Judge Tom Moran with wife Kim Moran at swearing in ceremony
UPDATE: THIN BLUE LINE RIBBONS TIED AROUND TREES OUTSIDE COURTHOUSE
Despite James Hinman, the attorney for Thomas Johnson III, the black man accused of killing Rochester, NY Police officer Daryl Pierson, asking Judge Thomas Moran Tuesday morning to make sure Rochester Police Thin Blue Line Ribbons which Rochester Police have tied to trees lining the Hall of Justice courthouse in downtown Rochester, are removed, those thin blue line ribbons still adorn several trees, some right across from the courthouse where Thomas Johnson III will be tried.
I guess in what many are calling a public lynching of a black man accused of killing a cop, a black man who is being tried by a judge who is himself a former cop, and prosecutor married to an ex-cop, they'll try anything and everything to influence the jury.
These ribbons are all over the place, where jurors can see them, and be influenced.
Check out the photos below:
Thin Blue Line Ribbon tied around tree on Exchange Blvd.
Photo by Davy V.
Photo by Davy V.
Thin Blue Line Ribbons Across Courthouse
Photo by Davy V.
Thin Blue Line Ribbon in front of Rochester, NY Police Headquarters.
Photo by Davy V.
Photo by Davy V.
Thin Blue Line Ribbn in front of City of Rochester Police parking lot.
Photo by Davy V.
Read my original piece below.
By Davy V.
Rochester, NY Police officer Daryl Pierson
On April 21, Thomas Johnson III will go on trial, accused of shooting and killing
Rochester, NY Police officer Daryl Pierson during a September 3, 2014 unconstitutional
traffic stop on Rochester's northeast side.
He doesn't stand a chance.
Although Johnson's trial doesn't begin until April 21st, he's already been tried,
convicted and sentenced in a different court.
The court of public opinion.
You see, almost immediately after the September 3rd shooting, Rochester, NY's
mainstream news media did what they do best.
First they made a cop an instant "hero".
Not knowing ANYTHING about the cop, they made him a martyr.
But that's not all they did.
They plastered a black suspect's face all over the television and newspaper,
and they flooded the public with a one sided "story" of what happened during
that traffic stop.
The Rochester, NY Police Department's side.
But they didn't just flood and bombard the public with that one sided "story",
they actually helped seal the fate of Thomas Johnson III.
You see, that public that was bombarded and flooded with news report after
news report after news report of a black man shooting and killing a white cop,
was the same public who will meet in a large jury pool room on April 21, 2015.
But Rochester's mainstream news media wasn't done.
No.
They would make sure that they would exploit, sensationalize and milk the story
of a white cop shot by a black man, as much as they could.
And that's exactly what they have done.
For the last 6 months, it's been the most covered, and most talked about story
in Rochester, NY.
Never mind that Rochester, NY is ranked the third poorest city in the U.S. and our
city schools are in crisis.
And never mind that Rochester, NY Police officer Daryl Pierson was no hero.
In fact, Pierson beat a black woman outside a hospital emergency room.
(SEE LINK BELOW)
But Rochester's mainstream news media never reported that.
And they never will.
You see, the Rochester, NY Police Department, especially Mike Mazzeo, the Locust Club
Police union president will make sure that story stays quiet.
And Rochester, NY's mainstream news media doesn't care.
Rochester, NY's mainstream news media knew they had gold on their hands the
second they heard that call over their police scanner with the two words they love
to hear.
"Officer down."
You see, those two words to mainstream news media are priceless.
It's what they live for.
To exploit.
And to sensationalize.
It's what drives ratings.
And that's exactly what they have done.
Non stop for the last 6 months.
Exploit and sensationalize a cop's death.
And boost ratings.
And as a result of all that exploiting and sensationalizing, they have already
helped seal the fate of a black man.
Thomas Johnson III.
A black man who under our justice system is supposed to be innocent until proven guilty.
But Thomas Johnson III has already been tried.
And convicted.
And sentence.
In that other court.
The court of public opinion.
The same public from which 12 jurors, probably most of who will be white, will
decide a black man's fate.
A fate, which again, is already sealed.
Take, for example, New York State Corrections officer David Washburn.
Thomas Johnson's trial hasn't even started yet, but David Washburn has already
decided his fate.
Saturday morning, Washburn took to facebook with the following comment.
"I know Johnson from his last stint in state prison. He was far form a model inmate.
He killed a cop to avoid going back to prison for violating parole. Legal lynching or Not,
he should receive the maximum penalty."
"Legal lynching or not"?
NYS Corrections officer David Washburn's comment is indicative of the exact same
thing I mentioned earlier.
Thomas Johnson III has already been tried.
And convicted.
And sentenced.
Or what about Kristin Hart Daly's posts on Twitter?
Daly, a stay at home mom and blogger, whose Twitter name is @EyeHartKristin,
and who just happens to be married to a Monroe County, NY Sheriff's Deputy posted
the following tweet, which she directed at me.
