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A Black and White Killing: The Case that Shook America

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Factual: Crime & Justice

Journalist Mobeen Azhar uncovers the truth behind alleged racist killings.

Series 1

A Black and White Killing: The Case That Shook America

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Mobeen Azhar

Dominic de Grande

Colin Barr

Hannah Livingston

Sophie Perrins

Guy King

Expectation Entertainment

A Black and White Killing: The Case that Shook America: Series 1: Episode 2

Episode 2

BBC Two - A Black and White Killing: The Case that Shook America, Series 1, Episode 2

Mobeen Azhar travels to the heart of Oregon’s racist prison gangs.

Mobeen Azhar travels to the heart of Oregon’s racist prison gangs, before hearing the jury’s verdict at the murder trial into the alleged racist killing of Larnell Bruce.

At first, it looked like a straightforward case of cold-blooded murder with racist intent. A young black man, Larnell Bruce, was mown down by a jeep outside a convenience store in Portland, Oregon. The driver was Russell Courtier, a known member of European Kindred, a white supremacist prison gang. The CCTV of the incident went viral and shocked America. Not just because of its brutality, but because of the question at its heart - did Courtier kill Bruce because he was black?

In the first part, journalist Mobeen Azhar followed the murder trial of Russell Courtier up until its midway-point, while also delving behind the scenes to understand the clandestine world of white supremacists. A British Muslim, Mobeen travelled into the homes of violent racist gang members and neo-nazi white separatists, where, as he says, 'everything I am - a brown-skinned Muslim journalist – is everything they hate'.

As the prosecution produced a body of evidence such as the European Kindred cap worn by Russell Courtier, his fate began to look sealed. But in a dramatic twist the trial was flipped on its head, when Larnell Bruce was revealed to be more than an innocent victim. 

The second part of the series picks up the story in the wake of these revelations, as Mobeen seeks to understand the complications surrounding the lives and behaviour of both men, the perpetrator and the victim. His enquiries lead him to Larnell’s birth mother, who reveals that her son lived on the edge of violent gangs himself. Newspapers report that he had convictions going back to the age of just 14. Larnell's mum too had a brush with European Kindred when her house was daubed with racist graffiti. This propels Mobeen to look more closely into the nature and extent of the white supremacist gang’s influence on the wider community.   

Back in court, Mobeen sees first-hand the possible threat of gang intimidation, when a reluctant eye-witness struggles to remember the events of the night. The threat of gang violence is the thread in Mobeen’s investigation that takes him deep into the prison system, where the European Kindred was created. It is here that he comes to terms with the brainwashing effect that gang membership can have on young men.

At this point, the courtroom drama takes another twist when Russell Courtier’s girlfriend makes a surprising decision.

And back on the street, Mobeen comes face to face with a European Kindred member who is willing to break ranks with the gang and explain how they operate. Just before the lawyers give their closing statements in court, Mobeen has a breakthrough by meeting the defendant’s parents at home and discovering if they think their son could be racist. While at the house, Russell’s elder brother also offers his opinions about the case. 

Eventually, Mobeen watches as the jury deliver its verdict on whether Courtier is a racist murderer. For Courtier to be guilty of intentionally killing Larnell Bruce, all 12 members of the jury must agree. And separately, they must decide if it was a hate crime – and this is the element that has the whole of Oregon holding its breath, in expectation of a guilty verdict that might help cleanse the state of some of its racist past. As the anticipation builds, will there be a final twist to Mobeen’s journey into American white supremacy?

A Black and White Killing: The Case that Shook America: Series 1

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