East sides with the victim
February 8, 2019
In a random survey of whether vigilante justice (taking the law into your own hands) is right, half of Morton East students say “under the circumstances” it is — and one shouldn’t be punished severely for the crime. This conversation has surfaced with the images and news of Cyntoia Brown on social media.
Cyntoia Brown is being released to parole on August 7, 2019, after spending 15 years in prison for killing a man. Cyntoia Brown is serving a life sentence for killing a man who bought her for sex when she was 16 years old. Brown was 16 years old when she became a runaway; she was exploited by an abusive “pimp” who forced her into prostitution, assaulted her, and manipulated her with drugs. On August 5, 2004, Brown met 43-year-old Johnny Mitchell Allen (a real estate agent and US veteran) in the parking lot of a Sonic Drive-in, in Nashville, Tennessee. Brown testified that Allen offered to take her to his house where he would pay her $150 for sex. There, she became frightened by his behavior and possession of guns; she felt threatened. So, she shot and killed him; Brown claimed “self-defense.” Her self-defense plea was not accepted by the jury because the victim was found with interlaced fingers under his face concluding that the victim was asleep at the time of death.
“I know that the case was dismissed at the time she was prostituting herself and she sold herself to a man, I don’t believe she should’ve have done that,” said security guard Carlos.
Some people don’t support what Cyntoia Brown did, but others do.
“Yeah I support her because she was protecting herself, I’ll do the same thing that she did,” said senior Destiny Alonso.
Many would have done the same thing as Brown if they see it as self-defense.
“I don’t think she should have been incarcerated since she was defending herself from a man who might have had bad intentions, but yet again we don’t know how the situation would have gone if she didn’t shoot first”
This case is very controversial due to evidence showing that the way the victim was found didn’t seem as a way of self-defense
“ It seems like a very complex answer I don’t believe killing anyone is ever truly good but at the same time I don’t think anyone except for her and that guy truly know what was going on at that exact moment, so if she was defending herself or she felt like she was truly getting hurt and her only means of getting out of that room at the time was to kill him then she did what she had to do and it’s understandable should she have been locked up for the rest of her life for doing so if that was the case, absolutely not,” said dean of students, Mr. Dugan.
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Bryan Garcia • Feb 21, 2019 at 4:40 pm
I think that sometimes justice can side with a vigilante, and taking justice into your own hands. I saw a video of another vigilante who goes by Goose Wayne. He looks for crime around his area and tries to defend those in need. However, unlike Cyntoia Brown, Wayne’s acts are vigilant because his intentions still have moral standing.
Paola-4 • Feb 18, 2019 at 6:56 pm
Many people say that it was her fault since she “voluntarily” decided to traffic herself. But I once read a book about a young girl living in poverty who was promised a job and better life if she went with this lady. However, the lady kidnapped her and sold her to men. If they ever tried to escape, they would be beaten and almost killed, and the people around them would not help them because they thought they were bad. So I find it unfair to say that Brown chose that life, when she could have easily been manipulated and tricked into that life.
Crystal Salgado • Feb 15, 2019 at 10:39 am
I think this article is good I agreee that honestly she shouldn’t have gone to jail she did kill someone but he was using her for sex and I don’t think that it right .
Angie 1 • Feb 15, 2019 at 9:41 am
Her case gained national attention last year after it began circulating under the hashtag #FreeCyntoiaBrown, lifted further by celebrity supporters. Her defenders said that the teen was forced into prostitution by a violent boyfriend.
Makaveli • Feb 12, 2019 at 2:21 pm
i think she should of done less time or got parole way sooner, i don’t blame her. she was in the wrong state of mind, doing drugs and was forced into prostitution. who knows what would of happen if she let the man live. i don’t like how she kills a man(self defense) but a police officer that shot a black kid with a 16 rounds gets less time which was less than 7 years.
Jesus Figueroa • Feb 12, 2019 at 2:11 pm
She should be in Jail for what she has done. The fact that people condole this absolutely idiotic. The level of logic people have towards what happened is just plain dumb. I am guessing the people who got interviewed didn’t know the whole story or did know it. Either way the fact that the guy had guns didn’t mean that she was in trouble. The worst of them all is that she robbed him right after she killed him as if it was for “self-Defense”. Either way it’s good that she is getting released as a second chance and hopefully she does a lot more productive decisions.
