With two police officers avoiding prosecution for killing unarmed black men (Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO, and just yesterday, Eric Garner in New York City), the nation is engaging in a heated debate about how law enforcement treats communities of color. It’s worth remembering that four years ago, a high-profile case in New Jersey already demonstrated the issue. In that instance, a police officer shot and killed an unarmed black man after confronting him in a cruising area.
DeFarra “Dean” Gaymon was a married father of four and the CEO of a successful credit union in Atlanta when he returned to Newark in July 2010 for his 30th high school reunion. While his reunion was taking place, he lay dying in a hospital from What happened the night of July 16th depends solely on the word of a single police officer, who was never prosecuted for the crime. It’s all depressingly familiar.
According to the Officer Edward Esposito, Gaymon was “engaged in a sexual act” (apparently masturbating) when he approached the officer, who was dressed in plain clothes, in a Newark park. The park had been the scene of more than 200 arrests over an 18 month period by officers who apparently made a career out of arresting gay men for lewd behavior because there are so few other crimes to pursue in New Jersey.
Esposito says he was bending over to pick up handcuffs (really) when Gaymon propositioned him without any encouragement. Standing up, Esposito told Gaymon he was under arrest.
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What followed was, by all accounts of anyone who knew Gaymon, totally unbelievable. Esposito says Gaymon pushed him away, threatened to kill Esposito, reached into his pocket and lunged at the officer in an attempt to disarm him. Esposito says he fired a shot in self defense.
The Essex County sheriff’s department expressed regret about the episode. They also made a point of portraying Gaymon as a bit of a pervert in search of sex in public by playing up the cruising area setting. A grand jury refused to indict Esposito and the state attorney general refused to investigate the case. Esposito had been involved in three other violent arrests in the park.
Gaymon’s family just settled a lawsuit against Essex County for $1.5 million. Of course, that doesn’t bring Gaymon back.
jason smeds
Some police think that simply being a policeman is sufficient reason to shoot unarmed individuals. The grand juries are clearly biased in favor of the police. They don’t treat both sides equally, giving the privilege of preference to the police.
connorlarkin19
Read ‘Why Cops Lie’ by former SF Police Chief.
Short answer is because they CAN.
Ladbrook
“The park had been the scene of more than 200 arrests over an 18 month period by officers who apparently made a career out of arresting gay men for lewd behavior because there are so few other crimes to pursue in New Jersey.”
Indeed! Pad the arrest numbers, meet some quotas, and then hope the press and the public doesn’t notice that real crime continues to rise throughout the state. And if a few dirty ‘mo’s get killed, well, so much the better. Plus, it’s a lot safer (and easier) for cops to chase closet cases than actual criminals with guns.
Saint Law
I know lots of Americans – the ex was from just outside Boston. They are all – black and white – scared of their country’s police, some to the point where they won’t report a crime even should they be the victims of it.
Looking on from here in England, each week seems to confirm the impression that black Americans – particularly black American males over the age of eleven – are especially at risk of harassment, abuse and even summary execution by…I was going to say corrupt cops; but given that such officers’ actions are granted legitimacy at every level one has to conclude the US criminal justice system in its entirety is rotten to the core.
Where you go from here is anybody’s guess, but it’s overwhelmingly obvious that something has to give.
Kieran
I remember this case. There was hardly a whimper of outrage in the black community. No angry protests. No rioting. No Al Sharpton storming into town to fan the flames of racial warfare. After all, it was assumed the victim in this case was gay. Would have been more outrage had Defarra been a drug dealer or mugger.
jd2222248
@Kieran: keep in mind, all that you mentioned does not pertain to gay Black Men. Sad, but true!