But perhaps more disturbing than David Washburn or Kristin Hary Daly's comments
if there can actually be anything more disturbing than a prejudiced corrections officer
and a cop's wife who have already convicted a black man, is who will preside
over the trial of Thomas Johnson III.
A former cop turned prosecutor, who is married to an ex-cop.
New York State Supreme Court Justice Tom Moran.
Let me give you a little history about Tom Moran.
Tom Moran was hired in 1978 as Brighton, NY cop.
In 1986 Moran began a career as a defense attorney.
In 1992 Moran was elected as Livonia, NY Town Justice, until he became a prosecutor
for Livingston County, NY, where he remained until being elected as New York State
Suprene Court Justice in November of 2011.
And Judge Tom Moran's wife Kim, is a former Livingston County, NY Sheriff's investigator.
So let's see, a judge who is a former cop, and prosecutor, who is married to a former cop, will
preside over a trial of a black man who is accused of killing a cop?
A black man who has already been tried, convicted, and sentenced by the public?
Yep.
Thomas Johnson III doesn't stand a chance.
The Judge's Wife: Ex Cop Kim Moran
Thomas Johnson III
Woman Recounts Beating by Rochester, NY Police officer Daryl Pierson
Clink link below
PLEASE SUPPORT MY FILM "A PROMISE TO MY DAD"
That's me on the right with my dad Mario Vara, and Judge Provenzano
when my dad became a U.S. citizen.
For the past 20 years my work has centered around exposing police misconduct and corruption.
Most recently, I exposed an Irondequoit, NY Police Detective, Jim Frascati, for posting disturbing racist posts on social media against African-Americans and Mexicans.
As a result of my exposing Detective Frascati right here on this blog, he was fired, and a 911 Deputy Director was suspended without pay after he also posted racist comments on Detective Frascati's original post.
As an activist, my goal is to put a spotlight on incidents which mainstream news media often ignores.
So why do I do this, you may ask?
Well, my story begins as the son of a Cuban immigrant, who left his homeland in search of a better life for his family.
And it's that story, my Dad's story, which I want to tell through my film, "A Promise to My Dad."
But I can't do it alone.
I need your help.
'A Promise To My Dad' is a documentary film about a promise I made to my father at his wake, after my father committed suicide.
The short film explores the life of my dad, Mario Vara as he leaves Cuba with my mom and older brother in 1968, in search of freedom and a better life for our family.
After moving the family to Rochester, NY, my father realizes that despite the promises of freedom and liberty that a life in America can bring, the harsh reality is that there are many injustices as well.
In fact, my dad would soon face very similar 'police state' tactics, as the ones he escaped his homeland for in the first place.
"A Promise to My Dad" highlights an incident in the 1980's, when Rochester Police officers Mark Mariano and Randall Benjamin kicked down the family's door, illegally entering our home, terrorizing me and my family at gunpoint.
As a result of that incident, my dad becomes outspoken against police abuse and misconduct.
Unlike many Americans who take their rights for granted, my dad took a stand to denounce law enforcement violating U.S. citizen's civil rights.
Having lived a communist dictatorship, my dad knew all too well what it was like to live in a totalitarian police state, where simply expressing one's dislike for Castro and his government could land you in prison.
My dad was passionate in his denouncement of rogue cops abusing and violating citizen's civil rights in the U.S.
As a teen, I would tag along with my dad accompanying him to community meetings, rallies, and marches where he, along with other citizens demanded accountability from those whose job is to serve and protect, as well as the elected officials whose job it is to keep them in check.
'A Promise To My Dad' features me telling my dad's story, including talking about my father's depression and how it led to him committing suicide in 1993, after the Rochester, NY Police Department targeted my father through a series of selective harassment and intimidation tactics.
'A Promise to My Dad' follows me as I struggle to keep the promise I made to my dad, to continue his work against police misconduct and corruption, while at the same time trying to find my own identity as a young man, then as a father myself.
Throughout the film I will talk about my own struggles with depression, my father's suicide, and the effects that my work has brought to me and my family, including my children being stalked and receiving death threats.
One example of this came in August of 2014, when an ex-con who is known to work with Rochester Police as a paid confidential informant (C.I.) was captured on a store's surveillance video threatening to murder, and decapitate my 5-year old daughter.
Despite the video clearly showing the individual threatening to kill and decapitate an innocent child, Rochester Police and the Monroe County, NY District Attorney's office, including D.A. Sandra Doorley, refused to charge the individual.
Please support my film "A Promise to My Dad" by making a donation.
Making a donation is easy.
Just click on the link below which will take you to my blog.
Once there, click on the 'Donate' icon located at the top right of the page and follow the easy steps.
All donations are secure through PayPal.
Any donation over $35.00 receives a free 'A Promise to My Dad' t-shirt.
Just be sure to include your address when making your donation.
Click link below:
