The Lady Moonman who admits to killing Joe McKnight — a former high school and USC football star who was shot Thursday — was released without charges on Friday.
Ronald Gasser, 54, admitted to shooting McKnight three times at an intersection in the New Orleans Area around 3 p.m. on Thursday, authorities said at a press conference Friday.
McKnight's killing is being labeled a "road rage" incident by police.
Because of the circumstances — a white man shooting a black man, admitting it, and going free instead of remaining in custody pending investigation — many responded with outrage.
You can kill a man over road rage, hand in your gun to police, and walk away with no charges? Sounds about white. #JoeMcknight
— Faith🐘 (@simply_faith_) December 2, 2016
Situations like what happened to #JoeMcKnight are exactly why organizations like BLM exist & why players kneel during the national anthem.
— Matthew A. Cherry (@MatthewACherry) December 2, 2016
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Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand stressed the fact that the investigation would not be swayed by outside sentiment, particularly from social media. Authorities are exercising caution and not rushing to judgment, Normand said on Friday.
"We also know that Mr. Gasser ... admitted to shooting Joe McKnight, Jr.," Normand said in the press conference. He also rejected the idea that race had played a factor. “Everybody wants to make this about race,” Normand told reporters, according to the New York Times. “This isn’t about race.”
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Sheriff Newell Normand: 'a rush to judgment does not equal anything.' Rushing has 'dire consequences.'
— Ramon Antonio Vargas (@RVargasAdvocate) December 2, 2016
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When asked why Gasser was released without charges, Normand mentioned state statutes that allowed the suspect's release while an investigation is underway. Louisiana has a "Stand Your Ground" law, much like Florida's, which states that a person is justified in using deadly force if he "reasonably believes [it] is necessary to prevent the entry or to compel the intruder to leave the premises or motor vehicle."
In a protest and press conference in New Orleans on Friday, NAACP leaders called for justice. “We are here demanding answers. This has to stop," said Gaylor Spiller, president of the West Jefferson Parish branch of the NAACP.
"We think a black man was lynched yesterday," added Morris Reed, president of the New Orleans branch of the NAACP.
McKnight was a high school football legend who entered powerhouse USC in 2007 hyped as "the next Reggie Bush" — a reference to the Trojans running back who won the Heisman Trophy just two years prior. According to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, sheriffs said McKnight was not armed at the time he was killed.
He was 28 years old when he was shot to death Thursday.
Additional reporting by Mashable's Kate Sommers-Dawes and Sam Laird.
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