Xzamilio
@Kieran: I can’t believe what you are saying. As a gay black man I find what you’re saying apall— true. All true. True as hell!! Sometimes I look at my own community with disgust the way we of the LGBT type are treated, especially in the church. Gangbangers, drug dealers, murderers, child abusers… all they have to do is “find the Lord” and it’s “Who are you to judge? We all sin and fall shorty of the glory of [insert variation of the Christian god here].” But my gay atheist ass who has never been arrested or been in trouble with the law is seen as a pariah.
Ladbrook
@Kieran: True, and a simple youtube search of Sharpton’s pre-MSNBC days should tell you why. He’s a homophobe and an anti-Semite. He chooses his battles carefully – always making sure that he advances his own career in the process. Sharpton is the king of “no-homo.”
Desert Boy
Police in America are a protected class. They engage in lawless, murderous behavior and they don’t face retribution. Case in point, Eric Garner, on NY’s Staten Island. He was attacked by seven to eight cops for selling cigarettes on the street. One cop performed the illegal ‘choke-hold’ and crushed his wind pipe. Garner managed to cry out, “I can’t breath”, eleven times before dying. The cops didn’t perform CPR or even call the EMTs. Despite the incident being captured on video and a Medical Examiner who concluded the cause of Garner’s death was “Homicide”, a Grand Jury refused to indict the cop who killed Garner. Americans have much to fear from the police. Cops pose a greater threat to our safety than criminals.
JohnAGJ
I don’t remember this particular case. Assuming that Queerty reported everything correctly above, the officer’s statements sound VERY suspicious but I don’t see how he could have been charged let alone convicted regardless of the color of the victim/suspect. If there’s no forensic evidence, eyewitness testimony, a confession or something else, how do you proceed to trial? Fact is you can’t. This cop could be a stone-cold killer or be telling the truth as he saw it, but in the absence of something persuasive indicating the former we have to assume the latter – legally speaking, at least. Out of curiosity, is the cop still with the NYPD? Anyone know if he’s had other complaints since then?
As for the other cases mentioned above, the Ferguson grand jury was right IMO but I cannot say that about the NYC grand jury. That latter case had a lot less ambiguities to wade through than Ferguson thanks to the video. Of course there may be evidence I know nothing about so I hope the DA releases all of it soon.
Stache99
@JohnAGJ: Anyone that’s known Gaymon knows him as a peaceful man while Esposito has a history of being a violent thug.
“What followed was, by all accounts of anyone who knew Gaymon, totally unbelievable.”
“Esposito had been involved in three other violent arrests in the park.”
Jacob23
So he committed adultery, tried to have sex with strangers and risked exposing himself and his wife to HIV? Not exactly the stuff of martyrs. Also, his name was Gaymon? Srsly?
Blackceo
I do remember this case and agree that while Al Sharpton has only recently started to make public verbalizations of LGBT people, there isn’t action on it in a situation like this from Black clergy. However, when I go over to other gay websites and see comments from white gay men about how Mike Brown and Eric Garner were thugs, I also think about how many white gays are constantly pointing the finger at the Black community for their “lack of support” for the gay community, yet those same people showing a “lack of support” for blatant rac*sm among law enforcement and our continuing fight for civil rights. So lets stop pointing fingers altogether. Both communities have sh*t we need to clean up in our own yards.
If the Eric Garner situation wasn’t on video, who knows what the story would’ve been from the cops. Even Fox News analysts were scratching their heads at the no indictment yesterday. I tell ya what tho…if it wasn’t on tape, Eric Garner would’ve been demonized as a giant, fat Black guy who was being aggressive and therefore the police needed to take action. It makes me question the Ferguson incident because i believe if there was video it wouldn’t quite match up to the story that the police officer said. It also probably wouldn’t have matched up to what Mike Brown said if he survived to tell his tale. Perception is based on your life experiences and some legal experts have already discussed the many flaws and mistakes of the police and prosecution in that case. Hell, the police officer was part of a dept that was disbanded because of its racism. We will never know what actually happened on that day unfortunately.
