BLM activist kills himself in front of OH statehouse

[darnkatz]

This is so fucking sad.   He was so young, and it sounds like he was doing some really good work. 



Black Lives Matter activist MarShawn McCarrel fatally shoots self in front of Ohio Statehouse


A Black Lives Matter activist killed himself on the steps of the Ohio Statehouse, authorities said.

MarShawn McCarrel, 23, shot himself in front of the Columbus building Monday evening, Lt. Craig Cvetan of the State Highway Patrol told the Columbus Dispatch.

“My demons won today. I'm sorry,” the activist, who recently attended the NAACP Image Awards, posted on his Facebook page about 3 p.m., just hours before his body was found near the Statehouse.

His last tweet read: “Let the record show that I pissed on the state house before I left.”

No one witnessed the shooting, Cvetan said. McCarrel was pronounced dead at the scene.

McCarrel, who had recently worked with Black Lives Matter, helped organize protests in Ohio after a Missouri cop shot and killed unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in 2014.

He also founded youth mentorship program Pursuing Our Dreams, which launched Feed the Streets, a project to help Ohio's homeless.

He attended the NAACP’s Image Awards on Friday, Pursuing Our Dreams wrote on its Facebook.

The 23-year-old community organizer was named one of Radio One’s Hometown Champions, an award for community activists and volunteers, earlier this year and earned a trip to the California awards show. He took his mom to the Friday night ceremony.

"He is selfless and will give his last in order to make sure others don't go without,” read a nomination page for the Hometown Champions Award. “MarShawn has come so far in life and has inspired so many people to help others”

McCarrel was homeless for three months after he graduated from high school — an experience that inspired him to help others, according to his nomination.

“When MarShawn got back on his feet, he felt the need to give back because so many people helped him when he was down,” it read. “MarShawn stresses the importance of having conversations with the people we feed because they'll get hungry in 2 hours but a good conversation will carry them over for a lifetime.”

“All everyone needs is love,” he told 614 Columbus in 2014, referring to his work with the Feed the Streets. “That’s a human being. That’s a pulse. We’re feeding everyone, we’re sending the message — today I got you; tomorrow, I could be right there.”

[One Girl In All The World]

That's awful. So sad.

[pixy0stix]

May his soul find peace.

[elleblue]

How heartbreaking.

[aurora]

My heart goes out to him and all of his loved ones.

[orriskitten]

This is so sad. I can't imagine the pain he must have faced to reach that point

[downtoearth]

My heart breaks for his family and friends. So sorry to see him go now.

[penguingrrl]

That's so sad. May he find peace.

[2doxies]

I'm so sad for this young man, the pain he must have felt.

[Velar Fricative]

So horrible.

[swank]

He was a friend of a friend. Very sad.

[mbcdefg]

Oh dear

[thejackpot]

So very sad.

[justemily]

Sad day in Columbus today

[earlgreyhot]

So sad.

[nikki25]

Horrible : (

[froggy76]

This is such a loss. He really made a mark in his 23 short years.

[FloFTW]

I also have friends of friends that have been part of his causes and everyone is just devastated. It's such a loss. For his family and our communities.

[twotrue]

I hope his family finds some peace in the legacy he leaves behind.

[NitaX]

How sad.

[mrsukyankee]

That's such a sad loss.

[orangeblossom]

Mercy.

[miniroller]

Feb 9, 2016 23:36:47 GMT -5 twotrue said:

I hope his family finds some peace in the legacy he leaves behind.

I agree. Speaking of his legacy, I do genuinely hope this might spur on fellow BLM activists (or people thinking of joining the movement/ on the edge) instead of the opposite effect. Ugh, my heart aches for this poor young man's struggle