By: Keith Wilkins
St. Petersburg Live Music Bar Scene Examiner
PALM HARBOR – As many local live music fans may or may not already know, Kevin Lindsay, lead singer for My D’Vice & Dirty Sanchez , recently suffered a tragic loss back on March 6th when his son, Brandon Baker, was shot and killed near his home in Palm Harbor.
According to Lindsay’s other son, Baker’s twin brother, the details of the shooting are as follows:
On Tuesday March 6th at 2 a.m., Brandon Baker was driving home after attending a party. Brandon’s twin brother was following behind him in a second vehicle as well. Somewhere during their journey a third vehicle, driven by an off-duty security guard named Seth Browning, started to follow and tailgate the two brothers vehicles. After a while, Brandon pulled over to the side of the road near his apartment complex, in order to allow Browning to pass by. However, Browning didn’t pass by, instead he pulled over to the side of the road as well, right behind Brandon & his brother. When Brandon exited his vehicle to approach Browning’s vehicle and ask why Browning was following them, Browning pepper sprayed Brandon in the face. As Brandon fell to the ground following the effects of the pepper spray, Browning then shot and killed Brandon. After witnessing the altercation, Brandon’s twin brother then exited his own vehicle. As the brother approached Browning’s vehicle, Browning then raised and aimed his gun at the brother as well, but then backed down.
Deputies say Browning was concerned about the way Baker was driving and decided to follow Baker to get his vehicle tag number. The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office has stated that Browning never called 911 to report an erratic driver.
The Palm Harbor shooting of Brandon Baker closely mirrors a separate, unrelated shooting that took place in Sanford Florida approximately one week prior on Sunday February 26th. On that day, Trayvon Martin was walking home when he was confronted by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer. Though the details of what lead up to the shooting are not clear, Zimmerman’s attorneys are claiming he acted in self defense.
For many Tampa Bay residents who are familiar with the shooting of Brandon Baker, they have recently been wondering one thing… Why is the shooting in Sanford receiving nation-wide media attention, yet the shooting in Palm Harbor is not? The Palm Harbor shooting is barely even receiving any local media attention. Though the specific details in both shootings are different, the situations themselves are identical. Both shootings took place in Florida, both were nearly one week apart from each other, and both shootings took place near the victims homes. Both shootings involved a citizen who allegedly followed the victims, shot and killed the victims, and then later claimed that the shootings were in self defense. Neither of the shooters were immediately charged with any crime either. So what is the difference between the two shootings? One is receiving nation-wide media attention and the other is not.
Many have speculated that the Sanford shooting is receiving all the attention due to the fact that the victim and shooter are of different races. The Sanford shooting involved a shooter that was Hispanic and victim that was African American, where the Palm Harbor shooting involved a shooter and victim that were both Caucasian. If this is the reason, is it fair? Is the Sanford shooting more important or more tragic then the Palm Harbor shooting, simply because the shooter and victim were of different races? Was Trayvon Martin’s life more important then Brandon Baker’s life, simply because the shooter and victim were of different races? Of course not! So why does the mainstream media find the Sanford shooting more newsworthy then the Palm Harbor shooting, even though the situations are the same? Could it be that the Mainstream Media has an agenda? That could be a possibility according to some.
Also, why are there no journalists in the mainstream media asking these same questions? After all, this, in it and upon itself, should make any journalist salivate… to be the one to question why one story receives Nation-wide attention while the other doesn’t. After all, asking questions like that would make a huge story. The reasons for the apparent double standard in the mainstream media over the two shooting incidences will most likely go unknown, much like the reasons for the shootings themselves.
IT NEVER CEASES to amaze me how short sighted the American people are.
This isn’t about race, this is about politics. The Kill Anybody You Want law was heavily lobbied by the NRA, although law enforcement (incredibly) was against it.
THE NRA does not want this case to jump off because enough people may stand up to abolish it.
So, stop playing into the American “race games” and stand up for yourselves. If this case is important enough to you—-make some noise. The Martin case was ignored too, until people started making NOISE about it.
Stop whining, getting sidelined by RACE, and start doing what the Martin family and their supporters did!
