Kansas City, Kansas – A White store manager is now facing second-degree murder charges after a Black shoplifter died during a parking lot “altercation.” The charges have been handed down by an activist District Attorney who is known for helping convicted criminals walk free from prison.

In September, White 39-year-old Carl Ryan Kemppainen was issued second-degree murder charges for the death of 23-year-old Diamond Steen. According to reports, Steen—who is Black—is believed to have stolen vehicle maintenance fluid alongside an accomplice from an area O’Reilly Auto Parts store.

When Kemppainen—the store’s manager—confronted the thieves and asked them to stop, they reportedly ignored him and left the store. Official reports state that Kemppainen then followed them, and a physical fight ensued in the parking lot. When officers arrived they attempted life-saving measures on Steen, but he ultimately died from the fight. An autopsy report later confirmed the cause of death to be strangulation.

Since the incident occurred, Kemppainen has been portrayed as a villain by the media. In some articles, he is made to be an angry White man who resorted to “WWE-style wrestling moves” to kill an “innocent” Black man. They’ve also given Steen’s family a one-sided soapbox to air their grievances, referring to Kemppainen’s alleged actions as “sickening” while calling for “their” justice.

“We want our justice and we want to see him behind bars,” demanded Sawnya Helm, Steen’s cousin, in an interview with KCTV5.

Kemppainen, however, maintains his innocence and says that he’s lucky to be alive after what he describes as a clear-cut case of self-defense from heavily armed “criminals” entering his store.

“After the tragic events of September 19th, the media painted me as a villain, reporting a misleading spin of the encounter where two criminals walked into my store and chose to use violence against me during their theft,” he said in a GoFundMe organized for legal aid. “I was forced to defend myself in a split second. This might have been a fundraiser for my funeral after being shot by a gang member, if not for the help of a fellow veteran.”

“In reality, if you are ever forced to use self-defense to save your own life you may end up wishing you had died instead,” he said on X, formerly Twitter. “I was attacked at work by 2 gang members robbing the store. I survived but one of them did not. Now I have to fight again, in court.”

With no pushback, the official narrative behind Steen’s death has quickly shifted to the consequences of store employees policing theft and away from Steen’s blatant criminality. According to a toxicology report, the 23-year-old Black man tested positive for multiple controlled substances the night of his death including opioids, THC, and Benzodiazepines, a depressant that can cause sedation and hypnosis.

One of the key figures helping to mask Steen’s role in the incident is Wyandotte County’s own District Attorney Mark Dupree. Dupree—who is Black—has championed “social justice” since the age of 14. In 2018, he created the county’s first “Conviction Integrity Unit,” an office dedicated to using legalistic loopholes to subvert the will of a jury and get convicted Black criminals out of prison.

“You have to get away from scare tactics and fear-mongering. As a minister of justice, you have to administer justice — both for the victims and the accused.” Dupree said in a 2013 interview with the Washburn Lawyer.

The first Black District Attorney ever elected in Kansas, Dupree has made it his goal to fight what he calls “good old boy traditions” inside the criminal justice system. After discovering he was left out of a community policing board, Dupree quickly alluded to racism playing a part. Additionally, he has been credited with instituting so-called “implicit bias training,” a series of mandatory courses designed to instill pro-Black, anti-White animus in employees.

In 2020, Dupree was one of 40 elected prosecutors to officially sign a letter “condemning” the death of George Floyd and demanding an end to “police brutality” and “race-based policing. With a career anti-White activist now gunning for Kemppainen, pressure is mounting as the accused awaits his day in criminal court.

“If you are ever forced to use self-defense to save your own life you may end up wishing you had died instead. I was attacked at work by 2 gang members robbing the store. I survived but one of them did not. Now I have to fight again, in court.”

Carl Ryan Kemppainen, X/Twitter

The issue of retail theft continues to cause a myriad of problems in major cities all across the United States. Wanton, seemingly consequenceless shoplifting has resulted in the closures of businesses from New York to Los Angeles, with a price tag of up to $100 billion to retailers, according to reports. Worse yet, violence stemming from shoplifting has claimed lives, ruined careers, and shattered whole communities, with little to no end in sight.

Instances of workplace violence—in fields ranging from healthcare to food delivery—have also appeared to increase across the board, making life more difficult for members of the already ostracized working class. In Maryland, a DoorDash driver was arrested for the self-defense shooting of a crazed transsexual. Like Kemppainen, the White suspect, 47-year-old Brian Michael Delen, is now being demonized for his role in killing what has been described as an “advocate” for the trans community.

Meanwhile, violent crime of all stripes continues to infest Kansas City, Kansas, and its surrounding environs. According to Logan Dewitt, a man who lives across the street from the O’Reilly Auto Parts store where Kemppainen was accused of murder, the neighborhood has descended into chaos. He also says the store was robbed multiple times since he moved in years prior.

“I really would not like to look at a dead body again,” he said in an interview with FOX4KC. “That’s something that you would expect from a third-world country, opening up your door and seeing dead bodies, or a war zone, and I don’t think Kansas City is either.”

“Nothing at an O’Reilly store is worth losing your life for,” Dewitt continued. “But I can definitely understand the frustration of somebody just trying to do their job and a store gets robbed multiple times.”

While crime surges in the “KCK,” racial demographics continue to plummet. According to the US Census Report estimates for 2023, only 36% of the population hails from a White, European background, down from 61.9% in 1990. With racial homogeny and its benefits a distant memory, the city now enjoys a formidable Black (21.9%) and Hispanic (31.6%) population, only resurgent as the nation’s southern border continues to deteriorate.

Despite a reported decline in murders nationally, Kansas City Kansas—and its adjacent Kansas City, Missouri—remain a veritable killing field. In 2023, the Kansas City metropolitan area reached the highest murder rate recorded during a single year with an alarming 185 people dead. This past May, a bloody shooting erupted in KCK’s 3100 block of Greeley Avenue. Police believed a group of shooters launched a barrage of gunfire into an area home, killing a 6-year-old Black boy in what was described as a “targeted attack.”

Nationally, violent crime at the hands of Black and other non-White criminals continues to occur at great frequency. In December, a White family became the unwitting target of a brutal stabbing attack inside New York City’s famous Grand Central Station. The suspect, a homeless Black man, allegedly shouted “I want all the White people dead” as he attacked two young girls sitting at an eatery with a bladed weapon.

In Oklahoma, an 8-year-old White boy was shot in the head while enjoying a Christmas light display with his family. According to Police, a Black suspect opened fire at the family with a laser-equipped AK-47 after the car drove by his home. Despite life-threatening injuries, the boy survived.

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