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Many people in the US and Morocco continue to refuse to digest the news of the light sentence handed by an American court against Terry Turner, who murdered Moroccan unarmed migrant Adil Dghoughi in cold blood in Texas in 2021.
A court gave a sentence of six months in a controversial verdict this week on Monday. The verdict stipulates that Turner will spend 180 days in Caldwell County jail.
He will serve 10 years of probation, under which he will spend 40 days in four-day increments, including on the day when Dghoughi was fatally shot and the victim’s birthday.
The verdict handed against the perpetrator of the crime against the 31-year-old Moroccan migrant continues to receive protests from many, including online.
Many continue to take to their social networks to protest the light and controversial verdict, stressing that a six-month sentence is unfair.
“Anyone living in the US knows that Americans do not tolerate infringements on their freedom and the safety of their property. The law grants you the right to use lethal force against anyone trespassing on your property. May God have mercy on this young man and patience for his family,” one commenter wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Another one described Turner as a “white man,” who received a “little jail time for killing a lost unarmed Moroccan immigrant.”
A juror expressed the same frustration following the verdict, stressing that multiple jurors cried when they entered a courtroom to announce that Turner would be sentenced to a $10,000 fine and 10 years of probation.
“I think about it every day — about, what if it was my child?” the juror said, adding: “Sometimes I can’t get to sleep or have a good night’s sleep because … I think about what his family goes through.”
Read Also: Dghoughi Murder Case: US Court Hands Killer 6-Month Sentence, Sparks Uproar
According to the Austin Hagee Law Firm, people are allowed to use “force against individuals who are using or attempting to use unlawful force against them or someone else.”
This is known as “stand your ground law.”
Dghoughi, however, showed no threats during the day of the murder.
Instead, Turner shot the migrant unprovoked, for merely parking his car near his residence as he was lost.
Testimonies emphasized that Dghoughi was chased by Turner, who used his gun to bank on the victim’s window before shooting and killing him.
Dghoughi parked and spent only a few minutes in Turner’s driveway.
According to the NGO Texas Tribune deaths from firearms have been alarmingly increasing in Texas.
“Deaths from firearms in Texas — the vast majority of them suicides or homicides — have continued rising in Texas, reaching levels not seen in almost three decades,” the NGO said.
Sharing data, the NGO counted 15 deaths by firearms per 100,000 people in Texas in 2021. This represents a 50% increase compared to 1999 when there were an average of 10 deaths by firearms per 100,000 people.
Challenges and concerns about gun policy in the US have steadily grown in recent years.
A recent survey by the Pew Research center found that about four-in-ten US adults said that they live in a household with a gun. This includes 32% of people who say they own one.
