Phillip Agnew on MSNBC's 'All In': 'Florida never loved us, America never loved us'

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Phillip Agnew, the executive director of the Dream Defenders, joined MSNBC’s All In with Chris Hayes Monday night to discuss a trial in Florida over “loud music” that found jurors deadlocked on whether the defendant Michael Dunn should be charged with first-degree murder after fatally shooting 17-year-old Jordan Davis.

Dunn, a Florida man, was found guilty of three counts of attempted murder. However, a mistrial was declared on the most-serious charge against him and jurors must reconvene to reach a final verdict.

“It’s sad but we’re not disappointed at all,” Agnew said on All In. “When you look at the cast of players in this case and in many other cases in the state of Florida, there is only one conclusion you could have drawn. So we’re not confused, we’re not surprised.”

The trial ignited a firestorm  — it even sparked a hashtag on social media: #DangerousBlackKids went viral after thousands of tweets showed photos of innocent African-American children and challenged the stereotypes set against them.

Agnew — who has fearlessly led an organization of minority youth — also created another popular social media hashtag #NeverLovedUs that extended the discussion on the fight against the criminal justice system in Florida and the state’s “Stand Your Ground” laws in the wake of Trayvon Martin’s death.

#NeverLovedUs quickly popularized and continues to spread — and now, in the aftermath of another fatal shooting of an African-American teenager in Florida, Agnew helps to lead the discussion on the injustice he believes black and brown people face.

“As a young person growing up in the state of Florida, it’s very easy to see that Florida never loved us,” he said, going on to provide further depth on the meaning of that particular statement.

“It’s very clear,” he said. “It shows very clearly that that veneer of a great Florida, the palm trees and the beaches are starting to erode away under a corrections system that is misplaced and puts young people in adult prisons. So when we say, Florida never loved us, or America never loved us, it’s quite clear to us that we live in a state that doesn’t care about us.”

Watch the clip of Agnew’s appearance below and tell us your thoughts.

Follow Lilly Workneh on Twitter @Lilly_Works