Let’s keep it real for a minute. The streets are always talking about justice, but sometimes people get so caught up in the struggle that they start backing the wrong play. That’s exactly what’s happening down in Texas with the case of Karmelo Anthony. Anthony just got hit with a heavy 35-year sentence after a jury found him guilty of murder for fatally stabbing 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at a high school track meet. Now, activists are trying to turn it into a movement, but Stephen A. Smith is stepping up to tell everybody to look at the facts and stop riding for a lost cause.

On his "Straight Shooter" podcast, Stephen A. went all the way in. He didn't sugarcoat anything, saying straight up, "Karmelo Anthony murdered Austin Metcalf. There is no other way to slice it." In his episode "We're Fighting the Wrong Battle!", Smith called out the folks who are trying to dispute the verdict. He pointed out that Anthony claimed self-defense, but when the jury sat down and looked at the evidence, that story just didn’t hold any weight. They saw the folding pocketknife with the dark blade and the gray handle, and they saw the photos of Anthony handcuffed in a squad car with blood all over his left finger.

The victim’s father, Jeff Metcalf, is out here hurting, telling people he’s haunted by those graphic pictures shown in court. Yet, Minister Dominique Alexander, the head of the Next Generation Action Network, decided to start a social media movement called "Stand with the Anthony Family," claiming they need to fight "misinformation" and "division." But the streets are asking: is this really where we need to be putting our energy?

Stephen A. Smith brought up a point that a lot of people in the community have been thinking. He pointed directly to the massive spike in deadly shootings that went down in Chicago over the weekend, asking why activists aren't putting that same energy into stopping the violence in our own backyards. If you’re going to fight "vigilantly" and "diligently" for a guy who just got convicted of murder, why aren’t you out on the block trying to stop the actual slaughter happening in our neighborhoods every single day? That’s the real talk nobody wants to hear.

Even the legal experts are saying the appeal is a long shot. Horace Cooper from Project 21 came out and said these pro bono civil rights lawyers jumping on the case are just going to create racial friction where it doesn't belong. He reminded everyone that the appellate court isn't there to look at new evidence or let you retry the case—they’re just looking at whether the law was followed. The jury made their call based on what they saw, and trying to flip that is a hard hill to climb.

People who are trying to defend Anthony are already feeling the heat, too. Word is at least one supporter got fired from their job for running their mouth about the verdict, and others are getting dragged all over social media. It shows that people are tired of the excuses. When you make a decision to carry a blade to a high school track meet and end up taking a kid's life, there are consequences, period.

We have to be smart about what we’re fighting for. You can’t claim you’re for the community when you’re defending the people tearing it apart. Stephen A. Smith is just saying what a lot of folks are thinking but are too scared to say out loud: sometimes a crime is just a crime, the jury got it right, and it's time to focus on the real battles that actually keep our people safe.

Sources: * State of Texas v. Karmelo Anthony, Collin County Courts Record of Conviction * Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Offender Search Database * Texas Penal Code, Title 2, Chapter 9: Self-Defense Statutes