It did not take long after the April 2025 incident in Frisco, Texas, for race to become part of the public conversation surrounding the case.

The incident involved Karmelo Anthony, a high school track athlete who was 17 at the time, and Austin Metcalf, a 17-year-old high school football player. Metcalf was stabbed to death at a football stadium during a track meet. Anthony is black. Metcalf was white. The two attended rival Frisco-area high schools.

Anthony has claimed self-defense. According to that version of events, the confrontation began because Anthony was under the rival school’s tent, and Metcalf confronted him about it. Anthony said Metcalf pushed him before the stabbing occurred. Afterward, Anthony’s family launched a GiveSendGo fundraiser for his legal defense, presenting him as the victim in the situation. The fundraiser ultimately brought in more than $600,000.

There were early claims circulating online that the family had used the money for expensive purchases, including a car and a house. GiveSendGo later stated that, at that time, no money from the fundraiser had been withdrawn.

Even before the trial began, tensions in the community were already high. After the guilty verdict was reached on Tuesday, those tensions appeared to rise further. Some of Anthony’s defenders used racial rhetoric and, in some cases, called for violence. Reports also indicated that members of the New Black Panther Party were outside the Collin County Courthouse in McKinney before the verdict was announced.

In moments like this, public officials and people with influence should be working to calm the situation. The priority should be lowering the temperature, discouraging unrest, and making clear that violence is not an acceptable response to a verdict.

Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a Democrat representing Texas’ 30th Congressional District, chose a different path. Instead of urging restraint, she made comments that appeared to frame the case through race and grievance. She questioned whether the knife used in the stabbing should be considered a “deadly weapon.” She also seemed to suggest that Metcalf’s actions were racially motivated, and she compared the Metcalf family’s grief to what she described as the daily pain experienced by black women. At one point, she even appeared to imply that, had she been in Anthony’s position, she might have reacted the same way.

Advertisement

Several clips of Crockett discussing the case circulated after the verdict. Some came from her podcast, while others came from an interview in Washington, D.C. What stood out was how little command she seemed to have of the facts. She repeatedly used phrases such as “as I understand it,” and at one point described the confrontation in a way that suggested Metcalf had been on top of Anthony and beating him. That was not what witnesses described. Multiple witnesses reportedly said Anthony was the aggressor.

That matters, especially because Crockett is not just a commentator or social media personality. She is an attorney. According to her congressional biography, she is licensed to practice law in Texas, Arkansas, and federal court.

A case involving the death of a teenager, a grieving family, and a community already on edge calls for seriousness. It calls for care. It does not need inflammatory commentary from elected officials who should know better.

Crockett’s remarks were reckless, divisive, and deeply irresponsible. At a time when leaders should be working to prevent further anger and unrest, she chose to pour fuel on an already volatile situation.

RedState