Hi guys,
I have been talking to talk radio stations here in the San Francisco bay area (e.g. KSFO, KSTE, . . etc), but they don’t to get back to me. I have even tried going on air when they mention other crimes (black on white) but refuse to let me on. These talk radio stations keep telling me that they are aware of “Palm Harbor Shooting” and those crimes happen all the time, but it is not “news worthy” because it is not a race issue. If the shooter was black then I can get back in touch with them.
I will try to get in touch with local newspapers, and see what happens.
The only difference between Taryvon Martins case and Brandon Bakers case is that Taryvon had dark skin, Brandon was white. Thats the only reason the media is on top of the case.
Brandon Baker deserves justice! He was one of the nicest people you could ever meet and has never been known to be a trouble maker of any sort. Seth Browning was obviously looking for trouble the night he decided to follow Brandon and play Law Enforcement Officer. I have been to the crime scene and have seen the orange spray paint outlining where all three vehicles were parked. There was clearly enough room for Seth Browning to drive away if he thought his life was in such danger. Not only did he decide to follow Brandon into Boot Ranch, but also onto Seagull Dr. – almost to Brandon’s front door. I believe anyone would have been wary about a strange car following them after 2:00 A.M. and would have wanted to know what that person/s intentions were. To be pepper sprayed and then shot dead as you are attempting to wipe it out of your eyes because you can’t see is cold blooded murder. Also, as no one seems to have pointed out, Seth Browning was driving a Mitsubishi Lancer that sits very ”low” to the ground and Brandon was driving a pickup truck that sits ”high” off the ground which would have put Brandon’s license plate directly eye level to Seth Browning. With that being a fact, how hard could it have been to get Brandon’s license plate information if Seth was so concerned about Brandon’s driving? Has Seth Browning’s vision been checked? Has Seth Browning been given a polygraph as to his motives that night? Of course Seth Browning is going to say he got ”punched”, but where are the photos of his bruised face? Brandon had no weapons on him…not even a toothpick in his hand! When you look at all of the facts, Seth Browning was CLEARLY the aggressor and he CLEARLY instigated everything that transpired the morning of March 6, 2012. I myself was shot at with a 9mm handgun in the early morning hours of March 23, 2000 less than 100 yards where Brandon was murdered. The 23 year old (at the time) Christopher Fallenbeck was charged with attempted first degree murder. I was lucky enough to have not gotten hit with the 5 rounds he was able to squeeze off at my face before I was able to gain control of the situation and subdue my would be assailant. Brandon’s death brings back a lot of long forgotten memories for me. Christopher Fallenbeck was charged and went to prison for his actions that morning and the same needs to be done to Seth Browning. I myself support the Castle Doctrine Bill and agree with the stand your ground law, however ”baiting” a person and then using this law to your advantage is not any different than committing premeditated first degree murder. I don’t believe this law should be abolished, but it DEFINITELY needs to be tweaked in many different ways so that we don’t continue to have vigilantes who know they can go out and commit murder and utilize this law to get them off the hook for their cold blooded & unjustifiable actions.
Step it up Florida and give Brandon Baker the JUSTICE he deserves!!!!!!!
AMEN!!!!
We are so sorry for your loss , we read about your situation in an article about the syg law in todays Miami Herald. pg2 . This is appalling, the hometown rally for Trayvon yesterday was really sad, you must all be feeling exactly the same. We;re so very sorry. but You are right, the coverage is bias, we must have these lost sons and brothers named together, yesterday Al Sharpton did mention another horror story a week after Trayvon Martin was killed. I hope we can help get Brandon’s killer before a Judge by Easter too. We’re going to look for your story on facebook and start from there. Have you any coverage from NPR ?
Ana and Wiliam
I am appalled by the shooting death of Brandon Baker just as I am appalled by the shooting of Taryvon Martin. Most of all I don’t know how such laws have been allowed in so many states, even my own. These laws should be labeled as “Right to Kill”. Just as in the case of Trayvon Martin, the security guard could have walked away but he like Mr. Zimmerman decided to use deadly force. Once he has pepper sprayed young Brandon and disabled him from any confrontation, he could have driven away. If he was truly following two vehicles driving erratically, he should have radioed for help, but with the “Right to Kill” laws there is no incentive for people to walk away. Can you imagine, if ordinary citizens can shoot and yell , “Self Defense”, even a part time security guard can commit murder under the disguise of self defense. Mt prayers are with your family. Unfortunately, we will see many more deaths like these.