The investigation of a fatal stabbing during a track and field event at Kuykendall Stadium in Frisco, Texas, is ongoing. The tragedy is also raising questions about the corporate mainstream media narrative surrounding this tragedy and America’s unequal justice system.
Karmelo Anthony, who is Black, is currently in the Collins County Jail for allegedly stabbing Austin Metcalf, who is White, in the chest with a knife. According to CBS News, a witness said Austin Metcalf touched Karmelo Anthony, and another witness said Metcalf grabbed Anthony.
There were also unconfirmed reports that Austin Metcalf used racial slurs. Frisco is located about 30 minutes from Dallas and is part of the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area.
According to Associated Press, the Frisco Independent School District said the stabbing happened at a meet where student athletes from eight of the district’s 12 schools were competing.
The Austin-American Statesman reported that the incident occurred around 10 a.m. and that police say the two were involved in a disagreement over a seat at the track meet before the stabbing.
“Investigators spoke to over two dozen people who saw what happened, including a Memorial High School track team member, per the affidavit. One witness told authorities that he was sitting under a Memorial High School tent with the team while Metcalf and Anthony were sitting nearby.
Anthony was sitting under the team’s tent when Metcalf told him he needed to move, the witness said, according to the document,” reported statesman.com.
“Anthony grabbed his bag, opened it and reached inside and proceeded to tell (Metcalf) ‘Touch me and see what happens,’ the affidavit said,” the website continued.
Several reports note that Austin was reportedly the aggressor. Several media outlets also reported that according to the police report Karmelo told officers, “I was protecting myself.” The stabbing was also reportedly witnessed by Austin’s twin brother Hunter.
Karmelo Anthony and the Anthony family had retained Dallas-Fort Worth-area criminal defense attorneys Billy Clark of The Clark Law Firm and Kim Cole of K Cole Law to represent the 17-year-old on the charge of murder.
A bail hearing was scheduled for April 14. At Final Call presstime, there were reports the family announced they had hired a new attorney to represent the teen at the hearing.
“This 17-year-old Black boy is sitting behind bars with a million-dollar bond on his head. Charged with first-degree murder. News outlets are depicting him as a thug. Social media calls him a savage,” activist and author Stacey Patton posted on her Facebook page.
“We’re watching a one-sided, sympathy-soaked narrative unfold for the White family, with every effort made to humanize their son who was allegedly the aggressor. Nobody’s interrogating the deeper issue here; why did this White boy feel empowered to remove another student—especially a Black one—from a public space he had every right to occupy,” she added.
“Karmelo and the entire Anthony family are sincerely saddened that a life was lost and offer their condolences to the family of Austin Metcalf,” the Clark and Cole firms stated, according to a news release dated April 7.
The attorneys said they are looking forward to working with the Collin District Attorney’s Office to seek an agreement on a reduction to Karmelo’s “excessive $1M bond and a better determination of the filed charge.”
They also urged the public during this difficult time to refrain from using to judgment before all the facts and evidence are presented, adding: “Karmelo, like all citizens of the United States, is entitled to a fair and impartial legal process; we are committed to ensuring that Karmelo’s rights are indeed protected throughout each phase of the criminal justice system.”
“This will certainly be a long road ahead and during this challenging time, we ask for prayers for both families, and we ask for your patience and respect for the legal process as we seek the truth,” their release continued.
At this time, according to the Anthony family release, no further public statements would be made in order to protect the integrity of the proceedings. “We trust that the judicial system will carefully examine all aspects of this case,” it concluded.
Reportedly, 17-year-old Austin Metcalf, a student-athlete at Memorial High School, was killed during a University Interscholastic League (UIL) track and field event. Karmelo Anthony was a student at Centennial High School.
According to media reports, the police arrest report reportedly claims that Karmelo Anthony “was emotional,” walking to the police squad car, allegedly saying, unprompted, “He put his hands on me, I told him not to.” It further claimed that he allegedly asked once in the back seat if Austin Metcalf was “going to be OK.”
When the story broke and as the varying opinions were being discussed on social media, observers pointed out the double standards regarding how mainstream media first treated the incident and the ongoing investigation.
Questions are being raised about how the narrative was presented initially in media reports, portraying the Black teen as the aggressor and the White teen as the innocent victim.
But “not so fast,” some observers are noting. While many are lamenting the loss of life, many issues are being raised regarding the right of self-defense, reasonable bail, the extent of criminal charges and other factors regarding America’s justice system when it comes to how Black people are regarded and treated.
Houston-based defense attorney Sadiyah Karriem gave a snapshot of the actual law regarding the teen’s “don’t touch me” statement. “It’s clear that Karmelo was creating boundaries, clear boundaries. And ultimately, that’s not aggression, that’s just a defensive statement,” she added.
