Overview

The Murder of Austin Metcalf by Karmelo Anthony refers to the death of Frisco, Texas high school student Austin Metcalf, who was allegedly stabbed by fellow student Karmelo Anthony at a track meet on April 2nd, 2025. News of the tragic incident spread in viral posts on social media platforms like Twitter / X.

Metcalf's death was quickly politicized by right-wing X accounts like Libs of TikTok, who pointed out that Metcalf was white and Anthony was Black, using the incident to sow racial tension in America. News outlets and tabloids picked up on the story soon after. The politicizing of Austin Metcalf's death was met with backlash and outrage from many online. The father of the deceased, Jeff Metcalf, also spoke on Fox News about the media frenzy and said, "This was not a race thing. This is not a political thing. Please do not comment if you do not know what happened." In late June 2025, Anthony was then indicted for murder as the Frisco Independent School District (ISD) released surveillance footage of the fatal incident.

Background

On April 2nd, 2025, 17-year-old Austin Metcalf was fatally stabbed at a high school track meet. From eyewitness accounts, the murderer was fellow student Karmelo Anthony, who was later arrested and charged with first-degree murder.

According to reports from NBC Dallas-Fort Worth and the New York Post, the two teens had a brief confrontation. Anthony was allegedly told he was in the wrong seat. Metcalf allegedly grabbed him, making Anthony take out a knife and stab Metcalf in the heart. Metcalf's identical twin brother, Hunter Metcalf, witnessed the altercation.^[1][2]

Local police stated Karmelo Anthony admitted to the crime while being taken into custody, reportedly saying, "I'm not alleged, I did it."^[5]

Online Reactions

On April 2nd, 2025, the X^[3] account of FOX 4 NEWS shared a "Remembering Austin Metcalf" post, shedding light on the incident. The post received over 11,000 likes in two days.

Also on April 2nd, the X^[4] account National Conservative (@NatCon2022) tweeted about Metcalf's death, gaining over 4.7 million views and 17,000 likes in two days. The X^[6] user replied to their own post soon after, writing, "I'm always amazed at the 'White people do it too' replies who then post a homicide from several years ago that is not even similar," receiving over 2,100 likes in two days (shown below).

Racially charged reactions to Austin Metcalf's death persisted on April 2nd, like a post shared by X^[7] user @Anarseldain, who quote tweeted Austin Metcalf's last tweet, writing, "White people shouldn't have to live like this. Absolutely sickening," receiving over 1,400 likes in two days (shown below).

Similar quote tweets^[8] that received more engagement were shared on April 3rd, 2025.

On April 2nd, X^[9] user Libs of TikTok, a known conservative right-wing pundit, tweeted about the death of Austin Metcalf, writing, "You didn't hear about this story cuz it doesn't fit the narrative." Her post received over 61,000 likes in two days (shown below).

The politicization of Austin Metcalf's murder to sow racial tension was criticized and lambasted on social media soon after. For instance, on April 3rd, 2025, X^[9] user @4UpNext_ tweeted a GIF of FlightReacts, captioned, "#that side of Twitter don't even care about Austin Metcalf they just want an excuse to hate on Black people," gaining over 4,000 likes in a day (shown below).

That same day, X^[10] user @MikeBaggz posted a video of Hunter Metcalf talking about his eyewitness account, writing, "Whenever white supremacists immediately flood our mentions before the full story is even out, you know something's up." @MikeBaggz said, "It turns out, Austin Metcalf was the aggressor, and the Black kid, Karmelo Anthony, was defending himself." His post received over 21,000 likes in a day (shown below).

@MikeBaggz's post received critical reactions in the replies.^[11]

Also on April 3rd, 2025, X^[14] user @dklmarxist quote-tweeted a post showing Austin Metcalf with the caption, "They hate White people." @dklmarxist wrote, "Who is this," gaining over 40,000 likes in a day (shown below).

Developments

Father Jeff Metcalf "This Was Not A Race Thing"

On April 3rd, 2025, Jeff Metcalf, the father of the deceased, appeared on Fox News. He started by saying, "This was not a race thing. This is not a political thing. Please do not comment if you do not know what happened."

The clip was first tweeted by MAGA X^[12] user @siegfriedmuell, who said, "I simply can't imagine being a father and going on national television ONE DAY after your son was stabbed to death by a Black kid to grovel like this. Utterly despicable," receiving over 2.6 million views and 12,000 likes in a day.

On April 4th, X^[13] user @altoidsrevenge quote-tweeted @siegfriedmuell, writing, "They mad ASF that he don't want to be their racist martyr," receiving over 13,000 likes in a few hours (shown below).

Karmelo Anthony Indicted For Murder

On June 24th, 2025, Karmelo Anthony was then indicted for murder by a Collin County grand jury, facing a potential sentence of five to 99 years or life in prison if convicted.^[15] That day, Collin County District Attorney (DA) Greg Willis announced that he and his team had worked to present evidence to the grand jury for weeks, noting that the case had "struck a deep nerve — here in Collin County and beyond."

X^[16] user @SarahisCensored reposted the video of DA Willis announcing the murder indictment on June 24th, receiving over 1.7 million views, 29,000 likes and 1,000 replies in a day. The video was also uploaded to the FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth YouTube channel that day, garnering over 10,700 views, 270 likes and 480 comments in a similar timeframe (seen below).

Search Interest

External References