On Tuesday, 19-year-old Karmelo Anthony was found guilty of murdering 17-year-old Austin Metcalf during a 2025 altercation at a high school track meet.
The news sparked tense debate across social media, as Anthony, who is Black, was sentenced to 35 years after being convicted by a jury with no Black jurors.
Now, Congressman Randy Fine is stoking the flames of controversy by insisting that Anthony deserved an even harsher sentence.
“Karmelo Anthony deserves the death penalty,” the Florida congressman tweeted this week, adding:
“Anything less is unacceptable.”
Now, Anthony is a teen who committed a non-premeditated murder during a heated confrontation, all of which would make him a highly unlikely candidate for the death penalty.
But Fine doubled down on his remarks when TMZ caught up with him earlier this week.
“What he did to that kid was horrible, and I think it’s important to tell our country that we’re not going to allow that kind of behavior,” Fine told the outlet.
“Part of the reason to send a message that strong is because of all the people who didn’t think he should be punished at all.
When the TMZ journalist pointed out that Anthony could have received a lesser manslaughter conviction (and we don’t typically execute teens to make a political point in this country), Fine stood his ground.
“I think we need to send a message about behaviors we’ll put up with and behaviors that we won’t,” he said.
The Texas jury rejected Anthony’s self-defense claim, and he was eventually sentenced to 35 years in prison.
Fine was quick to express support for a harsher punishment after the verdict was revealed, maintaining that Anthony deserved the death penalty despite the fact that Texas law prohibited such a sentence because of Anthony’s age at the time of the crime.
His remarks immediately generated backlash from critics who accused him of politicizing a tragedy and inflaming tensions surrounding an already divisive case.
Others, however, applauded Fine for taking a hardline stance in support of the Metcalf family.
Prosecutors argued that Anthony escalated a dispute and fatally stabbed Metcalf, while defense attorneys maintained that Anthony feared for his safety and acted in self-defense. Jurors ultimately sided with the prosecution and returned a guilty verdict.
Even after the conviction, the case has remained a lightning rod for political commentary, with public figures, activists, and elected officials continuing to debate everything from the sentence itself to the broader issues of race, justice, and accountability raised during the trial.
Fine’s latest comments ensured that those debates aren’t ending anytime soon.
Supporters argued that the severity of the crime warranted the harshest punishment available, while opponents pointed out that Anthony was legally ineligible for the death penalty because he was a juvenile when the stabbing occurred.
The congressman’s refusal to soften his position only fueled another round of heated exchanges online, where opinions about the case remain deeply divided.
Regardless of Fine’s intentions, the fact remains that more than one year after Austin Metcalf lost his life, the tragedy continues to generate strong emotions — and politicians like Randy Fine appear determined to keep themselves at the center of the conversation.
Rep. Randy Fine Pushes For Death Penalty For Karmelo Anthony was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.
