Pennsylvania Man Murdered By A Racist After Defending A Black Man Who Was Being Harassed

Welcome to Donald Trump's America, where Racist are now bold and are freely able to practice racism and it's the new normal. Of course our Condolences goes out to the Merrill family and if you would like to help them they do have a gofundme page and you can donate by clicking here. 

THE STORY; 

Chad Merrill was just trying to be the peacemaker, according to family and friends, when he stepped up in defense of his friend, a black man, who was being subject to racial slurs and other verbal abuse.

The situation did not end peacefully, however. Moments after speaking up, he was shot and killed at the Red Rose Restaurant and Lounge in York, Pa.

According to the York Daily Record, the ultimately fatal encounter started when James Saylor, the alleged killer, squeezed his way into a group of men seated at the bar. There was a man seated between Saylor and Jerrell Douglas, his initial victim, but that didn’t stop Saylor from launching into his verbal harassment and assault, using the n-word and other racial slurs.

“You could tell he was giving [Douglas] crap...He’s being a jerk,” Hellam Township Police Chief Doug Pollock told the news site. “It was a racial incident; that’s how it kicked off.”

The other men at the bar tried to ignore Saylor. Merrill, who was sitting next to Douglas but further away from Saylor was trying to get Douglas to let it go and focus on him, rather than on Saylor’s verbal attacks.

“[Douglas] didn’t escalate anything,” Pollock noted. “He did the right thing.”

The owner of the bar, Nick Spagnolo intervened shortly after, kicking Saylor out of the bar because of his behavior.

Surveillance footage from the bar shows Saylor walking out and to the parking lot and over to a pickup truck. He attempts to get into the vehicle, but it is not his.

 Saylor then pulls a gun from his shorts, half-turns toward the bar and fires the weapon.

The bullet grazed the building (and was later recovered in a nearby grassy area). However, after the first shot was fired, Saylor finally finds his truck and gets inside and starts the engine, police noted.

At that exact moment an Uber driver pulls in, preventing Saylor from leaving the establishment. That allowed Merrill, who had come out of the bar, to catch up with Saylor.

“He was right there, standing next to the truck,” Pollock said.

According to police, it is not clear what, if any words were exchanged before Saylor allegedly fired the fatal shot, but the bullet struck Merrill right in the chest. Saylor sped off, hitting the Uber driver’s vehicle as he left.

You can read more by clicking here. 

Saylor is facing charges of criminal homicide and has been denied bail.