Terrible News - Auburn Shooting

[Tigermike 3,023]

Accused Auburn killer gets the O.J. Simpson fan club treatment

Published: Wednesday, June 13, 2012, 6:17 AM Updated: Wednesday, June 13, 2012, 7:08 AM

By Kevin Scarbinsky, Birmingham News

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - O.J. Simpson already had a fan club.

He was a former Heisman Trophy winner from USC, one of many in a line of succession at the tailback position. He was a Hall of Fame running back from the Buffalo Bills, the first to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season.

He was a spokesman for Hertz, running through airports in popular TV commercials, a television analyst for NFL games and an actor.

By the time he was charged with double mur­der in 1994 -- charges which he was eventually and controversially ac­quitted of -- a lot of people in this country knew him and liked him and cheered for him.

So it wasn't that hard to understand that, during his low-speed chase on Los Angeles freeways after he was supposed to turn him­self in on those murder charges, a lot of people at the exits and on the over­passes continued to cheer for him.

People that didn't know him thought they did.

People that never met him wanted to believe in him.

Desmonte Leonard doesn't have that kind of resume.

As far as we know, the 22-year-old from Mont­gomery hasn't played col­lege football, let alone won any national awards for it.

He hasn't played pro football, much less been voted into any hall of fame. He hasn't starred on the big screen or the small screen, and until Sunday, 99 percent of the people in this state had never heard of him.

Now we know him as a man accused of three mur­ders, a fugitive that eluded local, state and federal law enforcement officials for three full days until turning himself in Tuesday night.

So why does he have a fan club of his own?

Social media has been dotted in the last 24 hours with shows of support for Leonard, who apparently goes by the nickname "Woosie." Examine some of the public posts on Facebook, with the spelling and the language cleaned up for clarity and decency.

From Adree'ana: "I hope they don't never find Woosie. Go, Woosie, go."

Four people "liked" that comment.

From Kelvin: "I don't wanna hear no more negative stuff about my partner Woosie. Keep your worthless opinions to yourself because none of us were there and none of us actually know what went down."

Thirty-one people "liked" that comment.

From Chris: "Forget people down-talking Woosie because they don't know Woosie. All he wanted to do was go party, and they jumped him, so dang right I believe he did right. That's self-defense. #WoosieFan."

Twenty-one people "liked" that comment.

Why?

Leonard is still alive.

Ed Christian, Ladarious Phillips and Demario Pitts aren't.

They were shot to death at a party at an apartment complex in Auburn late Saturday night -- three other young men were shot and wounded -- and police have identified Leonard as the shooter.

So why has Twitter also seen its share of people that seem to have joined #Team Woosie?

They joked that Leonard was crowned 2012 champion of Hide and Seek after law enforcement authorities surrounded a Montgomery home Monday evening, only to discover after a wait of about seven hours that the suspect was not holed up in the attic as they believed.

Someone tweeted and asked, "God, please surround Woosie with your best angels."

Another tweet: "If I had the money, I would get Woosie a team of lawyers so he get his charges and time reduced, even dropped."

As disturbing as the tweets and Facebook posts in favor of an accused triple murderer were, it was heartening to see those messages attacked by plenty of other people.

Many of those rebuttals echoed the same message. You wouldn't say those things if your brother had been one of the young men gunned down before his life had a chance to begin in full.

Thankfully, Leonard is now in custody and will stand trial for these horrible crimes. Hopefully, if he's guilty, a jury will rule that way, and everyone cheering for him now will see the evidence.

And feel guilty themselves. (But I doubt it.)

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2012/06/accused_auburn_killer_gets_the.html

[passthebiscuits 6,844]

Count me in the folks that didnt mind at all that poor "Woosie" hadn't eaten in three days. I'm not his judge, but he will have one, thankfully. This self defense argument is going to be very interesting in upcoming weeks with the zimmerman case and now this one. To me, it's apples and oranges, but let's see how people align themselves when all facts come out. (especially about Pitts, which no one seems to be paying attention to in this story)

[AU Lover 0]

Count me in the folks that didnt mind at all that poor "Woosie" hadn't eaten in three days. I'm not his judge, but he will have one, thankfully. This self defense argument is going to be very interesting in upcoming weeks with the zimmerman case and now this one. To me, it's apples and oranges, but let's see how people align themselves when all facts come out. (especially about Pitts, which no one seems to be paying attention to in this story)

Goodness knows I'm no lawyer, judge, or anyone else that knows about the law. But it is beyond me how one could possibly claim self defense if indeed he left the party and came back with the gun as has been reported.

[FatherUppercut 48]

Accused Auburn killer gets the O.J. Simpson fan club treatment

Published: Wednesday, June 13, 2012, 6:17 AM Updated: Wednesday, June 13, 2012, 7:08 AM

By Kevin Scarbinsky, Birmingham News

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - O.J. Simpson already had a fan club.

