I just left the Oakland County Courthouse. I wanted to see that young man Jonathan Belton for myself, and I needed to know if he was a cold blooded killer. All assumptions, evidence and newscast say, "Yes". I needed to see for myself. Well, I got there on time, but there was a crowd of people standing around and I thought they were waiting to enter the courtroom. Sadly, the room was getting packed while I waited in the phone booth. Of course the Oakland County Sheriff's being no friend of mine didn't leave room for me or anyone else to enter. I stood there for a minute and his sister came out. She began to talk and I sized up that she was indeed his sister, because there was a family resemblance. She spoke in a forward manner that made me very cautious of the things that I would say to her. Saying the wrong thing at any point in our interaction I feel may have become far more aggressive than I intended for it to be.
I think as we spoke, she got the feeling that I didn't believe her brother was innocent. Speaking to her didn't help change my mind. Vicky loves her brother, but she has to realize that he will be going to prison forever. There are no "get out of jail free" cards for cop killers. I'm not sure what happened in that hall that night, but I'm positive that Officer Samborski didn't initiate the fight. If he wanted to fight, he would have called a few of his buddies to join into the festivities. Instead, he alone, took a young man where he thought was his home. Maybe Johnny(as his sister called him) got scared. Maybe he thought that he could run quick enough to escape Samborski, but failed to make a "clean break". Whatever the reason, there is no doubt in my mind that he initiated the tussle. I'm sure that he killed Samborski on purpose, although that wasn't his original plan. At sixteen, we think that we can walk on water and that everything is just a game. He probably said that he would get dropped of at the residence, but Samborski walked him in. So, he had to devise a plan to get away, but didn't realize Samborski was as fast and strong as he was. Many Black folk underestimate the strength of White people. He might have thought that he could "take him".
I believe it was Samborski that went for his gun, because I don't think Belton wanted to kill anyone. At the time he pulled the trigger he knew that it was him or Samborski. That's when he fought his hardest to get control of the gun and shot the man in the head. There are so many things you learn in "da hood", and one of them is surely don't stand around and wait for your trouble. It is always the effort of these young men, to get as far as they can, as quick as they can, for however long it takes them to get caught. Belton is no exception to that rule! The tears he shed were not of remorse, the only remorse he felt was because he had been caught! The one thing that was missing from her story was remorse. She was defiant and hard, and seemed not to care that a man's wife didn't have a husband and a man's children no longer had a father. That broke my heart to see that her anger was turned towards the man who was just giving her brother a ride.
She said that "Johnny wasn't violent and she fought his battles all of her life". She showed the scares she had from hitting someone in the mouth for her brother years ago. She said that her brother was weak and mild and got manicures and his eyebrows arched. "Johnny not no fighter!" She repeated that several times. I wanted to tell her so badly, from the depths of my soul, "Johnny was a fighter that night." Johnny had fought a man and killed him. She never said as Fieger did that it was an accident, but stated the truth. "He was fighting for his life." Samborski, probably knowing that he wasn't going to be able to hold him off much longer, due to his youth and physical strength, pulled his gun to shoot. He did that too late; I believe, and Johnny had just a little more wind left in him and he lost "the fight of his life". He was just being nice and giving a young man a ride home. Equally, Johnny was just playing a game that would cost him the remainder of his life as a free man.
HE SHOT HIM IN THE HEAD TO MISS HIS BULLET PROOF VEST!
If you shoot a man on accident, you don't leave him for dead. If you are being victimized by police, and there are people in yelling distance, and you don't call for help? You don't say, "Help me, somebody...Help!!!" He kept quiet, wrestled with this man, won and committed the ultimate sin and took his life away. Whew...That's a long way from a joy ride. I look at Officer Samborski's face and I see a young boy and not a man. His naivety in this situation proves to me that's exactly what he was. If he knew the caliber of young man that he was dealing with, I know he would have never drove him to those apartments. He thought that he was "being nice", and I think he was, too. This reminds me of the values people put on other's lives.
Young Black men are taught that a White life is nothing, and Whites are taught the same. They teach their children to hate us and we teach ours to hate them. Sure their are exceptions, but we aren't talking about those. Many people would like to make this a Black/White issue and they would be right. You don't hear of Black young men killing Black officers in Michigan. They have been taught that the White Police officers are out to get you, which puts a huge target on White officers' heads, and bigger targets on the Black youth of this region. After this, who is going to want to give a Black man a break in Southeastern Michigan, if he's smart, not a White police officer. He would be foolish, because it is evident that Blacks are guilty of what we accuse them of doing to us all the time, lessening their value as human beings!
Is it also "Open Season" on White cops? Vicky says that she has always been her brother's advocate. Today, when she spoke to me, she was a very poor one. When your brother is involved in the death of anyone, he should be so sorry. He should cry and beg the family and friends of this man for forgiveness, and pray to God that his soul won't be found in hell on the day of judgement. She should be more unrepentant, mournful and apologetic, but I saw none of that. What in the world is the world coming to when a man dies and there isn't a tear shed by his killer? That happens only when a man feels justified in his actions, and how can a man ever feel justification when a man loses his life. Is taken from his mother, father children and wife. I don't get her anger, and instead would have loved to see more anger from his family.
None of them left the courtroom begrudging her or her family. She is has so much anger in her, and t makes me wonder what kind of lives she and her brother led. I gave her my number, but I doubt if she will call, but she might need me in the future to mediate between the prison and their family. I don't believe the prison system likes Feiger very well. She told me tales of the judge being harsh and crude to him throughout the trial. I don't blame her, because this whole accidental shooting himself stuff only came up when he got involved. Vicky also wouldn't talk about his fees. I'm sure Feiger and his team are doing this all for free. She said that she wished now that they had another lawyer. I know they wished, too that from the beginning Johnny would have told the truth. If he would have just told what really happened, pleaded for the court to be merciful with him, maybe this wouldn't be so bad. Now, because it's a cop they want to put him away, forever. After Nathaniel Abraham, Feiger's reputation is dirt.
Vicky is hopeful, as we all are when our family member faces life in prison. Nobody wants to see their family go away forever, but in cases like these it's a harsh reality. I don't know if she fully understands what her brother will endure in prison. I don't think anyone ever knows. Their was a woman there who said that she had a friend who was a retired Warden. I think she knew more than she led on and was spouting off the stuff they want the public to know, but not the things I'm going to tell. I wish her luck forever, because forever is what happens to young men who decide to kill a cop.
Vicky if you are reading this, I don't mean any harm. Like I said my brother is also in the system, and who knows the jury might believe Feiger's theory. I doubt it, but hold on to that hope. Hold onto you brother, too, because he'll need you; always. LIFE is a very long time, and it's never too late for him to tell the truth. It might not weigh heavily on the judge, because you are right, he should have had another lawyer who wasn't Jeffery Feiger. Feiger has now given your brother no possibilities for anything. It's good that you see that now. He needed a lawyer who would have forced your brother to tell the truth, and maybe they would give him a possibility for a parole in 30 years. He would be still of age to do some living, if he got out. Doing a crime is so different than doing one and being 50 and having had spent a huge chunk of your life in prison. Honesty is always the best policy. Call me and we can talk...PEACE
No comments:
Post a Comment