Annarosa Alvarado • Feb 12, 2019 at 2:04 pm
I side with Cyntoia Brown because she was being held a her own will and being sold for sex. It doesn’t matter if at first she went on her on will, at some point she didn’t want to live that life anymore and was being against her will. We all have a certain breaking points and she has reached hers.I don’t blame her for taking as far as she did because only she knows what her pimp would have done if he would have caught ger trying to get away. She did what she needed to do to get away.
Fernando Garcia • Feb 12, 2019 at 1:56 pm
I think that it depends on the circumstances of what was going on between them to see if she really deserves those 15 years of prison.Though brown they sell her body to the guy for $150 dollars for sex in which i think she should not have done that but if she was claiming self-defense and actually felt threaten by the person who can kill her at anytime I think that it was justified. I think that it is wrong the kill a person but since it was out of self-defense I don’t think that she should have to sever 15 years.
Izel Diaz • Feb 12, 2019 at 1:12 pm
If what Brown claims is true, i fully support her decision and feel she did the right thing involving her safety. Considering the fact that he was paying for her, the man most likely felt entitled to doing whatever he wanted regardless of how she felt about the situation. With that, it is possible he may have become violent making it understandable as to why she may have felt threatened and did what she felt she had to do in order to stay alive. However, in this article it states his fingers were interlaced and behind his back at the time he was killed so i’m skeptical about her claim of self defense.
Alexander Jimenez • Feb 12, 2019 at 11:15 am
East Sides with the victim: I believe that self defense is something the police should not take someone accountable for. I say this because when in danger there is no timer deciding the time of fate. It can happen swiftly and quickly. The act of self defense is very valuable as when a situation arises the righteous will succeed as it is morally right in a way. In this case the evidence was not clear but the background of the whole situation in general, from the start was. I still believe that Cyntoia Brown should have served little jail time as her whole backstory with the man was quite shocking and revealing of the situation that happened.
Joseph Colon • Feb 12, 2019 at 11:14 am
I think that Cyntoia should have not been arrested because she was scared to keep on going through the stuff that had happen to her. Brown felt threaten by this man with possession of guns so she has the right to protect herself from this man. If she had not shot him something worse might of happened to her. I feel since she was a young female the jury was not on her side but on the veterans side.
Natalie • Feb 12, 2019 at 11:10 am
I don’t think it was right for her to shoot the guy but I also don’t think it was right for her to get that much jail time. Like mr.Dugan said if that was her only way out then she did the right choice. But it seems like there isn’t much that could testify what actually happened. Given that I don’t have a side to pick because I don’t really know the truth. But overall I think it was crazy what actually happened.
Zitlhaly Luna • Feb 12, 2019 at 10:25 am
Cyntoia Brown is being released to parole on August 7, 2019, after spending 15 years in prison for killing a man. Cyntoia Brown is serving a life sentence for killing a man who bought her for sex when she was 16 years old. I believe that she should not be freed because she voluntary went with him for sex. She should of known that he had negative intentions and shouldn’t have went with him in the first place. If she hadn’t of gone with him she would of prevented herself from being in harm.
Andrae • Feb 12, 2019 at 10:19 am
When reading this i was confused at first because i didnt know if she killed him recently in the past months or if this happened when she meet him in 2004. I dont think Brown should have gotten life for what she did, I think yes she should have served jail time for killing someone because it is never good to end someones life. I do think she was trying to protect herself from the man because the man was doing these things to her at 16 years old and she probably tried to find ways to escape but the man just stopped her from escaping so maybe her only chance was to kill the man.
Hilda Gonzalez • Feb 12, 2019 at 9:25 am
I think Brown could have handled the situation in a different way instead of killing the man. Instead of killing him, she should have ran away if he was truly sleeping but if he wasn’t she could have shot him somewhere where he wouldn’t have been killed from. Since Brown was underage it was unfair that the jury gave her a life sentence, they should have given her about ten years or less. In different situations, people should take in their own hands in what they think will save them in self-defense.