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Update: Four Years or More in Prison for White Man Who Shot at Black Teen

"This will affect my son forever," said Brennan Walker's mother.

FOX NEWS

After a jury convicted Jeffrey Ziegler last month of assault with intent to do bodily harm and a felony firearm count for shooting at a Black teen in Rochester Hills, Mich., he was sentenced to four to 10 years in prison.

On Tuesday, Ziegler appeared in front of a judge at the Oakland County court, who sentenced him to a minimum of two years for each charge. The original charge, assault with intent to murder, would've carried a life sentence. Now he'll be eligible for parole after four years.

Related Story: UPDATE: Man Found Guilty of a Lesser Charge for Shooting at Black Teen

Meanwhile, Lisa Wright, mother of Brennan Walker, the victim, said her son is in therapy indefinitely.

"This will affect my son forever," she said.

"He almost took the life of another human being," assistant prosecutor Kelly Collins said. "That will forever stay with Brennan — forever. His perception of strangers, his perception of other people, his perception of the world."

Jeffrey Zeigler apologized before he was sentenced Tuesday in Oakland County court, and apologized to Wright, saying, "I have full remorse and regret and I wish I could change something, but we can't go back in time."

She doesn't believe him. She told the judge she thinks Ziegler is sad because of the media attention.

As he was escorted out of the courtroom, Zeigler smiled and waved at his wife, and friends and relatives shouted, "We love you, Jeff."

Ziegler and his wife clearly reacted to the teen's race in the April 12 shooting. Ziegler referred to Walker in an interview with a sheriff's deputy after the shooting as "that colored kid" at his front door; and his wife's report to the police was, "A Black male was trying to break into her house and her husband chased after him into the yard."

Related Story: White Man Who Shot at Lost Black Teen and Called Him 'Colored' Stands Trial

Ziegler lied and said he tripped and that's what caused his gun to fire, when his own home security system video showed him pausing, taking aim and firing at the fleeing teen.

Walker, then age 14, had missed his bus to school that morning and came to the Zeigler's door for help. After his wife screamed, Zeigler fired a shotgun at the teen, but missed him.

"I was scared," Walker had testified in October. "I was trying to tell them that I was trying to get to high school, but they weren't listening."

Walker had literally run for his life. "I turned back and I saw him aiming at me... I was trying to run away faster and I heard a gunshot," he said on the stand.

Zeigler's attorney Robert Morad, who said his client suffers from PTSD and injuries from being a Detroit firefighter for 23 years, said outside the courtroom,"We will be discussing a possible appeal."

Meanwhile, Walker and his family don't leave the house much anymore. "We moved to Rochester Hills to live in a better place, a safe place," Wright said. "But, when a safer place doesn't want you there, I don't know how to process that."

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haters

Racial Attack on Black Woman in NYC Being Investigated as Hate Crime

A white man stabbed Ann Marie Washington in a subway station and "started punching her in her face because she was Black," a witness said.

A 57-year-old Black woman is recovering from surgery to repair a collapsed lung because while exiting a subway in Brooklyn, N.Y., she was punched in the mouth and stabbed by a white man who called her a "Black b--ch" The NYPD's Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating the attack as a hate crime.

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organizational misbehavior

Open Letter To GQ's Editorial Team: Serena Williams 2018 'Woman' of The Year Cover

The white editorial team claim judgement on a Black woman's body.

For the second year in a row, GQ Magazine has selected a woman for its annual Man of the Year issue. Last year's cover featured Israeli-actress, Gal Gadot. The cover was light and cute. It could've been an advertisement for "The Women's March." This year, tennis-legend Serena Williams, won the "honor." Only her cover isn't a celebration of her athletic prowess and excellence. It's outright racist.

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organizational misbehavior

#ShoppingWhileBlack: Maryland Couple Sues Costco for $4M

A routine trip to Costco turned into a case of racial profiling.

Courtesy of WBAL TV

Barbara and Bahri Wallace loved to shop at Costco. And this trip to the megastore should have been like every other trip. However, while the couple were shopping at the Costco in Anne Arundel County in Maryland in May, the husband and wife reported they were being watched by management.

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good news

HBCUs​ Set Foundation for Black Politicians in Key Positions

"Black people have always been underestimated. The Black college experience is still an exceptional way to train young people," said Senator Art Haywood, a Morehouse Graduate.

Twitter

What Kamala Harris, Alma Adams, Andrew Gillum and Stacey Abrams all have in common, in addition to being influential in U.S. politics, is they're graduates of Historically Black Colleges and Universities ( HBCUs) — Howard University, North Carolina A&T, Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University, and Spelman College.

Approximately 40 percent of the members of Congress are HBCU graduates, according to the Network Journal, a Black professional and small business magazine. And recipients of The United Negro College Fund and Thurgood Marshall Foundation scholarships graduate from college at rates well above the national average.

"We're producing outstanding leaders in all of the major professions," said Harry L. Williams, president and CEO of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and former Delaware State president.

