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July 27, 2022

Isimemen Etute, the former Virginia Tech linebacker recently acquitted of second-degree murder, will be playing football at Iowa Community college this fall.  The fact that Etute is free at all, let alone playing football, is quite astonishing in today’s political climate.

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The entire Etute case — from his defense to the media’s coverage of it — doesn’t pass the smell test.  It stinks of left-wing double-standards and selective morality, and anyone interested in true justice should be concerned over the turn of events.

Here’s a quick recap.

In April of 2021, an 18-year-old Etute met a person on the Tinder dating app named “Angie Renee.”  Unknown to Etute, Angie Renee was really Jerry Smith, a 40-year-old white man from Blacksburg, Virginia.  Etute, along with teammate Da’Shawn Elder, went to Smith’s house, thinking they were meeting a woman.  According to ESPN, “Elder testified that he was disturbed by the circumstances of the meeting, in which Smith hid his face and kept his apartment nearly pitch dark.  Both players initially left, but Etute returned to the apartment, and testified that he received oral sex [sic] and a $50 gift from Smith.”

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Etute testified in court that he left Smith’s apartment still believing he was a woman.  Several weeks later, Etute’s teammates began teasing him that “Angie Renee” could have been a man.  This didn’t stop another Virginia Tech player, Jalen Hampton, from connecting with Smith on Tinder, too.  On May 31, he went to the apartment expecting a sexual encounter with a woman but decided to leave after feeling uncomfortable.

Intent on finding out Smith’s sex, Etute and Hampton — along with a third teammate, Jordan Brunson — returned to Smith’s apartment later that night on May 31.  Etute entered Smith’s apartment alone, in the dark, with his teammates waiting outside in the hallway.  Etute used his cell phone’s flashlight to determine that Smith was not a woman.  According to ESPN, “[u]pon confronting Smith, Etute testified that Smith grabbed at Etute’s genitals, causing Etute to strike Smith in the face with the back of his hand.  Etute testified that he then believed Smith reached for a weapon under his bed, causing Etute to strike Smith with a fist several more times.”

Etute, who is 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds, beat the 153-pound Smith to death.  Etute struck Smith in the head five times, knocking him to the floor.  Etute admitted in court that he stomped on Smith’s face as he left the apartment, leaving a bloody shoe print on Smith’s cheek.  Nearly all the bones in Smith’s face were broken, an autopsy revealed.  Smith also suffered bleeding of the brain and had his teeth knocked out.

Etute and his teammates quickly fled the apartment, shown on video here.  Smith’s body was found in his apartment the next night, on June 1, after a welfare check by police. 

Etute was acquitted of second-degree murder this past May, pleading self-defense.  Etute testified in court that he thought Smith was going for a gun, and so he attacked him to save his own life.  No gun was found.  According to ESPN, “[d]uring a police search of the apartment, a knife was found between Smith’s mattress and box spring, but Etute testified he never saw the knife, and he did not mention any concerns for his own safety during his initial police interview on June 2, 2021.”

“He could never reach a gun from there,” prosecuting attorney Patrick Jensen said, explaining that Etute is an “elite college athlete” whose physical size creates a “big disparity” in the situation.