Look, I’m not saying that the family of Karmelo Anthony — the notorious teenage murder suspect whose case has become a racial minefield for reasons less explicable than usual in these situations — is grifting off of the crowdfunding they’ve been getting for his defense and various costs.
All I’m saying is, if they’re not grifting, they’re going to have to get Merriam-Webster and several other reputable dictionaries to change the meaning of the verb “to grift.” To maybe, say, meaning the act of making pancakes. Or to nail a neat skateboard trick. Something like that.
In case you’ve been wondering, the family of Anthony — the 17-year-old Frisco, Texas teen facing first-degree murder charges for fatally stabbing Austin Metcalf, also 17, at a track meet — has been raising money at a surprising clip.
Surprising, given that there’s no especial reason to believe Anthony is being railroaded other than he’s black and Metcalf was white. Anthony reportedly admitted he stabbed Metcalf for trying to move him from an area where he didn’t belong, claimed self-defense even though the grounds he reportedly gave police during interviews didn’t even come close to legally viable, and has — instead of relying on canny legal strategies and keeping quiet until the trial — enlisted every two-bit race hustler in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex eager to make Anthony their 21st century version of Tawana Brawley.
What’s also surprising is the clip at which Anthony’s family seems to be spending the money, and not on high-end legal representation. As of an April 30 report in the U.K. Daily Mail, over $500,000 has been raised.
Initially, it was alleged they had bought a house in a gated community and some high-end automobiles. It was later reported that this was fake news; all of it was merely rented, because they needed security and a new location thanks to Anthony’s notoriety.
Hellbound and Down 