But just go on Twitter and read through the hash tag #CrimingWhileWhite and tell me there’s no disparity when it comes to the criminal justice system. Hell, even I as a very fair skinned man of color recognize my privilege over darker skinned Black and Latinos. I have the “complexion for the protection” if u will. I don’t “look threatening” and I don’t dress like “a thug”. I am also very well spoken and those are all things that make many white people more comfortable in their interactions with me. I’ve never experienced many of the issues that black and brown men of color face in terms of my interactions with the police. I’ve never been followed in a store, never been pulled over while driving Black because I have a nice car, never been stopped by police because I was walking late at night alone and “looked suspicious”, was never stopped because I “fit the description” of someone accused of a crime, and never had to deal with stop and frisk as much time as I spend in NY walking the streets. Therefore, if I can acknowledge my privilege in being treated better because I’m a lighter skinned man of color, than surely white people can admit their privilege. And guess what….it’s not your fault. You can’t help being born white, just as I can’t help my skin complexion. It’s just the way that it is. Now it’s not always the case given the man in this article is light skinned, but more often than not the lighter you are, the more you will be trusted and therefore will have better outcomes in social situations.
I do have hope though. I see A LOT of white faces in these protests that are happening around the country and even overseas. My European friends can’t believe how horrible our criminal justice system is over here, and how we imprison people and the disparities that exist in it. The white friends that I have are also understanding of it and can acknowledge their privilege and some of them were right there in the recent protests. We do too much talking and not enough listening and trying to understand the perspective of others. I don’t know. Sorry for my diatribe but yesterday really just left a bad taste in my mouth, and yes the ongoing lack of support from the most high profile Black clergy around gays must stop as well. Let me not even get started on my issues with many Black charges around homosexuality. Hell, many churches altogether. It’s why I don’t like organized religion. Ok…rant over.
Stache99
@Kieran: Yeah, you’d think this would be a great cause to get behind. A black guy that was a responsible successful member of society got murdered by a cop. I hear about Ferguson 24/7 but this is the first time I’ve heard of this though.
Allot of bigotry on both sides of the fence.
Stache99
@Jacob23: Yeah, because Adultery is so much worse then Murder. Get back to us when you find the right kind of victim. Assholes like you is the reason he never saw justice.
JohnAGJ
@Stache99: All of this might be right, but it’s nowhere near enough to convict him of murder or manslaughter (let alone charge him). It’s because of cases like this that I support body cams for all police. They’re not a panacea, but they’ll increase the number of times we can more accurately determine whether the story of the cop or the victim/suspect is correct.
JohnAGJ
@Blackceo: A video would have been very nice, but at least with Ferguson we had forensic evidence and eyewitness testimony. Despite conflicts in the latter, not unusual in cases like these, there was enough there combined with the former to show reasonable doubt in a criminal case. I do not believe a conviction was possible in that case and apparently the grand jury found that there wasn’t even enough for probably cause either. Not sure what I think about that but then I wasn’t there to examine everything.
MrEguy
I remember this very sad, too common scenario. This man was obviously living a closeted, double-life, seeking sexual liaisons on the down-low in a park while visiting from out of town. His family adamantly denied his being the slightest bit gay. Who knows what really transpired in that park… but this man wound up dead. A terrible price to pay for the choices he made.
Tereasa
When is the LGBT community going to starting back…. This kind of shit happens to often… Maybe not by cops but other freaks who think it’s ok to beat us, bully us and kill us. It’s time we start fighting back.
Jacob23
@Stache99 – Are you now against homicide? When did you change your view? Regardless of when you decided to join the human race, I’m glad to hear that you won’t continue to expose your sex partners to HIV without disclosing. Of course, you should still go to a CA maximum security facility for anyone you may have infected previously.
Stache99
@Jacob23:I can’t wait for your next response. I can see it now.. I’m going to write something really mean and nasty. I’ll show that Stache this time. Muah ha ha. Muah ha ha. You did it again you bastard Jacob! LMAO
Kangol
@Kieran: Was there outrage in the LGBTQ community? Why not, if this man was a closeted gay/bi man? Why only call out black people when LGBTQ people in New Jersey and New York were silent on this?
