The Cult of Cameron

The Problem with Cameron Herrin’s Supporters

I really have to finish this project I’m working on. But apparently, I won’t be able to complete my project until I write about what’s on my mind.

I was on Twitter looking up tweets for Ron DeSantis. Since he is my governor and currently well-positioned to be the next Republican presidential candidate, I figured I would have to follow his content more closely.

But I noticed something. It seemed like with every one of the governor’s tweets, someone was in the replies, “demanding” a commuting of the sentence or a pardon of Cameron Herrin. I confess I wasn’t aware of who he was, but a quick search on DuckDuckGo revealed that he was the driver in a horrible car accident on May 23, 2018. Cameron, in his new Mustang GT that he received from his parents as a graduation gift, was drag-racing a friend of his, John Barrineau, on Bayshore Boulevard, Tampa. Bayshore Boulevard is a residential area, with high-priced homes on one side of the street, and a magnificent waterfront walkway along the south side. In fact, this walkway has the distinction of being the longest uninterrupted sidewalk in the world. (Edit: I have since learned that although Bayshore Boulevard has been hyped as the world’s longest sidewalk, that is an exaggeration. Bayshore Boulevard is, in fact, the second longest sidewalk in the United States, surpassed only by Seawall Boulevard in Galveston, Texas.)

Besides being in a residential area, Bayshore Boulevard is not like most of the streets in Tampa Bay. Because Florida is a very flat state, a road map of the area is mostly just a grid, i.e., straight lines running east-west or north-south. But Bayshore Boulevard follows the shore. Consequently, it’s a winding street that curves along the edge of the water.

Drag-racing on public streets is worse than stupid. It’s moronic. In fact, it’s submoronic. It’s irresponsible, dangerous, thoughtless, selfish, arrogant and any other adjectives I may have overlooked. Let’s get that out of the way right now. But I would be hard pressed to find a public-access street less suited for drag racing than Bayshore Boulevard. The walkway I mentioned earlier has several paved paths leading to the street for the purpose of allowing pedestrians to cross.

And on that fateful day, Jessica Reisinger-Raubenolt was making what the police said was a lawful crossing. Herrin, according to the vehicle’s data recorder, had accelerated to102 mph before he saw Jessica and Lillia and braked hard. According to the policeman that arrived on the scene in response to the accident, Herrin had slowed his vehicle to 30–40 mph at the moment he struck Jessica and Lillia.

Jessica was pronounced dead at the scene. Lillia succumbed to her injuries the following day.

Now fast forward to nearly three years later. While they had initially pleaded “not guilty,” both Herrin and Barrineau changed their pleas to “guilty.” Barrineau was offered and accepted a plea deal. He would plead guilty to two counts of vehicular manslaughter and a misdemeanor charge of racing and receive six years in prison, plus 15 years probation. And the families approved of this plea deal.

Herrin was not offered a plea deal and entered an open plea, leaving himself at the mercy of the court. Herrin’s attorney argued that his client should get the same sentence as Barrineau. Judge Christopher Nash disagreed. While he did not list all the reasons for departure from the sentence he gave Barrineau, he did cite their ages. (Barrineau, at 17, was still a minor. Herrin was 18, therefore an adult.)

Nash also stated that Herrin’s extensive scofflaw history with the vehicle, including one instance of Herrin travelling in excess of 160 mph, weighed heavily in his decision. On the other hand, Herrin had no priors, so he would not get the maximum sentence. For the first count of vehicular manslaughter, he got the minimum: nine years. For the second count of vehicular manslaughter, he got the maximum: 15 years. As Nash announced the sentence for the second count, Herrin’s eyes suddenly grew wide as realization set in, and the judge concluded that the sentences would run consecutively, for a total of 24 years.

But as I continued perusing these responses to Ron DeSantis’s tweets, I was perplexed by this weird outpouring of support for Cameron Herrin. So many of them were posted in Arabic. How does the Arab world involve itself with the sentence of someone in the U.S.?

Then, days later, I discovered that Herrin had a very popular TikTok account, amassing nearly 2 million followers. Although Herrin has since deleted all videos, his follower count has since surpassed the 2 million mark. (Note: after removing all the videos, Cameron Herrin’s account has since been deleted.)

