[soft_serve]

I read the article. He robbed 4 people, with a handgun. The robbery for which he got caught he tapped a person with a gun and waved it around, demanding more and more.

"Then Michael asked for his wallet. When he found that it was empty, he tossed it back into the car. Then, as the police report recounted, Michael “tapped Smith’s left knee with the gun and said he was going to take the car.” "

It's misleading to classify this--as the relatives do--as an "attempted car jacking". It's not like he said "give me your car", got a no answer, and walked away. This was an armed robbery.

His family seems angry at the "white" neighbors who called the police and when he robbed them as a youth. But it's early interventions like this that _should_ have served as a warning sign to his family. It didn't. They're just angry that someone would dare call the police for an $11 robbery.