Also, if I remember correctly black LGBTQ people in Newark did raise a ruckus about this case. The accumulation of cops killing black men and boys and getting away with it has reached a critical level this year, but one can find similar cases to Gaymon’s, as well as Brown’s, Garner’s, Gurley’s, Crawford’s, Rice’s, and on and on every year going far back in US history.
I'm Black, and HIV-Positive.
@Ladbrook: Closet cases? I see you cleverly tried to disguise the fact that this article is about unarmed black men being killed by police officers by calling into question whether or not a “closet case” should should even deserve to live. This is your behavior, but I bet out of the other side of your mouth you bash Christians for not being good enough, and then onwardly defend child molesters. Honestly. How do rasists like you sleep at night?
I'm Black, and HIV-Positive.
@Saint Law: Where do we go from here? Well, it’s kind of hard to see anything going further as long as rasist whites such as yourself refuse to come down on other whites for any reason whatsoever at all. Not when there are so many dark skinned people just trying to live, and get by that is. Right asshole? Afterall: Rasists do defend rasists! And here you are as proof playing both sides of the fence again.
I'm Black, and HIV-Positive.
@Jacob23: The article was about unarmed black men being unjustifiably shot, and killed by the police. Would a black man, a gay black man, or even a gay black man in the closet need to be Jesus Christ himself to deserve justice? Yes, or No?
What is the disconnect? Is it, because you’re not human? I swear, you two faced rasists will make up any excuse you can to attempt to muddy the clarity of the message. Did reading the article get in your way of having your morning chuckle as you thought of all of the black men who are dying for NOT being the thug you all have tried to condition all of us to be? Yes, or No?
Not exactly a martyr? But then you had to have selectively omitted that “Gaymon was a married father of four, and the CEO of a successful credit union in Atlanta when he returned to Newark in July 2010 for his 30th high school reunion”??? So he wasn’t a martyr, but a n-word criminal deserving rasist, gangland style execution all the same? Yes, or No? You make no sense what so ever.
And let me ask you this bitch: Would it had been better if the Ku Klux Klan had committed the murder outright? Yes, or No?
I'm Black, and HIV-Positive.
@Stache99: You and Jacob23 deserve each other bitch, so stop pretending like you’re speaking from a perch of high and mighty elequence, because you ain’t made no friends here either! But then you’re the same douche bag who says all the people who don’t like you must be the same person.
“I can’t wait for your next response. I can see it now.. I’m going to write something really mean and nasty. I’ll show that Stache this time. Muah ha ha. Muah ha ha.”
And what was that? An attempt at projection? Saying all of your own thoughts as his as your accusation against him? Looks like it. It wouldn’t be hard for someone to say something nasty to you bitch. All they’d have to do is stop holding their tongue.
I'm Black, and HIV-Positive.
@Desert Boy: True Desert Boy (and I don’t know much about law proceedings, but) I interpreted a grand jury as not moving forward as saying that the public didn’t think it was an issue either then though. And we’ve all seen what the make up of these juries want to typically resemble (try your typical Saturday at fucking Trader Joe’s), but when the police themselves try to distance themselves from the actions of this police officer in painting him as a rogue cop, but then the public still decides not to act then I would want to believe that the real question here is in our misplace faith in all of these fake-jake white people who are claiming to be on your side, seeking justice, marching in the streets with us who are just outright lying to our faces.
I'm Black, and HIV-Positive.
For all us black people know there’s been a long standing writ passed among white people only that said that you could actually go into the law enforcement, and kill as many ni**ers as you want with no repercussions at all until they find out (via the public ofcourse), at which point they just slap you on the back of the hand, and give you the boot. Like the way we all know that getting caught smoking weed won’t completely damage your whole life.