In the eyes of the law, that shows that he could have felt threatened, she told The Final Call. “It indicated he didn’t want any physical contact, and it also may suggest he perceived the situation as escalated.
So, someone who’s premeditating violence usually doesn’t announce a warning. Saying, ‘Don’t touch me,’ shows a desire to avoid contact, not to initiate harm,” she stated.
“One, this is a tragedy involving two young lives, one lost and one forever changed,” she continued. “The other thing is that we can’t really rush to judgment, because we must consider all the facts. Was this truly a murder, or was this a frightened teenager trying to protect himself in a moment that spiraled out of control?
We can’t answer that. But you know, as a defense attorney, I believe that Karmelo Anthony feared for his life. I believe it was reasonable for him to protect himself, whether he brought that weapon or not,” Atty. Karriem reasoned.
Because Karmelo Anthony is 17, the law limits his sentencing where he will not be able to get the death penalty or life without parole, depending on how the court or the jury sees the nature of this case, stated Atty. Karriem.
“From my perspective, the young brother is saying that this was self-defense, and if he did believe that his life was a danger, if he did believe that serious bodily injury was imminent, then he did have a right to protect himself,” stated Atty. Karriem.
However, the right to self-defense when it comes to Black people and White people is not viewed equally in America’s justice system, critics argue. Often, Blacks are labeled as a threat or the aggressors and are automatically seen as being in the wrong.
However, in high profile cases where Whites claim self-defense, their version of events are often taken at face value.
“White folks out here asking why Karmelo Anthony had a knife but had no problem with 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse having an AR 15 that he wasn’t licensed to carry,” activist and author Bishop Talbert Swan posted on his Facebook page.
Bishop Swan was referring to the 2020 case of the White teen who traveled out of state to a protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in the aftermath of the police shooting of Jacob Blake Jr., a Black man. Kyle Rittenhouse shot at protesters, killing two. He claimed self-defense and was eventually acquitted of all charges. He was hailed as a hero by many Whites.
In another case, Daniel Penny, a 26-year-old White Marine veteran, was acquitted in Dec. 2024 of criminally negligent homicide in the death of Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old Black man who suffered from mental illness. Mr. Penny claimed self-defense as he held Mr. Neely in a chokehold for nearly six minutes on a New York subway.
The double standards in what is happening in the Karmelo Anthony case are glaring, according to observers.
Minister Dominique Alexander, president of the Next Generation Action Network, based in Dallas, Texas, also pushed back against misinformation and the character assassination of Karmelo Anthony by mainstream media.
According to Mr. Alexander, the Anthony family’s home address was exposed online, leading to a wave of graphic and racist threats, indicated a WFAA news report.
Mr. Alexander told The Final Call he was compelled to get involved due to what he felt was the oversaturation of misleading narratives about Karmelo Anthony, Austin Metcalf and his twin brother, Hunter.
“I realized that although the media was trying to make Karmelo what he wasn’t, the reality is, and people know, that Karmelo is a young Black brother whose family has made it and lived in a gated community in Frisco, has a 3.7 GPA, (and) over 20 scholarships right now.
His life was pretty much set up,” said Mr. Alexander. “So, this narrative that was coming out about who he was and all this type of stuff that was false, and I said, okay, I’ve got to meet this family.”
He continued, “We fight in these legislatures, when these laws are created, on ‘Stand Your Ground,’ these self-defense laws, these permit-less carries, this ability to walk around with a pocketknife or brass knuckles or all these things. And the crazy part is that yet, White people in America can yet use these same laws to scapegoat certain things,” argued Mr. Alexander.
“It’s clear cut to us. If the law is for the White, it’s for the Black, too, as well. And we will protect that fundamental right. And just like George Zimmerman or Kyle Rittenhouse or the person who killed the homeless man in New York (Daniel Penny), if they can say self-defense, this brother can have his day in court without bias and racism.”
As a school principal, Shaheed Muhammad who also serves as Student Minister of Mosque No. 48 in Dallas, said he knows that many factors go into play with America’s criminal justice system and incidents like this one. “It’s clearly a double standard when it comes to media and when it comes to characterizing witnesses and defendants,” he said.
Mr. Alexander emphasized the importance of standing up for Black rights and the need for Black families to protect their children.
“The disinformation that is going online is hurting this case and it has to stop. As we know right now, Austin Metcalf and Karmelo Anthony did not know each other,” he said, stated the news report. “Karmelo Anthony has a right to a fair trial, unbiased and removed of racial hate and bigotry,” he added.
Final Call staff contributed to this report and The Final Call will continue to follow this story as it develops.
