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The Dripby Will Kirsch12:33 pmJan 15, 20170

Real News Network to screen gripping, timely “3½ Minutes”

Film explores the fatal shooting of Jordan Davis at a Florida gas station in 2012

Above: Jordan Davis’ father, Ronald Davis, will attend a Thursday screening of “3 ½ Minutes, 10 Bullets” in Baltimore. (HBO)

This Thursday (January 19) the Real News Network will host a screening of 3½ Minutes, Ten Bullets, an HBO documentary about the 2012 shooting of a black teenager, Jordan A. Davis, by a white man at a Florida gas station.

Along with the screening, there will be a panel discussion featuring Jordan Davis’ father, Ronald A. Davis, along with Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh and A. Dwight Pettit, a Baltimore defense attorney who has represented clients in police misconduct cases.

In addition to the film and discussion, local band J-Pope and hip-hop producer Wendel Patrick are the musical guests for the event.

In Baltimore, where city officials just announced a consent decree with the U.S. Justice Department to correct entrenched racial bias outlined in a scathing report, the film is sure to strike a chord.

Dispute Over Loud Rap

The shooting at the center of Marc Silver’s 2015 film was sparked by an argument between Davis and Michael Dunn, a 47-year-old software developer, over loud rap music Davis and his friends were playing in their car.

Dunn would later claim in court that he believed that Davis had a gun and might shoot him but police never found one.

Dunn was eventually found guilty of the first-degree murder of Davis and the attempted murders of Leland Brunson, Tommie Stornes, and Tevin Thompson. He is serving a life sentence.

Silver’s documentary investigates both the fatal shooting of Davis and Dunn’s lengthy trial and conviction, as well as the national response both in the media and from the public.

The case played out amid the controversy over “Stand Your Ground” laws, the nascent Black Lives Matter movement and national outrage over the 2013 acquittal of George Zimmerman for the fatal shooting of another black Florida teenager, Trayvon Martin.

First in a Series

The showing of 3½ Minutes is part of a new film series, “Raising Voices,” sponsored by the Real News Network, the Bertha Foundation and the Maryland Film Festival.

Films will be screened on the third Thursday of every month at the news organization’s studios downtown at 231 North Holliday Street.

The series aims to introduce viewers to what it describes as “brave and creative subjects,” which share a common interest in social justice.

Real News plans to screen four more films to be shown from February to May of this year.

Their next selection is The Homestretch, a documentary which follows the lives of three homeless teens.

Admission for the January 19 screening is free, although seats are limited.

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