Michigan Homeowner Charged In Deadly Porch Shooting

In the early hours of November 2, 19-year-old Renisha McBride was fatally shot by a homeowner in Dearborn Heights, Mich. McBride had apparently been knocking on the front door, looking for help after she crashed her car into a parked vehicle about a mile away.

Authorities say the man shot the unarmed young woman in the face while she was standing on his porch. The homeowner originally told police that the gun went off accidentally, but has since said that he shot McBride because he feared for his life.

Civil rights groups believe that race was a factor in the shooting. McBride was black, and the homeowner, Theodore Wafer, is white.

Wafer is now being charged with second-degree murder.

Here & Now's Meghna Chakrabarti speaks with reporter Sarah Cwiek of Michigan Public Radio, and to Rev. Charles Williams II, a Detroit pastor and president of the Michigan chapter of the National Action Network.