Reading time: 3 minutes
The conviction of Karmelo Anthony just acquired a disturbing new layer of controversy.
Just days after Anthony was sentenced to 35 years in prisonThe father of slain teen Austin Metcalf took to social media to share his thoughts on the verdict.
And instead of offering his condolences to Karmelo’s parents or calling for compassion and empathy, as many hoped he would, Jeff Metcalf is fanning the flames of racial hatred.
During an appearance on Sarah Fields’ “JinxedSip” podcast, Metcalf unleashed a tirade of anger, much of it laced with truly shocking bigotry.
Metcalf began by calling out Karmelo’s father, saying, “Andrew Anthony, you’re an ap–sy and a coward and you raised one.”
He then turned his attention to Karmelo’s mother and said:
“Kala, you drunk b—ch. What did you do to that boy to make him stab someone? My God, what kind of mother are you?
Austin then turns his attention to someone named Kevin Hayes who allegedly wanted to fight him.
Referring to Hayes as “the only one in your family without a record,” he says, “I guess that’s something to brag about in your culture.”
It is at that point that the argument becomes even more explicitly racist:
“You guys hang your hat on the dumbest piece of crap I’ve ever seen,” Metcalf seethes.
“Let me come up with something racist so you guys can go viral. I got a new name for ‘Melo … How about ‘Watermelon Felon?’ How does it affect you?”
Metcalf then taunts Kala and Andrew about Karmelo’s future:
“I hope he enjoyed his first night in that cell last night. Because he’s going to have many nights to think about what the hell he did.
Metcalf then makes a rather dubious claim, saying:
“I forgave him so I don’t carry the hate and the anger. So I don’t get eaten up. Like cancer, it kills you from the inside.
So when people ask me, ‘How can you forgive him?’ If I didn’t, I would end up killing him and going to jail myself.”
When discussing the Anthony case, it is important to remember that we are talking about two sets of parents consumed with grief over two promising young lives cut short.
Austin Metcalf is dead at age 17. Karmelo Anthony will be almost 40 before he’s even eligible for parole.
All this over a brief altercation at a high school reunion.
The situation is almost unfathomably tragic, and despite his claims to the contrary, we have no doubt that Jeff Metcalf is consumed with outrage at the senseless circumstances of his son’s death.
But none of that excuses him for making the situation even more horrible and dangerous by inciting racial hatred against the Anthony family.
The reaction to Metcalf’s comments has been predictably negative, but unfortunately he has already found quite a following in the darker corners of social media.
In other words, he has succeeded in making a terrible situation even worse.
We will have further updates on this developing story as new information becomes available.
