-right fake news website written by Cassandra MacDonald, formerly Fairbanks. MacDonald is a so-called “alt-right” writer who, along with her husband Brett, works for fellow fascist Tim Pool’s media organization as a writer. In her falsehood TGP article, MacDonald omitted information about Metcalf being the aggressor writing that the “incident culminated in Anthony pulling a knife from his backpack and stabbing the honor roll student in the chest.” She also repeated debunked propaganda that said his family used donated funds they raised to “purchase a new Cadillac, and moved into a $900,000 home.” GiveSendGo, the donation platform used by the Anthony family, confirmed that no funds have been withdrawn from the family’s fundraiser yet, according to Snopes.
Enter the off base comparison by Jaden McNeil, who complained “I was expelled from Kansas State and unable to graduate for saying ‘White Lives Matter’. Karmelo Anthony murdered Austin Metcalf and will still get a diploma and a 500k reward.” McNeil, once a Turning Point USA chapter president of Kansas State University, tweeted this claim in outrage at Anthony not receiving harsh enough treatment for his actions, although he was never expelled- he was suspended from his school for one year and chose not to return. The reason McNeil was suspended from college was due to the fact that he aligned for some time with the neo-fascist “Groyper Movement” and generated outrage with his racist public tweets regarding George Floyd.
The Anthony Family is currently in hiding after death threats have been leveled at them.
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