A bar patron who shot an African American Trump supporter last month has finally been taken into custody by police in Cleveland, Ohio.
At the end of July Paul Jones, Jr., 60, was talking politics with the other patrons at a Cleveland bar when another drinker in the establishment apparently took offense that a black man could be a Trump supporter.
The assailant left the bar and came back moments later. It was reported he opened fire with little warning. Jones was wounded in the leg as a result.
“People today,” Jones’ mother Latosca told the media at the time, “if you don’t think like they do, they are ready to cause problems.”
“I’m quite sure you have a lot of people having their own opinions. But that doesn’t mean you should hurt somebody because you have your own opinion,” the victim’s mother added.
Initially the shooter walked out of the bar unidentified. But now the suspect has turned himself in to Cleveland police.
On Monday, 45-year-old Darnell Hall was charged with felonious assault in connection with the July 25 incident.
Hall, though, has a slightly different version of the shooting. Through his lawyer the suspect insisted that he didn’t really intend to shoot anyone but the bartender grabbed at his gun and it unexpectedly went off, wounding Mr. Jones.
The man did admit that there was an argument over Donald Trump, though, saying that he fully disagreed with Jones’ support of the GOP nominee.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.