"Anytime you can look at (HBCU) success stories, it just enhances their relevancy and continues to move them forward in a positive way."

This year, a record 38 women of color were elected to Congress. Many of them are HBCU graduates.

The prospect of so many Black-college graduates being elected to statewide office in the same year is unprecedented, Keneshia Grant, an assistant professor of political science at Howard University, said.

And they are touting their HBCU training. Abrams expressed her disapproval of legislation plans for education that did not include those institutions.

Gillum responded to President Trump's tweet attacking him about his lack of Ivy League education:

Art Haywood is one of four Black state senators in Pennsylvania, and one of two from Morehouse.

"If the two Black state senators had come from Harvard or Yale, then those schools would get all the credit," Haywood said.

"Black people have always been underestimated," Haywood said. "I don't think there's any more validation required. The Black college experience is still an exceptional way to train young people."

Of politicians like Abrams and Gillum, the president of HBCU Dillard University Walter Kimbrough said they are sending a message: "It's a reaffirmation, not only for students but for families, that you can go to an HBCU and compete with anyone."

Approximately 13 percent of HBCU graduates are CEOS, 40 percent are engineers and 50 percent are professors at non-HBCUs, according to the Network Journal.

The HBCUs Make America Strong: The Positive Economic Impact of Historically Black Colleges and Universities study shows how the United States economy benefits from HBCUs: $14.8 billion in economic impact. In addition, graduates predominantly come from low-income areas, giving them and the communities the opportunity to break cycles of poverty and open doors to successful and lucrative careers. Individual graduates can earn $927,000 within their lifetime, $130 billion collectively over their lifetime.

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organizational misbehavior

Uncounted Ballots Remain in Mail Center That Processed #MAGABomber Weapons: Report

United States Postal Service claims it was not aware of any ballots being mishandled.

Miami-Dade County, Fla., election officials claimed that all of the votes for the area had been counted. But according to an anonymous tip, that appears to be untrue.

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organizational misbehavior

White Nationalists Feel at Home Visiting the White House

Identity Evropa leader, whose group believes in returning people of color back to native homelands, posts tour photos. Meanwhile, Trump calls Black reporter's white nationalism question "racist."

TWITTER

Patrick Casey, leader of alt-right white nationalist group, Identity Evropa, and Charlottesville marcher, posted a visit to the White House on social media this week:

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Andrew Gillum Campaign Readies for Recount

"I, like so many others, hoped beyond hope that we'd be able to [have a] recount," Sili Recio, a community organizer in Orlando, told DiversityInc.

Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate and Tallahassee mayor, Andrew Gillum, conceded the race for governor at 11 p.m. on Tuesday. Gillum lead a masterful campaign. The margins were incredibly close. So close that the community gathered, along with his camp, to ensure that he could get a recount, and, as of Thursday, it's headed in that direction.

The initial call to action, which began at 10 a.m. on Thursday, was to cure issues with provisional ballots because of the sheer number of them. With the Bill Nelson/Rick Scott Senate race so close, as well, it was imperative that every vote be counted.

A campaign office in Orlando was one of the main locations where volunteers showed up to help in every capacity. People that worked directly on the Gillum campaign were there as well Nelson supporters. There were well over 400 volunteers across the building's threshold.

Volunteers putting in the workPhoto courtesy of Sili Recio

How did all of this happen so quickly?

It was the power of social media.

A bright, creative social media director/ influencer of a nonprofit organization with a grassroots community organizing background, Sili Recio, was a main player at the Orlando location.

Recio was crucial in creating social media awareness so the people who voted via provisional ballots would truly have the opportunity to have their votes counted.

"I showed up to volunteer in whatever capacity I was needed in. Social media is my specialty so, I started by coordinating for some images to be created in order to get the word out and provide those that had voted via provisional ballot with the information they needed in order to ensure that their ballot was cured," Recio told DiversityInc.

"I bounced around from initially thinking I'd go knock on doors and provide voters with affidavits, if needed, to phone banking and leading the charge of attempting to find the provisional ballot voters on social media. I called it creative locating and my defacto social media team did a fantastic job in going through the list and doing everything in their power to make sure that people knew what had to be done in order for their vote to count."

Recio added, "I, like so many others hoped beyond hope that we'd be able to recount Gillum as well. I didn't know how it was to be done but, I'm glad it got handled."

An unnamed supporter at the office, a gentleman who was undergoing chemotherapy, stood out among volunteers. Despite his physical condition, he shared a message of hope, persistence and love. He said this was too monumental of a movement to miss.

His inspiring effort became even more incredible when he shared all eight pages of the late Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech with the rest of the group.

Another volunteer, Sabrina, put in hours of work. Ironically, she didn't even live in Orlando. Sabrina had just flown in for a conference, heard about what was being done with reference to call to action and drove to the site straight from the airport.

Related Story: It's Not Over for Andrew Gillum: Florida Governor Race Could Head to Recount

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