In early October, an 18-year-old Arlington, Texas student named Timothy George Simpkins was given a $75,000 bond and released from jail after allegedly shooting and injuring three students and a teacher at Timberview High School. His lawyer, a civil rights attorney named Kim T. Cole, claims the case isn’t a “standard-issue school shooting.” Why? Mainly because, apparently, bullying drove him to it.
Here’s the New York Post’s description of how things went down:
The fight [between Simpkins and a 15-year-old fellow student] was broken up and the two students calmed down, but then Simpkins pulled out a firearm from his orange backpack and fired several shots that struck three people … Calvin Pettitt, a 25-year-old English teacher who jumped in to break up the fight, was shot in the back, suffering broken ribs and a collapsed lung, according to police and his family.
The other victims were identified as Zacchaeus Selby, Eyimofe Olawepo and Pariesa Altma … Police have said a 15-year-old boy was in critical condition, while a teenage girl who was grazed by a bullet had been discharged from the hospital. The fourth victim, a pregnant woman, was injured in a fall during the shooting ...
According to the Post, a Simpkins family spokeswoman claimed the alleged shooter was being targeted and robbed by bullies and acted in … wait for it … self-defense.
“There are numerous school shootings that have occurred across this country which are tragic. All school shootings are tragic,” Cole told the media. “However, in this situation, this was not someone who was just out to go and shoot a school and had made up their mind [and said,] ‘You know hey I’m upset and I’m just going to shoot anyone I see.' That was not the situation here. So I request the media correct their narrative with regard to what happened, and that you all respect the family’s privacy.”
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“Narrative.” Hmm. I’m not entirely sure what other “narrative” the media is supposed to take when a deranged shooter opens fire on classmates, bullying or not. Even notwithstanding the seeming difficulty of proving a 15-year-old was actually “bullying” this 18-year-old, the “self-defense” defense seems suspect, though they certainly will give it their best shot in court.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m as pro-self-defense as they come. However, even if the bullying claims are even remotely true, bringing a loaded gun to one of the few places in the country where guns (in the hands of students) are not and should not be allowed and firing it at multiple people, including a teacher - AFTER the fight that apparently sparked it had already ended - sounds like not just an absurdly disproportionate response, but outright attempted murder.
So yeah, if the gist of the above turns out to be even remotely true as the eventual trial unfolds, the defense is almost certainly going to have problems. Yet, it seems that prosecutors are already giving Simpkins a light touch. Instead of multiple counts of attempted murder, this 18-year-old MAN is being charged with three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. And he gets to sit at home while awaiting trial. Because, clearly, an adult who brings a weapon and opens fire in a school isn’t a danger to himself or anyone else.
Now, contrast the above with the most recent tragic school shooting. Ethan Crumbley, 15, stands accused of killing four and injuring seven at Oxford High School in Oxford, Michigan. You may have heard about Timothy George Simpkins for all of half a day, at most, but I’ll wager you’ve likely heard something about the Crumbley case every day since it happened.
Indeed, from bashing Trump supporters to the usual anti-white rhetoric and calls for gun control, the left has used THIS particular shooting to bolster every possible narrative favorable to their cause. Crumbley, obviously, deserves everything coming to him and more. But neither the media nor the leftists eager to spice a narrative will even broach the topic of bullying here, though there seems to be evidence it existed and played a role in the teenager’s mental condition. There are also no calls to grant bail, nor are there protests against the 15-year-old’s move to an adult prison.
In fact, in an unprecedented prosecutorial move, Crumbley’s parents are also behind bars and facing serious prison time themselves. Whatever you think of the parents’ actions before the shooting, gun control advocates have been waiting for decades for an excuse to cast a prosecutorial net beyond the actual killers, and this case has given it to them in spades. (I believe you can harshly criticize the parents in this case and even believe they should face consequences while still acknowledging potential prosecutorial overreach.)
Granted, Crumbley’s gunfire actually killed his victims, whereas thankfully Simpkins’ did not. That is a legal difference that obviously will play a role in charges and sentencing. However, there is another key difference in the two school shooters that most media will fail to acknowledge, but only because it doesn’t fit the preferred narrative - race.
Do you think Ethan Crumbley and his parents would be treated differently in the media had none of his victims died, or would they have kept on bolstering their narrative? Conversely, had Simpkins managed to kill his victims, would we still be hearing about that shooting today? If you think the answer is yes, ask yourself how much coverage mainstream media sources have given the Waukesha parade horror just two weeks ago.
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