Posted on 08/23/2025 10:18:25 AM PDT by MCSETots
Shawn Kemp, who was one of the most popular athletes in Seattle in the 1990s when he played for the Sonics, was sentenced Friday in Pierce County Superior Court to 30 days of electronic home monitoring for second-degree assault.
Kemp must submit to home monitoring within two weeks and will also serve one year of community custody and complete 240 hours of community service.
Under state sentencing guidelines for second-degree assault, Kemp faced a standard range between three and nine months in jail. Judge Michael Schwartz found that the circumstances surrounding the crime warranted an “exceptional sentence” downward, allowing Kemp to avoid jail time.
When Schwartz delivered the sentence, Kemp looked at the ceiling and blew a huff of air, then repeatedly made the sign of the cross with his hand.
Kemp, 55, pleaded guilty in May to shooting at two men inside a Toyota 4Runner outside the Tacoma Mall in March 2023, damaging the 4Runner and another vehicle. None of the rounds fired by Kemp hit anyone, nor was he injured, according to court documents.
Kemp contended that he acted in self-defense, returning fire after one of the men shot at him from inside the 4Runner, which fled the scene before Tacoma police arrived, court records show. When the vehicle was found abandoned in Federal Way five days later, an empty holster was found inside, but there was no gun.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.com ...
Instead of just calling the police after "expletive deleted" was stolen out of his "expletive deleted" vehicle, he decided to take the law in his own hands. He tracked the "suspect" vehicle down and then fire three shots from his .357 magnum at the suspect vehicle then lied when he claimed it was in self defence. Video footage aparently caught all the action, which should have made for a "slam dunk" (pun intended) conviction and mandatory jail time for the use of a firearm in the commission of a crime.
Luckily, Kemp is what is considered a "celebrity" and not held to the same standard of us "regular citizens. He gets probation and community service instead of jail time. He'll probably be able to keep his cannabis dispensary license, usually yanked if you're a convicted felon.
But then, it not like he was a legal gun owner who failed to store a firearm in a safe. That would definitely be jail time . . .
Oh no, his at least 7 children from 6 different mommas will be without their father for a few more years.
Sadly, looks like more black dysfunction.
I like how Boeing’s home team is known as The Supersonics and not The Bomber Jet Planes.
Another government of men, not laws, outcome in a banana ballot republic.
Shawn Kemp has been in trouble since he lived in Elkhart, Indiana - I saw him play HS BB - he looked like he was 21 in the 9th grade. When he went to KY - he was suspended for breaking in dorm rooms and stealing stereos. Trouble all his life.
Kemp’s behavior was unwise but not unjust. The fact that shooting at or killing thieves is illegal is society’s moral failing, not Kemp’s.
I for one am glad his punishment was light.
I wonder what his pastor thinks about his weed shops.
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