NAACP praises white pharmacist’s murder charge in death of black would-be robber

Earlier, we shared a story with you of a Pharmacists who shot and killed a would-be robber, who now faces a murder charge.

The plot now thickens as more details become published on-line. The NAACP is praising the DA for pressing charges, in a case where the Pharmacist was white, and the attempted robber is a young black man.

“This is not a black issue. This is not a white issue. This is a justice issue,” said Anthony Douglas, state president of the Oklahoma chapter of the NAACP. “The judicial system must be allowed to run its proper course.”

Jerome Ersland, the Pharmacist, was charged after authorities examined video surveillance footage of the robbery attempt that showed two black men bursting into the pharmacy and one of them threatening employees with a pistol.

On the surveillance video, Ersland fires, hitting Antwun Parker in the head. Ersland then chases the second armed man outside before he walks back behind the counter, retrieves a second gun, returns to Parker and fires five more times.

An autopsy determined Parker was alive after being shot in the head and died from the abdominal wounds sustained by the additional shots.

Oklahoma, like many states, has a “stand your ground” law. That law says that you may use whatever force is necessary or reasonable in order to protect yourself or your property, up to and including lethal force.

So when does self-defense become Murder? How, in the heat of the moment and when your life is in danger, do you clearly decide when the threat is over?