The gang members were believed to be from the infamous group, "MS-13." The gang is known for being incredibly violent. Apparently, they were on Grier's front porch when he pulled out the gun for protection.
"I went around and went into the house, ran upstairs and told my wife to call the police. I get the gun and I go outside and I come into the doorway and now, by this time, they are in the driveway, back here near the house. I tell them, you know, 'Can you please leave?' Grier said.
Grier said that gang members were threatening to harm him and hurt his family. That's when he took four shots of the AK-47 into the grass, making the gang members scatter. Grier was arrested and charged with a Class D felony for reckless endangerment. John Lewis, Grier's attorney, had this to say:
"What he's initially charged with - A D felony reckless endangerment - requires a depraved indifference to human life, creating a risk that someone's going to die. Shooting into a lawn doesn't create a risk of anybody dying."
Grier says he knows that the Nassau County Police use technology to alert them whenever shots are fired in the area. He says that he also knows that there are MS-13 gang members in the area. Andrew Mulraine, a police officer in charge of the local gang unit, says that there are about 2,000 MS-13 gang members in the area.
The problem Grier has with the law at this point is that it states that a person can only use physical force to deter physical force. So, the threats from gang members don't legally justify his shooting the gun into the lawn. The bigger problem for Grier is that one doesn't want to simply wait until a bunch of gang members show up with AK-47s of their own before he decides to defend his family. Sometimes, preemptive action might necessary.
I had a friend whose mother was murdered by her father. For weeks, my friend's mother attempted to alert police about her husband's dangerous threats. She literally told the police, "If you don't do something, he's going to kill me."
In the case of my friend's mother, the police never did much to stop her husband's behavior. A few weeks later, she was dead. This story is a grim reminder of the challenging dilemma that some people face. Had my friend's mother murdered her husband in his sleep, she would have been incarcerated for life. The idea that this woman couldn't even turn to police for help is truly sickening.
A similar scenario may be playing out for George Grier. A man using a gun to defend his family from gang members who are known to be violent is clearly a cry for help. If the police can't defend his family, then what in the heck is he supposed to do?
It's hard to be a fan of the right to bear arms, given the devastation that guns have caused the black community. But the only justification I can see for wanting to carry a gun is that there might be others carrying guns who want to hurt you. At the end of the day, stronger gun control is called for, so that we can all feel protected without having to shoot our way to safety.
I strongly suspect that Mr. Grier's problems are far from over. The threat to the gang members has probably not deterred their desire to harm him. If police don't get involved soon, I am fearful that something will happen to him or his relatives. At the very least, he can't go to sleep without keeping one eye open. No man should have to live this way, and I am hopeful that they can do something to help him. I'd hate to be writing a tragic end to this story a few weeks from today.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action Resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.