I disagree. Etude may have merely meant to confront, but when he fully realized the deception, he may have easily lost it.

I believe blacks, in particular, have a strong group aversion to homosexuality, and even if not (Either did not apply to Etude or I am simply wrong), this is still a major line to cross with all men — a very serious one.

Such deception is inexcusable, and Smith clearly knew it, and knew it was considered a personal outrage offense. You do not grow up among men and NOT understand this. Education and experience may temper the reaction, but Etude had neither of those, being young and a fairly new student in college.

Hence: I don’t think that calling it “murder” is appropriate. At this point, from the evidence presented here (I did not read articles), I would say manslaughter is what it should have been. The beating was no doubt rage induced IMNSHO. YES: very much over the top, inexcusably so, but killing Smith need not have been the goal.

I more than amply agree, the transgression did not deserve death, but, on the other hand, yeah, to me, Smith certainly earned a beating. That’s crossing a line even for trans. You are wholly misrepresenting yourself to the extent that you clearly are concerned they may reject you if you were known to not be a female, and you KNOW THIS.

I think the beating should be far more measured, not to break bones, but certainly to induce a degree of misery.

The real problem there is that that may not discourage, but encourage, the perp, given that no doubt some of them experience guilt between religious teachings and inherent predilections, and may feel as though “they deserve it”. They kinda do, but that sort of masochism isn’t healthy at all. Any such beating should be educational, not penance.

As someone who advocated for civil rights back in the day when it was actually dangerous (and received the death threats by phone and mail), it is sad and frightening to see all the work flushed down the drain. Thank the Democrats and their minions.

Obama’s sponsors, Ayers and Dohrn and friends, actively worked to try to incite race wars in America. Their ideological bedfellows are still at it.

https://www.theblaze.com/news/2013/08/13/the-gruesome-story-of-a-murdered-tennessee-couple-you-may-have-never-heard-about-but-that-you-will-never-forget

I suspect that makes the verdict more understandable.

I’ve read that one of the hazards of being a prostitute – especially of the streetwalker type – is the higher risk of being murdered by a john who gets angry or is already angry and out to kill.

It does seem that Etute (no “d” in his name) went back to Smith’s place already angry. Smith probably had the knife for self-protection. Smith was playing a dangerous game, but in no way does that justify what Etute did. Was the story that Smith was reaching for something even true? We have no way of knowing because the only evidence is from the perp and/or his friends who weren’t in the room.

There have been a couple of cases in the Charlotte area of transgender prostitutes being killed by enraged customers. I think in those cases both prostitutes and customers were black.

Once we accept as reasonable, which it is, that a duped sexual partner might naturally become enraged, I think we have to accept the fact that such an enraged person might deliver an explosive series of punches and kicks that would not stop until after the perpetrator (i.e., the fraudster) was non-responsive.

By broad analogy, what Smith did was like pointing even a replica gun at a bunch of police officers. Once Smith duped Etute, it was as if Smith set Etute on automatic pilot.

What’s curious is that it happened in Montgomery County, Va., which is only 4% black.

The truth of it is obvious. Had the races been reversed, it would have been national news beaten to death by the mass media.