(22-year-old) Florida man killed defending gay friends

[rocktivity]

DailyDot.com: 22-year-old Juan Javier Cruz was out with his friends early Sunday morning when a man suddenly approached them, shouting homophobic slurs. Cruz stood up to the gunman and was fatally shot—but he might have saved his friends’ lives...

(S)uspect Nelson Hernandez Mena allegedly confronted Cruz and his friends, harassing the five men, some of whom are gay, threatening their lives. “I hate you damned gays,” Mena allegedly shouted, according to BuzzFeed News. “I’m going to kill you all here.”

Cruz came to his friends’ defense. But Mena allegedly responded by unholstering a handgun from his pants and firing, fatally shooting Cruz and wounding another man. Cruz’s cousin, Pedro Cruz, believes Mena was targeting him, but that Cruz pushed him out of the way to save his life. Cruz died at the scene, in his cousin’s arms.

Mena...faces charges of first-degree murder, attempted murder, and aggravated assault with a firearm...(He) Mena remains held without bail at the Palm Beach County jail...(T)he Florida State Attorney’s office said it’s too early to say whether Mena will face hate crime charges.

Palm Beach Post: ...Multiple witnesses confirmed that Mena followed Cruz and his friends out of Restaurante y Pupuseria Las Flores in downtown Lake Worth and threatened them for being gay.

According to one bystander, Mena told Cruz right before the shooting, “If we were in my country I’d kill all of you like rats.”

After Cruz defended his friends, Mena, who later admitted to having consumed 15 or 20 beers that night, pulled a handgun from his pants and began shooting, the report said.

Turns the "Florida Man" stereotype on its ear, doesn't it?


rocktivity

[bronxiteforever]

1. Important post K&R

[TheFrenchRazor]

2. would it be wrong to suggest that he go back to "his country?" if people want to live in medieval

theocracies, then let them stay there, please.

[skypilot]

26. No, it wouldn't be wrong.

That "If we were in my country..." quote pissed me off as much as the shooting. Don't bring that shit here. We have enough homegrown assholes.

[LostOne4Ever]

3. Juan Cruz was a true hero!

...

[voteearlyvoteoften]

4. RIP Hero

[Initech]

5. Another day, another deplorable hate crime.

This cannot stand.

[burrowowl]

6. A Real Hero! RIP!

and may the shooter be put in prison for life!

[Behind the Aegis]

7. Rec for this young man's heroics.

This is a hate crime and should proceed as one.

[Foamfollower]

8. He'll probably get away with it under Florida's SYG law.

He can say the guy defending his friends made him fear for his life and the prosecution will probably be milquetoast at best.

Sad, but that's where we are as a nation with this SYG bullshit.

[bdjhawk]

10. I was thinking the same thing

He will find some way that he was afraid and felt threatened and just had to shoot. Like the road rage guy who pulled a gun on the young woman who was recording him since he "thought her cell phone was a gun".
Any teeny weenie can have a gun and know the odds are very good of getting away with shooting anyone he wants.

[Lee-Lee]

13. That's not even remotely close to accurate

In no state with so-called "stand your ground" laws are you allowed to initiate a fight and then use a SYG defense. None.

What is actually true is that our hero in this story would have been able to use a SYG defense had he used force, be it armed with a gun knife or fists, and harmed the man attacking his friends. In non SYG states the men being harassed and attacked would have been legally obligated only to retreat unless retreat was impossible, and defending themselves would have been a criminal act if retreat was in any way possible.

You literally have it exactly wrong as to who SYG applies to in this case. You should probably learn how specific laws work before trying to make commentary on them if you want to be taken seriously.

[Foamfollower]

14. Oh yeah? Who the fuck initiated the fight that ended in Trayvon Martin's death????

Now tell me who's wrong about Florida's SYG law.

[Lee-Lee]

15. That wasn't a SYG case. The defense never offered a SYG defense

Zimmermans tale of events was that he was knocked down ambush style and was on his back unable to retreat. It's crap, but it's what he said.

Since in his version of events he wasn't able to retreat SYG doesn't come into play. SYG only applies when a person who is being attacked by an aggressor has the opportunity to possibly retreat from the violence directed toward them. In a SYG state a victim is not obligated to try all means possible to retreat before defending themselves, while in a duty to retreat state a victim of an attack must try all possible means to retreat to acting in their own self defense.

