To the editor: Eric Lynum wrote a letter [“Police-Shooting Editorial Shows Media Bias,” May 18] critical of a previous GazetteLeader editorial, alleging systemic racism, perpetuating harmful stereotypes and lack of empathy for the victim in a recent shooting.
The victim was Timothy McCree Johnson of ethe District of Columbia, who was reported by store personnel at Tysons Corner Center to have stolen merchandise. Police were summoned and the victim was pursued outside the shopping center, where he died in the altercation with a police officer.
The letter-writer’s criticism apparently was that there should have been more condemnation of the police and more sympathy for the victim’s family in the editorial. But perhaps the writer was not aware that GazetteLeader staff writer Brian Trompeter wrote a half-page article on the case in the April 20 edition.
The article was very clear to state that Johnson was the “alleged” shoplifter and that the police shooter was fired by the police department. Moreover, the article reported the commonwealth’s attorney’s very sympathetic meeting with his family.
As I saw it, the intent of the editorial was directed at the commonwealth’s attorney, Steve Descano.
Descano is well-known for his anti-police attitude and his desire for public exposure, and apparently believed the old expression “Any good prosecutor can get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich” would allow him to add another anti-police notch in this election year – but the grand jury declined to indict the police officer in this case.
Descano showed his contempt for the grand-jury process, and now is reported to be establishing a new one to apply his version of double-jeopardy against the police officer in the case.
I have lived a long time and have never seen my country as divided as it is now, with some predicting the coming of a Second American Civil War. We should remember that our constitutional system was designed by its founders to force the political sides to work together to get things resolved and with protections for civil liberties. So far, we Americans have the longest surviving continuous democracy in the history of the world. Ben Franklin was asked, after the Constitutional Convention had concluded, “What has been created, a republic or a monarchy?” He answered, “A republic, if we can keep it.”
It’s time for us to tone down the rhetoric and the slander against those with whom we may disagree. Let us work on coming together rather than driving us apart. We have too much at stake to ruin the great gift our founders bequeathed unto us.
Bob Russell
