Usually whenever a member of the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) is angry, you can bet that's a good day for humanity. Recently FOP President Pat Lynch stood outside of Brooklyn Supreme Court and told the 12/18 New York Daily News: "This mongrel today got away with murder." I could make an issue of his use of that all-too-familiar racial epithet, but you have to remember, the guy's last name is Lynch. And he's in-charge of the FOP. Also, the reason he's fuming is the unthinkable just happened; a 35-year-old Black man had just been found not guilty of the murder of police officer Russel Timoshenko.
I don't have to tell you that in this country, the loosest accusation or assumption of shooting one or more of those designated to uphold the law by a Black man is guilt simply by default, way before the trial begins. Your court appointed attorney doesn't really defend you, hell, your hired attorney really ain't bustin' no sweat for you, and the DA is pulling all kinds of tricks to make sure the jury is filled with people as far outside of your block as humanly possible.
Given these sure-fire eventualities of nature, how then did the accused, Robert Ellis, literally get away with murder? I know what a few of you outside of New York are thinking. Maybe he really didn't do it, and the jury ruled accordingly. And I say to you kind sir or madam, what in the hell does truth have to do with any of this? When the cops want their pound of flesh, they get it. If the cops themselves are the pound of flesh, they get away with it. Reality itself rarely is allowed to enter the courtroom. Historically Lynch and his legal team make sure it stays that way, this time the case looked like a no-brainer. But a jury of seven women and five men felt otherwise.
Back on 7/9/07 Timoshenko and officer Herman Yan stopped a BMW after finding that the plates didn't match. Both officers approached the car and at some point were met with gunfire. There were three men in the car: Ellis, Dexter Bostic and Lee Woods. According to the Daily News all three got away for a while. Woods was caught after 16 hours, while Bostic and Ellis fled the city. Bostic was caught after 63 hours around the Poconos while dashing across I-80, Ellis was said to have endured more time in the woods and sleeping on rocks. A known trash-talker, he was found 77 hours later by a US Marshall and was reported to have begged for his life.
Timoshenko died four days later of his wounds, reportedly Woods told police that it was Bostic who shot him twice in the face and Ellis who shot Yan. Don't get me wrong, neither Ellis or his two buddies are to be mistaken as freedom fighters, no these guys today listen to gangster rap and watch Maury, and I Love New York. In other words they've been programmed to act stupid and don't even realize it. They are not Mumia abu-Jamal, H. Rap Brown, or Geronimo Pratt by any stretch of the imagination. In recent years however, there has been an increase in typical street thugs who shoot police officers based more on bustamove false-ego and simple-mindedness than blackness. Ellis even told the court he ran in hiding because he feared he'd get the same treatment as Sean Bell. He doesn't realize that the same officers who shot Bell and his friends 50 times, would never have shot at Ellis, Woods, and Bostic as recklessly because the Bell officers are just as afraid of dying as Ellis is.
As it is, some bloggers have considered the Ellis verdict to be Bell in reverse, but it's not. There wasn't nearly enough bullets coming from these SUV and gun thieves. But still Black shooters are trained through ghetto and pop culture to kill other Blacks. Rare is the Black criminal who understands that law enforcement uniforms are just court-of-opinion-proof, not bullet-proof (unless your wearing a flak-jacket). Though Woods claims Ellis shot Yan (now a detective), the jury no-doubt based their ruling on the lack of DNA and fingerprints on any fired gun. Though Ellis claims he was just the driver, that the three of them weren't all lumped together at the same trial is because they turned on each other.
Ellis will still do time for weapons possession, but not like Bostic who was found guilty by a separate jury the next day and will surely get life without parole (as no-doubt will Woods). All-in-all it was a dumb decision by all three men, two of whom will never see the light of day again. The only good news is Pat Lynch and the NYPD's court of opinion vest has been compromised, but at the loss of a rookie officer. Just as the pundits said about the Bell verdict, it's just a sad unfortunate situation for all families.
--Chris Stevenson is a columnist for the Buffalo Challenger. Contact him at pointblankdta@yahoo.com.