So, as a matter of fact and of the law the Zimmerman/Martin case was not a SYG case. Zimmermans version of events didn't support it being a SYG case and his defense never once made and mention of it.

Your bringing up this case, while very predictable, just shows further your total lack of knowledge and comprehension of the legal issues you are attempting to discuss.

Using the Trayvon Martin case to discuss SYG laws is as irrelevant as using a bad experience you had with a Ford to say Hondas are bad cars.

[Foamfollower]

16. The jury considered the SYG law during deliberations which lead to acquittal!

[Lee-Lee]

18. Juries consider lots of things that are not actually relevant

And it simply wasn't relevant to this case. Period.

Zimmermans claim was he was on his back being attacked and had no means or opportunity to retreat. That means his entire defense was based on a version of events that made the SYG statute irrelevant. Based on his story the law would have applied the same before Floridas SYG law was passed.

[Foamfollower]

20. Read the statements of the jurors. it was the sngle MOST RELEVANT factor leading to acquittal.

[Lee-Lee]

21. I have read them. Your wrong

I know some anti self-defense advocates and anti-gun types have tried their best to spin it that way with selective quotes and logic that way stretches very weak links, but that isn't the case.

As a matter of fact and the law SYG didn't apply. Period. One or two jurors have mentioned it but none have said it was the major factor- and if it was even considered it was a failure of the jury because it was not an issue raised by the defense and based on the defenses case it clearly didn't apply.

[Foamfollower]

23. You are WRONG. SYG is why he went free. Plain and simple.

[Lee-Lee]

25. No, it's not

There is ONE single juror who has mentioned SYG being considered in deliberations, in one single statement, without any specifics as to what was said or how much a role it played.

His legal team waived their right to a SYG hearing and defense because they didn't plan to use that defense.

They didn't offer up a single word about SYG in the trial.

Zimmermans own account of events lays them out in such a way that SYG would not apply.

The prosecutorion never argued that SYG didn't apply because it was never applied as a defense.

Had Florida not had the SYG law passed the applicable self defense law that was used for the trial still would have applied and the outcome would have been the same. It wasn't SYG that got Zimmerman off, it was a prosecution team that totally failed in their job and failed to offer a coherent arguement that convinced the jury that Zimmermans story was not true beyond a reasonable doubt.

[Foamfollower]

29. Yes it is. The foreperson of the jury SAID SO!

Nothing else matters other than the reason the jurors chose to let the murderer go free.

[raven mad]

9. sorrow hurts, even far away.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

17. Well, good morning to you, too.

Sorry we all here haven't "progressed" enough for your West Coast sensibilities.

Tell you what. Next time something shitty happens in your neck of the woods (and it inevitably will) I'll go ahead and make a snarky comment as to how uncivilized it is where you live, okay?

[HAB911]

19. If it wasn't for the weather

It was far more liberal when I moved here in the '70's, now it's redneck shithole run by Panhandle/Lower Alabama goobers.

If it wasn't for the weather..........but now it's getting so hot it will uninhabitable soon

[DrDan]

22. good observation - this could never have happened in any other state . . . only Florida is so

morally bankrupt as to allow a crime like this to be committed.

C'mon - get real. This is the home for many of us here. I have lived here for 35 years and have no intention of leaving. If you don't like it - don't move here or visit. We have 100M visitors a year and you will not be missed.

Your over-generalizations do no one any good. Save 'em for your bar-room bloviating.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

28. Well said. nt

[Pacifist Patriot]

30. Thank you

[bedazzled]

24. lake worth is a terrific, eclectic town

it is full of interesting shops, great restaurants and.friendly, open people. lake worth pizza is my favorite. there are rainbow flags painted on the crosswalks and it is a short walk over a gorgeous bridge to the beach. it is the antithesis of everything that someone like Mena stands for. Mena must have known the type of people who are there. therefore, i hope he gets murder one and rots in prison. as for cruz, he is the true definition of hero. i never do gofundme, but I will for this brave young man...

[dembotoz]

27. A hero and hope he is remembered as such