‘Clearly Defending Himself’: Outrage Ensues As Black Man Is Charged After Fatal Knockout Punch on White Attacker Who Pummeled Him Outside Louisiana Nightclub
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A Black man initially charged with battery after allegedly beating up a white man outside a Shreveport, Louisiana, nightclub in late January is now facing more serious charges after the victim died from his injuries, officials said.
Trevor Moses, 25, was arrested Feb. 6 and charged with second-degree battery after witnesses identified him in the Jan. 26 assault of 43-year-old Christopher J. Temple, a white man, who later died from his injuries.
Video of the brutal encounter shows Temple sneaking up on Moses in the 400 block of Commerce Street, where he leveled Moses in the side of the head with a savage blow.
Despite being waylaid, somehow Moses fought back and gained the upper hand, punching the taller man in the face and knocking him cold, causing him to fall and strike his head on the concrete, witnesses told police.
Responding officers found the Webster Parish man unconscious with severe facial and head injuries.
Police said last week that surveillance footage from the Real-Time Crime Center supported witness accounts of the incident, according to station KTBS. However, video of the brawl taken from news reports and circulating widely on social media only reveals the moment when Temple delivered a crushing blow to the side of Moses’ head, sparking the brutal fistfight in front of at least a dozen witnesses.
The bareknuckle brawl resulted in the injury that ultimately caused Temple’s death. However, the video does not show this exact moment, and it’s not clear if this footage even exists. Atlanta Black Star was not able to pinpoint the purported tape of the second half of the altercation. Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith and Cpl. Chris Bordelon, both viewed the entire video and afterward said Temple may have instigated his own fate, according to KSLA News 12.
“We’re very aware of what the public is saying; obviously, this is a complicated matter,” Bordelon said.
Bordelon confirmed the segment of footage that showed Temple throwing the first punch and striking Moses, leading many online observers to say that Moses was justified to retaliate with a haymaker of his own.
“You have an incident that occurs where this man is obviously the victim,” Bordelon said of Moses, who remains charged in the case. “He’s struck first, and then he returns later and another incident ensues, ultimately resulting in the death of that individual,” Bordelon continued. “And at this point in time, he has not been charged with the death of that individual because we understand there’s moving parts. So we’re communicating with the Caddo Parish District Attorney’s Office to determine if any charges should be upgraded, what they should be. And it’s really just an unfortunate situation.”
Moses was arrested a few days after the fight on charges of second-degree battery and was released on bail.
At that point, Temple was still alive. He underwent surgery at Ochsner LSU Health hospital, before being transferred to The Carpenter’s House Hospice, where he died Feb. 15.
Authorities are now unofficially calling Temple’s death a homicide as detectives are currently working with the Caddo Parish District Attorney’s Office to assess whether murder charges will be filed against Moses.
Bordelon stated that cases like this are evaluated under the standard set by the 1989 Supreme Court ruling in Graham v. Connor, a case about justification of police use of force.
“And you take those two things intermittently, the justification and was it reasonable. Did the officer, or the civilian in this case, were they justified in using force, did they have a reason to use force, and then was the force that they used reasonable,” Bordelon said, according to KTLA.
He added that cases like this involve careful consideration, a thorough process, and could be presented to a grand jury.
“Obviously this is a very messy situation and there are no good options right now so we’re going to do the best we can to hold people accountable, seek justice for the victims, and do everything we can to keep our city together because understanding this is a very complicated situation and obviously there’s a lot of people with hurt feelings and families in mourning,” Bordelon said.
Many voices on social media were up in arms over the racial aspects of the case, with repeated echoes of the question, “So Trevor Moses isn’t allowed to defend himself?” as stated in one post on X.
Free Trevor, he was clearly defending himself. What else is he supposed to do?” one KTLA viewer wrote.
One of Temple’s friends urged the public to refrain from jumping to conclusions and to respect his family’s privacy, as online discussions were spreading harmful opinions and victim-blaming.
“Let’s let this unfold, and let’s stop mocking, if anything, so that the family can grieve, friends can grieve in ways that are healthy because, honestly, all this is doing is leading to more violence online,” Hali Ratliff said.
She emphasized that there was more than one perspective to consider.
“From here, I hope that maybe we can all let it, let the justice system take care of it from here.”
Shreveport police expressed sympathy for everyone affected by the incident.
“We really want to speak to our community to ensure that people make good decisions, don’t put themselves in situations that ultimately end in some kind of tragedy like this,” Bordelon said.
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