These followers, of course, will have no impact. I can’t imagine the Governor of Florida (or rather, whoever he has monitoring his social media) concerning themselves with the “demands” of lovestruck teenaged girls who aren’t even citizens of the U.S., much less residents of Florida.

And I realize that their youth and lack of understanding of U.S. law and culture prompts them to say the things they do, but still, much of what they say is horribly offensive.

One comment read, “Poor boy. He doesn’t do in purpose [sic].”

“Poor boy”? First Cameron was 18 when he killed Jessica and Lillia. He is not a boy. He is the age of majority, and in the eyes of the law, he is an adult.

And the suggestion that he didn’t do it on purpose is also offensive. He wasn’t accidentally driving at 102 mph. That was intentional. Further, it was done with premeditation. And you lose the right to call things “accidental” when your reckless, thoughtless and irresponsible behavior places everyone around you at risk. If someone were to just blindly start throwing rocks off a highway overpass, and he unintentionally hits a car, killing the driver, is it an accident?

If someone were to go inside a crowded mall with a loaded gun and just start shooting in random directions, and he hits and kills someone, is it an accident?

Herrin did much the same. He knows the street, he knows the speed limit, he knows it’s a busy street in a residential neighborhood and he knows that pedestrians cross it. Nonetheless he chose to drive over two and half times the posted speed limit. He knew the risks. He didn’t care. He cared about nothing but his desire to race his pretty, new car.

What an incredible magnitude of arrogance and entitlement! It verges on narcissism. And some have tried to point out that at age 18, they have also done stupid, reckless things. So have I. But Bayshore Boulevard is less than 30 miles from my home. I’ve driven on it. And I’ve also walked along it’s walkway, dotted with benches overlooking the water, so pedestrians can sit for a while and enjoy the magnificent view.

102 miles an hour on Bayshore Boulevard is just too stupid for even my 18-year-old self.

And what is this outpouring of sympathy for the one who killed two people and is appropriately being punished for it? I’m seeing all these people praying for healing for the Herrin family, but I’m not seeing any sympathy for her husband. On the contrary, I’m seeing vile insults directed to him on Instagram. They actually dare demonize someone who lost his wife and child, because he had the unspeakable nerve to call the killer of his wife and daughter an “entitled monster.”

I’m not seeing any sympathy or prayers for the healing of Jessica’s parents who did what no parent should ever have to do: bury their child, their 24-year-old daughter Jessica, barely an adult herself. They raised her to adulthood, and she had just started a family of her own. But thanks to Herrin, that’s all for nothing. The time and effort to raise their child to a beautiful, kind, compassionate woman, all for nothing. And their precious grandchild that they will never get to babysit and play with. This beautiful little angel, who had to suffer in agony for an entire day before a merciful death ended her pain. Almost two years old. Big enough to walk, play and probably say a few words. And they are gone. Leaving behind two parents hurting in ways no one should.

Because their hero Cameron wanted to race his pretty car.

I see videos on Twitter, posts on Instagram, of his loyal supporters, all congratulating themselves because they imagine they’re doing something good for their hero Cameron. But one thing you will not see: there are no pictures of Jessica or Lillia. You won’t find any prayers for Jessica’s parents. They implore God for healing for Cameron’s family. But not for the families that Jessica left behind. They don’t care about their healing of these families. Only for their adored Cameron.

And, by the way, I’m not the only one who finds all this attention to Herrin extremely creepy and unsettling. Cameron’s mother addressed her son’s fan following: “It was almost like an obsession, an unhealthy obsession.”

And I don’t blame her. Some of these “fans” of her son’s have taken to calling her on the phone, heedless of the time difference, so these unwelcome calls come at the middle of the night.

But regardless of how unjust they see Herrin’s sentence, the fact remains that his parents can still see him. They can still visit and comfort their son.

Jessica’s parents don’t have that option. Her widower doesn’t have that option. He now comes home to an empty house that he once shared with his beautiful wife and darling daughter.

But Herrin’s fan base only seems to care about their adored one. Their idol.