The New Face of Self Defense?

Added: 2026-05-25

[00:00:00]Tonight on the Black Channel, we're taking a look at a case out of Raleigh, North Carolina.

[00:00:07]Two attorneys were apparently shot. And some people are asking questions about in the face of Jud the Builder and others here, about whether or not it could have been self-defense.

[00:00:21]Here it is from the news of from Channel 11.

[00:00:23]>> The iTeam's John Dowding is live outside the Wake County Courthouse where that shooting happened earlier today. John, you're digging through some paperwork shedding light on what may have led to today's uh hearing there at the courthouse.

[00:00:34]Well, Steve Lauren, the biggest question on many people's minds tonight is what led up to this shooting. The iTeam tonight combing through court records and uncovering a 5-year timeline ahead of this case that all started with a request to obtain police body camera video.

[00:00:52]What started as an argument between neighbors 5 years ago resulting in the shooting of two attorneys in the heart of downtown Raleigh Friday. Eyewitness News obtaining this video showing Raleigh police taking the woman they believe is the shooter into custody.

[00:01:07]Police identified the suspect as Gwendolyn White. Court documents identify the victims as Mary Harris and Jeffrey Whitley seen in bios posted on their law firm's website. Now tonight the iTeam is learning more about the case that brought all three of them together to the same courtroom Friday morning. Court documents show it all started in March 2021 when Rolesville police responded to a verbal altercation between White and her two neighbors on this block. Police say the body camera video did not show White's neighbors committing any criminal activity. Her neighbors asked for a no contact order with White following the incident. In February 2022 White asked for a copy of that body camera video of the incident.

[00:01:48]The videos were found in April 2022. But court documents say White never got a copy of the videos until this year. She filed a motion So, did you hear that?

[00:02:00]Incident 2021.

[00:02:03]Body camera footage, she requested that and it was found back in April of 2022.

[00:02:11]Four years later.

[00:02:15]Four years later.

[00:02:17]After it had been found, they're finally turning it over to her four years later.

[00:02:26]Sorry, 2022. White asked for a copy of that body camera video of the incident.

[00:02:31]The videos were found in April 2022.

[00:02:33]But, court documents say White never got a copy of the videos until this year.

[00:02:37]She filed a motion of contempt against the Rolesville Police Department. In January of this year, a judge ruled Rolesville Police must give her the video, but said the department was not in contempt.

[00:02:52]So, the judge says that the police department can sit on the video for four years?

[00:02:58]Four years now.

[00:03:00]Oh, that's not contempt?

[00:03:03]Um do you all think that you could sit on evidence for four years and refuse to do that and show up in court and say, "That's not contempt. I mean, it's just been four years."

[00:03:16]I'm just curious if you all think that you could do the same thing in a court case. Do you think you could sit on evidence and deny it for four years going on half a decade and oh, that's not contempt? No. Did not show White's neighbors committing any criminal activity. Her neighbors asked for a no contact order with White following the incident. In February 2022, White asked for a copy of that body camera video of the incident. The videos were found in April 2022. But, court documents say White never got a copy of the videos until this year. She filed a motion of contempt against the Rolesville Police Department. In January of this year, a judge ruled Rolesville Police must give her the video, but said the department was not in contempt.

[00:04:03]Court documents say White got the videos two days after the judge's ruling. A day later, she filed another motion, this time asking for a new case related to the release of the body camera video.

[00:04:14]The North Carolina court database shows a hearing at 10:00 this morning to determine whether to reinstate the case.

[00:04:20]Raleigh Police say during the hearing White became quote belligerent and left the courthouse just before the shooting.

[00:04:32]So, the police and the court system strung this woman along for 4 years and said absolutely nothing wrong here, and then they're saying she got belligerent.

[00:04:42]I wonder what she got belligerent about.

[00:04:45]I wonder what she got belligerent about.

[00:04:51]I wonder what it was.

[00:04:55]You see, folks talk about Luigi Mangione, and folks are starting to ask questions about how in the world do you get to a point where that occurs there, and then we start asking questions about the system and you get all kinds of weird responses and all kinds of improbable, illogical things happening here, and everyone just telling you, "Okay, well, just roll with it."

[00:05:20]And then you start asking the logical question, "By the way, do I have a law that allows me to do the same thing?"

[00:05:26]Or will all of a sudden will I be found in contempt of court if I don't?

[00:05:33]Now, we're talking to the about the case here and what not, and what we're finding out is that part of this stemmed with an incident with her mother.

[00:05:41]She claims that the police may have done something to her mother.

[00:05:45]And she wanted a body cam footage and everything else because she claimed that might have done something that she think they did something to her mom.

[00:05:53]Needless to say, 4 years later and still didn't have the body cam footage.

[00:05:59]Just a coincidence?

[00:06:02]That you run into that kind of thing?

[00:06:04]That's just a coincidence, really?

[00:06:08]You know, I was taking a look at back at other things.

[00:06:10]I was taking a look at back at other things because I was remembering Trayvon Martin.

