Thousands have taken to Twitter to speak out about the recent death of a Black teen by a white man who claims the young man’s rap music made him feel uncomfortable.
According to AZ Central, 27-year-old Michael Paul Adams admitted to Peoria police that he stabbed Elijah Al-Amin, 17, in the neck at a Circle K parking lot because he was scared of the music Al-Amin was playing in his car.
Al-Amin was taken to the hospital on July fourth where he was pronounced dead at around 2am.
Newsweek noted that Adams admitted that he was neither provoked or threatened by Al-Amin, but decided to be “proactive rather than reactive,” as he said people who listen to rap music are a threat to him and the community.
Adams has been charged with murder, but his attorney claims Adams suffers from mental health issues and was not allowed access to the treatment he needed when he was previously incarcerated.
“It’s too easy as a society to shake our head and say well, they committed a crime, it’s too bad, we have jails for that when really, what they need is treatment. They need a bed instead of a cell,” Jacie Cotterell recently told FOX 13 News.
However, Bill Lamoreaux, a spokesman for Arizona Department of Corrections, said that Adams “was not designated seriously mentally ill” following his release.
“The tragic death is terrible, and Mr. Adams will have to answer for his alleged actions,” he added.
Adams has been hit with a $1 million cash bond.
Not surprisingly, the 27-year-old has a history of attacking strangers.
FOX 13 reported that Adams was arrested for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon twice before, and in both incidents, the victims, which included a correctional officer, did not know their attacker.
In the meantime, Al-Amin’s father told 12 News that his son had big dreams and that he will miss him.
“He wanted to be hotel management, he wanted to move to Seattle, he wanted to move different places,” his dad said.
People flocked to Twitter with the hashtag #JusticeForElijah to express their disgust of Elijah’s life being cut short and the audacity of Adams’ attorney trying to blame mental illness for her client’s actions: