Karmelo Anthony: expendable race bait

By Robert M.Levy

Former 40-year Practicing Attorney

By now, it’s all familiar. Karmelo Anthony was a 17-year-old Black athlete. He was the captain of his Centennial High School track team. On April 2, 2025, by 10 AM, Karmelo arrived at David Kuykendall Stadium in Frisco, Texas, poised to compete at a meet against, among others, cross-town rival Memorial High. One of Memorial’s track stars was Austin Metcalf. He was a 17-year-old “White boy” who doubled as an MVP linebacker that past fall.

It was raining. There were thunderstorms. And for some reason, Anthony’s school had no shelter for him. So, he went to the tent of his rival, ostensibly, to get out of the rain. It was there that “Black” met “White.”

Austin told Anthony (to paraphrase) “Get out. It’s not your tent.” When Anthony said, “No,” Austin was insistent. This motivated Anthony to extract a knife from his backpack. He then fatally stabbed Austin Metcalf. The “White boy” quickly died.

Was it murder? Maybe. The jury thought so. They found Anthony guilty almost as swiftly as Metcalf expired. The sentence was 35 years.

But was it really murder? Was it the lesser crime of manslaughter? Or, was it an even lesser crime of “criminally negligent homicide.” All are felonies under Texas law.

Yet “manslaughter” has a maximum penalty of 20 years. “Criminally negligent homicide” has a penalty as low as 180 days with a maximum of two years. Neither alternative would have resulted in the 35 years with which Anthony is now burdened.

But the jury never received competent evidence of the lesser two charges. Anthony’s attorneys, his parents, and race hustlers who financed Anthony’s defense claimed total innocence through self-defense. He did nothing wrong, they argued. It was a position not even close to credible. So why did they pursue a path so certain to fail…as it did…miserably?

Karmelo Anthony did not come from a wealthy family. He and his parents needed a lot of money for Karmelo’s defense. At the same time, the “race hustlers” needed a new face for their cause. Yeah, this was a tragedy. No, this had nothing to do with race. But… Black “child” defends against White “bully-boy”…. The hero slays the dragon, and the hero suffers on the “cross of injustice.” For the left, it was an opportunity from which they could profit. Karmelo became a socialist Space-X initial public stock offering.

But, for the grifters to profit well, the narrative had to be a Lone Ranger Western, not a nuanced drama. Karmelo had to be a pure hero…the Black Luke Skywalker who slew the “dark side”. An admission of fault would have compromised the purity of their narrative and therefore lessened their profit.

Yeah, Anthony was likely to lose. Yeah, Anthony’s failure to fully acknowledge his own role in Austin Metcalf’s death would cause Anthony years more jail time. But Karmelo’s body was needed for the sacrifice. They would spare no expense to give “his all” for “their cause.”

So, Karmelo professed self-defense. They raised hundreds of thousands of dollars based on the “purity of his essence.” The lawyers got their cut. The race hustlers got theirs. The Anthony family reportedly even got a new car. And it only cost Karmelo 35 years in an iron cage.

It all could have been handled differently. Perhaps Anthony might have testified, “I did not intend to kill anyone. I did not think I was going to kill anyone. My problem was that I didn’t think. Perhaps I was negligent, but I did not premeditate murder.”

If the jury bought the negligence, Karmelo would have been sentenced to a maximum of two years. Even if they agreed the conduct was “reckless,” the maximum would have been 20 years. And since Anthony had no previous record, it might have been 5 to 10. But that would hurt the hustle. Karmelo had to take the fall for 35.

Of course, let’s not forget Austin Metcalf. He died…lost forever to those who loved him. Perhaps 35 years was not time enough. But that is no reason to ignore the “crime after the crime.” That latter crime is also important. It is about the exploitation of Black people by race hustlers and left-wing politicians who have re-enslaved the African-American community by using race hate as a vehicle of profit.

In the case of Karmelo Anthony, he will be paying for their grift with his next 35 years as a Black man whose own community, for profit, puts “ya’ll back in chains.”

Robert M.Levy RLevy.substack.com

Robert M. Levy grew up in Moore County and graduated from Pinecrest High School. He earned a BA in history and sociology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where his honors thesis on the Wilmington Rebellion of 1898 became part of the university’s library collection.

Admitted to the California State Bar in 1978, Levy practiced law for 40 years in California and Maryland, focusing on family and criminal law, including work with juvenile offenders and abused children. His writing on affirmative action appeared in the San Fernando Valley Law Review, and he authored Divorce: A Cynical Experience. He later earned a North Carolina teaching certificate from UNC Charlotte and taught high school social studies across Moore County.

Levy has served as chairman of the Moore County School Board, president of the North Carolina Electoral College, chairman of the Moore County Republican Party, and a columnist for The Pilot in Southern Pines. He lives in Pinehurst with his wife, Linda, and they have three children and four grandchildren.

June 14, 2026

Republished with permission.

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