[00:06:14]Now, I was remembering Zimmerman.

[00:06:16]Now, I was remembering how people responded to that and telling us that your black children don't have any rights and any random white person can walk up to your black children and accost them and your black children should just sit there and tolerate that and accept being physically and verbally assaulted by strangers.

[00:06:36]I wonder if people will keep that same energy if the child is white. Well, ask no further because you see there is a case out of Boca Raton, Florida.

[00:06:46]It's an e-bike dispute apparently with some white kids and some grown white men gave these kids the George Zimmerman treatment.

[00:06:56]However, the response from both the media and the public in the comment section is radically different from what we witnessed a decade ago.

[00:07:06]>> We have an update to that viral West Boca e-bike confrontation from last month. A second man seen in the video has now been arrested. Now, you may remember the clip of a 13-year-old surrounded by adults inside the gated Lotus community just screaming for his phone back. And now, 53-year-old Ari Brooks, who's seen there wearing a black shirt and sunglasses, is facing the same felony robbery by sudden snatching charge as Mitchell Shuman. Now, investigators say video shows Brooks taking the child's phone, then walking out into the street, even holding it out as it appears to be ringing, and the kid is continuously asking for his phone back. Now, under Florida law, prosecutors say the victim only has to be aware that his property's been taken for it to become felony robbery, which is punishable by up to five Isn't this all very interesting?

[00:07:56]I mean, no one suggested any of this a decade ago. No one was saying any of this then.

[00:08:04]When George Zimmerman did the exact same thing to these fellas here doing, you had people defending him for the exact same thing.

[00:08:14]You go down the comment section, all of a sudden, you know, oh man, well, they're all very very the stuff that we didn't get to hear a decade ago.

[00:08:24]All of a sudden, they found their morality.

[00:08:27]They found their decency all of a sudden. These child abusers need to be need to see more charges. They've already been arrested for felony robbery.

[00:08:36]Radically different.

[00:08:39]Now, if this 13-year-old white kid had beat the brakes off of all of them, you better believe this whole comment section would be telling him good for him, and they deserved it.

[00:08:51]But, if the child is black, remember, they're operating on race war mindset.

[00:08:56]So, it's not that they didn't know these things.

[00:08:59]Just understand when you're in the middle of a race war.

[00:09:03]And that's the kind of response that they're going to give you.

[00:09:07]Just remember that.

[00:09:09]It's not just in one place.

[00:09:11]It's not just in one place.

[00:09:14]See, the way this society responds across the board is going to be different.

[00:09:20]Case in point.

[00:09:21]Thomas Massie lost his re-election bid in Kentucky.

[00:09:27]So, shout out to AIPAC.

[00:09:31]And they got rid of Thomas Massie because he's supporting the wrong things as far as they're concerned.

[00:09:37]A lot of folks are upset about it and understandably so.

[00:09:41]Understandably so.

[00:09:43]But in the middle of all that, I did need to remind people about something about Thomas Massie.

[00:09:49]Cuz you see there was somebody else who was unhappy about Thomas Massie not being reelected.

[00:09:54]And that's one Kyle Rittenhouse.

[00:09:57]And Kyle Rittenhouse said, "For those calling me a traitor, just know this was less than a year after I was acquitted.

[00:10:05]Massie, Thomas Massie and Lauren Boebert have always stood by me and I will do the same for them."

[00:10:18]So, I'm taking a look at some of Thomas Massie's friends.

[00:10:23]I'm taking a look at some of the folk that Thomas Massie has been friends with and supported.

[00:10:28]And I'm just saying, "Okay."

[00:10:31]I just couldn't help but notice it doesn't really matter what the circumstances are, what the conditions are.

[00:10:36]White people always have the right to quote unquote defend themselves.

[00:10:43]They always have the right to defend themselves. It's always self-defense and you always have a bunch of folks jumping up and running up and yelling, "This is their right to self-defense."

[00:10:57]It doesn't really matter the circumstances. It doesn't matter what goes on here. You're always told there's more to it.

[00:11:02]Even if you have the whole incident on video, you're always told, "We're not going to believe your lying eyes. Well, there's more circumstances.

[00:11:09]There's more to it."

[00:11:12]And so, I'm only asking the question tonight about Gwendolyn White.

[00:11:18]What is it that led up to this?

[00:11:21]Are people interested in entertaining self-defense in this regard?

[00:11:26]You got folks out there talking about Luigi Mangione in the system.

[00:11:30]And I got questions about Luigi Mangione in the system, but I also have questions about that for everybody here, not just relegated to one person.

[00:11:39]Cuz you see, it's not justice if it is confined to one individual.

[00:11:44]It is not justice if it is confined to only one individual.

[00:11:51]If everyone doesn't have the same rights, then no one does.

[00:11:56]And that's the thing I'm taking a look at.

[00:11:59]If we don't all have the same rights, no one does.

[00:12:04]So, I'm asking questions about this.

[00:12:07]I'm asking questions.

[00:12:11]And in case they're not happy about it, they can ask me.