“I would’ve never believed that somebody could watch somebody in distress and not do anything about it . . . There are no words to describe how utterly inhumane and cruel the actions of these juveniles were towards Mr Dunn.”

Those are the words of Mike Cantaloupe, a Cocoa, Florida police chief speaking to the media about five teens who filmed a drowning man and failed to offer assistance. Instead, they mocked him, and later posted the video to social media, never reporting the incident to police.

You’ve probably heard about the case already, and are among the millions of people around the world who are horrified and disgusted by the teens.

The teens, ages 14 to 16,  were stoned on pot at the time, apparently, and that may ultimately be their defence as the district attorney considers laying the only charges the state can in this instance: failing to report a death.

And no doubt that is the rationale the teens will use whenever anybody confronts them about it all in the future . . . and whenever the incident troubles their conscience, both collectively and individually. They were in a marijuana haze. “We were stoned out of trees, man. We didn’t know what the fuck we were doing. If we had been straight, of course we would have jumped into the pond and saved Jamel Dunn.”

And that may very well be true, because how else could they not be revolted when they see their reflections in the mirror?

There’s no doubt the incident will make the highlight reel of the life review when their times come to reunite with the great spirit in the sky.

But I would think it will also haunt each one of them throughout their lives and if their names ever become public, may spoil many job and social opportunities. After all, would you want to hire one of those teens? Could you count on any of them? Would you want to date one of them?

A gofundme campaign has been started to raise money for Jamal Dunn’s funeral as well as help his wife and two children.

On another note: I wrote recently that I would boycott Sears Canada if the company didn’t give severance pay to its laid-off workers. Well, it didn’t give them anything, but it did give large retention bonuses to various executives in a bid to keep them as the company tries to restructure.

I’m not the only person boycotting the company now. A #BoycottSearsCanada hashtag is showing up on social media, and “The repercussions of the restructuring — especially the no-severance deal — have infuriated numerous Canadians, many of whom want Sears to know they won’t be shopping at its department stores,” a CBC report says.

All of which doesn’t bode well for the struggling company.

Reports the CBC: “It’s just a PR nightmare,” says retail analyst Bruce Winder about the social media attacks. “That is not going to serve them well as they try to build back sales momentum.”

And this:

Winder believes Sears’ restructuring has sparked a backlash because people don’t like to see bad things happen to people they view as vulnerable — such as retail workers.

No kidding, eh.

— Jillian

Photo: Jamal Dunn. (Credit: GoFundMe)