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Why is an unarmed man dead? (Learn how you can help find the answer.) There is a huge amount of controversy around the shooting as Gaymon was unarmed and has no record of any past violence. As of today, November 3, 2010 the shooting is still under investigation by a Essex County Grand Jury. There are many articles on line and a few videos about this case. Here I will try to give a quick overview. Basic Facts: Defarra was 48 years old and a successful businessman, the president and chief executive of Credit Union of Atlanta. He graduated from Montclair High School in 1980 and was in New Jersey to attend a class reunion of which he was a major organizer. He is survived by his wife of more than 20 years and 4 children. Dean was in Branch Brook Park. On July 16th Dean was shot by officer Esposito. Officer Esposito was 29 years old and a well-respected cop. He has received many official commendations for his work. As recently as June 29, 2010, he received one for helping arrest four drug suspects in Westside Park in Newark. Officer Esposito was working undercover to arrest men soliciting sex. The shooting took place Friday, but Officer Esposito was not questioned until Monday night. He was not physically harmed but he was being medicated and treated for trauma. He has not been approved to return to duty. Esposito's account as written by the New York Times: What has been publicly released about what happened in the park on July 16 has come from the prosecutor’s office and, given the absence of other witnesses, is based solely on Officer Esposito’s account. He said he lost his handcuffs during an earlier arrest that day, and was retracing his steps to find them. Mr. Gaymon, while alone and “engaged in a sex act,” approached Officer Esposito, who was in plain clothes. Officer Esposito pulled out his badge and told Mr. Gaymon that he was under arrest. “Mr. Gaymon appeared to panic, assaulted the police officer and fled,” the prosecutor’s office said in a news release. There was a chase across an open area, and the officer cornered Mr. Gaymon in a grassy spot near an algae-coated pond. Mr. Gaymon “threatened to kill the officer,” the prosecutor’s office said. “Mr. Gaymon then lunged at and attempted to disarm the officer while reaching into his own pocket.” Officer Esposito, “fearing for his life,” fired once. The most obvious question, Why is an unarmed man dead? The Gaymons vow to know exactly what happened that day in Branch Brook Park. They have requested New Jersey Attorney General Paula T. Dow investigate Defarra’s fatal shooting. New Jersey's attorney general's office has refused to investigate the incident. Read sample letter requesting NJ attorney general investigate. You can help.- Spread the word. Let others know that an unarmed man was killed by police in Branch Brook Park. People must be active to stop violence in their communities. The role of the police is to serve and protect the public. In that role the police have been given great leeway in decision-making. They have within their job description the duty to take life to protect those they have sworn to serve and the license to kill if under threat of losing their own life. This gives them great power and responsibility. We must scrutinize each incident of death by police with great care to ensure innocent officers are not persecuted, policies and training that leads to tragedies are corrected or eliminated and bad cops are prosecuted.
- Write Attorney and General Paula T. Dow. Ask her to open an investigation. Read this sample request to Paula Dow. Once you send a letter to the attroney general forward a copy to peacsign@cpeace.com or mail to POP, PO Box 22505, Newark, N.J. 07101. We will send them to the Gaymon family.
- Join the People's Organization for Progress and help work on community and police relations. It will only get better if we work at. peacsign@cpeace.com POP, PO Box 22505, Newark, N.J. 07101, Call: (973)-801-0001