He was a former Heisman Trophy winner from USC, one of many in a line of succession at the tailback position. He was a Hall of Fame running back from the Buffalo Bills, the first to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season.

He was a spokesman for Hertz, running through airports in popular TV commercials, a television analyst for NFL games and an actor.

By the time he was charged with double mur­der in 1994 -- charges which he was eventually and controversially ac­quitted of -- a lot of people in this country knew him and liked him and cheered for him.

So it wasn't that hard to understand that, during his low-speed chase on Los Angeles freeways after he was supposed to turn him­self in on those murder charges, a lot of people at the exits and on the over­passes continued to cheer for him.

People that didn't know him thought they did.

People that never met him wanted to believe in him.

Desmonte Leonard doesn't have that kind of resume.

As far as we know, the 22-year-old from Mont­gomery hasn't played col­lege football, let alone won any national awards for it.

He hasn't played pro football, much less been voted into any hall of fame. He hasn't starred on the big screen or the small screen, and until Sunday, 99 percent of the people in this state had never heard of him.

Now we know him as a man accused of three mur­ders, a fugitive that eluded local, state and federal law enforcement officials for three full days until turning himself in Tuesday night.

So why does he have a fan club of his own?

Social media has been dotted in the last 24 hours with shows of support for Leonard, who apparently goes by the nickname "Woosie." Examine some of the public posts on Facebook, with the spelling and the language cleaned up for clarity and decency.

From Adree'ana: "I hope they don't never find Woosie. Go, Woosie, go."

Four people "liked" that comment.

From Kelvin: "I don't wanna hear no more negative stuff about my partner Woosie. Keep your worthless opinions to yourself because none of us were there and none of us actually know what went down."

Thirty-one people "liked" that comment.

From Chris: "Forget people down-talking Woosie because they don't know Woosie. All he wanted to do was go party, and they jumped him, so dang right I believe he did right. That's self-defense. #WoosieFan."

Twenty-one people "liked" that comment.

Why?

Leonard is still alive.

Ed Christian, Ladarious Phillips and Demario Pitts aren't.

They were shot to death at a party at an apartment complex in Auburn late Saturday night -- three other young men were shot and wounded -- and police have identified Leonard as the shooter.

So why has Twitter also seen its share of people that seem to have joined #Team Woosie?

They joked that Leonard was crowned 2012 champion of Hide and Seek after law enforcement authorities surrounded a Montgomery home Monday evening, only to discover after a wait of about seven hours that the suspect was not holed up in the attic as they believed.

Someone tweeted and asked, "God, please surround Woosie with your best angels."

Another tweet: "If I had the money, I would get Woosie a team of lawyers so he get his charges and time reduced, even dropped."

As disturbing as the tweets and Facebook posts in favor of an accused triple murderer were, it was heartening to see those messages attacked by plenty of other people.

Many of those rebuttals echoed the same message. You wouldn't say those things if your brother had been one of the young men gunned down before his life had a chance to begin in full.

Thankfully, Leonard is now in custody and will stand trial for these horrible crimes. Hopefully, if he's guilty, a jury will rule that way, and everyone cheering for him now will see the evidence.

And feel guilty themselves. (But I doubt it.)

http://www.al.com/sp...r_gets_the.html

I have to limit how many outside opinions I take in because stuff like that kind of pisses me off. Typical liberal bull****.

A guy travels from Montgomery to Auburn carrying a pistol, gets into a fight, his little "thug life" playtime gets really out of hand, and now people are dead. I don't know for sure, but given the guys track record he probably didn't have a permit to carry that gun in the first place. The guy was looking for trouble and it looks like he found it.

He has a personal responsibility to not be a piece of s***, and it looks like he's failed at doing that more than once. Natural selection... throw him off a bridge. We don't need people like him reproducing anymore than he already has.

[TrumanCrockett 0]

I want to show everybody who doesn't have a twitter a screenshot of the #FreeWoosie conversations. Can somebody tell me how to add the screenshot I took? It isn't in url form but is on my computer.

[ShocksMyBrain 9,362]

Upload to photobucket, imgur, or any other photo hosting website. Then post the link(s) here.

Although, some may not want to see others supporting an alleged murderer.

[stoic-one 1,543]

I want to show everybody who doesn't have a twitter a screenshot of the #FreeWoosie conversations. Can somebody tell me how to add the screenshot I took? It isn't in url form but is on my computer.

Try "More Reply Options"

You should be able to attach it to a post.

[Bottomfeeder 244]

I really don't want my blood boiling again.

[AUn Collierville 1]

I really don't want my blood boiling again.

Agreed.

[Clint 1]

Time to lock this post, like previously requested?

[vatz22au 142]

Count me in the folks that didnt mind at all that poor "Woosie" hadn't eaten in three days.

Same here. At least he has the option to "not eat" or whatever the heck that thug is feeling. There are 3 guys who aren't on this Earth anymore who won't ever get that option.

[stoic-one 1,543]

Time to lock this post, like previously requested?

YES