Dunkin' Donuts employee who fatally punched a man who called him a racial slur sentenced to two years house arrest

Brett T. | 5:27 PM on March 09, 2022

This story didn’t get a lot of exposure last year, but we did a post on it because of Touré’s thread about it, which we’ll get to in a second. In short, a 77-year-old white man at a Dunkin’ Donuts called a black 27-year-old employee the N-word. After he said it again, the employee knocked him out, he fell, and died. Touré tweeted that the old man “f**ked around and found out” and went on to proclaim that the employee was acting in self-defense because calling someone the N-word is threatening their life.

Calling me the n-word is threatening my life. https://t.co/KfBjD8bjGZ

— Young Daddy (@Toure) May 12, 2021

Corey Pujols, 27, pleaded guilty to felony battery after initially being charged with aggravated manslaughter and was sentenced to two years of house arrest and ordered to attend an anger management course.

A Florida Dunkin’ employee is sentenced to two years on house arrest after pleading guilty to fatally punching a customer who used a racial slur. https://t.co/EYsAGpXaV7

— NBC News (@NBCNews) March 9, 2022

The vast majority of replies to NBC News’ tweet are supportive of the employee, saying it was “worth it” and we should “give him a medal.”

Two years house arrest for killing someone. He'd have gotten harder time for walking inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. https://t.co/zyoJXldJcj

— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) March 9, 2022

The prosecutor is one of the progressive criminal justice reformers. He got national attention after charging a church pastor for holding service during coronavirus. This is what he said about the Dunkin' Donuts case: https://t.co/F6qxyjeLnK pic.twitter.com/I5sD6ZWxSn

— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) March 9, 2022

“The victim’s use of racial slurs was highly inflammatory,” [Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew] Warren said in a statement Friday announcing the revised charge. “Inflammatory speech alone, however, does not justify violence. Although the victim’s speech was reprehensible, it was legal.”