Murder of Seth Smith
| Murder of Seth Smith | |
|---|---|
 Victim Seth Smith | |
| Location | Berkeley, California, United States |
| Date | June 15, 2020 (wikipedia:Pacific_Time_Zone) |
Attack type | Murder |
| Weapon | Firearm |
| Victim | Seth Smith, 19-year-old white male |
| Assailant | Tony Lorenzo Walker, black male |
Incident[edit]
Smith was shot execution-style in the back of the head with a single bullet, with no evidence of being robbed:[1]
Nineteen-year-old Seth Smith was walking on Dwight near Valley Street, which runs just parallel to Acton, when a stranger approached him at about 11:30 p.m. and shot him at close range in the back of the head, according to authorities. Police found no evidence of a robbery attempt or any other crime.
Smith, who was just shy of his 20th birthday, was entering his third and final year at UC Berkeley. His mother, Michelle Rode-Smith, has said previously that her son would have finished his studies at Cal in 2021. He was a double major in history and economics.
Victim[edit]
Seth Smith[edit]
Seth Smith | |
|---|---|
| |
| Born | July 4, 2000 |
| Died | June 15, 2020 (aged 19) [2] Berkeley, wikipedia:California, U.S. |
| Cause of death | wikipedia:Gunshot wound |
Assailant[edit]
Tony Walker[edit]
Tony Lorenzo Walker | |
|---|---|
 |
UC Berkeley statement[edit]
Seth was a student at UC Berkeley. One week after Seth's death, UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ sent a message[3] which roundly drew criticism on social media for its cold, clinical tone when referencing Seth, and the eyebrow-raising decision to reference irrelevant dead black people when common sense would dictate that Smith was likely murdered by a black person himself:
We realize this is a difficult time for those of you who knew Seth. It is important to know that individuals may express their grief differently and we need to respect the different ways people react and support each other in the days and weeks ahead. Many of you may have had a close relationship with Seth and are feeling a sense of loss and disbelief. Others, like many of us, are experiencing stress, grief and anxiety related to the coronavirus pandemic and the recent murders of George Floyd, Riah Milton, and other Black Americans.
Notably, the chancellor references dead black people using the descriptor "murder" while Seth's actual murder is described in the passive tone as "[Smith] was shot and fatally wounded."
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ https://www.berkeleyside.com/2020/08/21/berkeley-police-make-arrest-in-fatal-shooting-of-cal-student
- ↑ https://www.berkeleyside.com/2020/06/26/remembering-seth-smith-19-a-cal-student-who-was-killed-in-berkeley-on-june-15
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20200629000604/https://news.berkeley.edu/2020/06/22/campus-mourns-tragic-death-of-third-year-berkeley-student/
