Officer Black Gets an Award for Stopping Gunman

This morning I was half awake with the morning news playing as I lay in bed. I almost jumped out of bed when I heard this report. Aw I thought more news about the thwarted Vigilante attack that almost happened in Portland in May. It was the usual news report short and sweet giving Officer Black recognition for stopping the gunman before anyone got hurt until the end. When it was stated that the intended victim was a woman the gunman was obsessed with. Well as reported by the Portland Press Herald on May 21st, http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=257696&ac=PHnws, the actual intended target was a Registered Former Sex Offender. At the time no other news source was reporting this fact. They were all stating he was after the woman. They either were hiding this fact or not doing their homework. So today's report continues this trend. If a Former Offender re-offended or did something else news worthy it would have been blasted all over the news. But let one be the target of a crazed murderous gunman then it's hushed up. The judge in the case has ordered all records to be sealed and once it came out the whole story went away. You have to question why? Are they afraid that people might start questioning the Registry? The story follows with my comment I posted at the end. I don't know if they will keep the comment up or delete it. But maybe others of us can post similar comments and make them take notice that this kind of thing can not be hidden.

Portland Officer Hailed A Hero

Stephen Black Honored Thursday Morning

POSTED: 3:42 pm EDT June 18, 2009
UPDATED: 6:34 pm EDT June 18, 2009

Orginal post here

PORTLAND, Maine -- A Portland police officer, who prevented what could have been a tragedy, was honored by the state Thursday morning.Officer Stephen Black was a resource officer at Portland High School last month when he spotted a man with a rifle near the school.Thursday morning, state leaders, school officials and Portland police chief honored hailed Black as a hero and gave him an award.Black was praised for his actions. In May, he spotted Herbert Jones near the school loading a rifle."He reached down. It was a convertible car, he reached down into the car and loaded ammo, then I came out and engaged him and had him drop it. I asked him what he was here to do and what he replied and what I assumed at that point was he was going to kill people," said Black.Black said Jones was not targeting the school but was planning on confronting a woman he was stalking at a nearby church.

Comment I posted to this article.
This man truly deserves recognition. Thank you Officer Black, God only knows how many lives you saved that day! I am glad you reported on his award. However the part that disturbed me is you got the target of the gunman wrong. He was actually going after an AA member who was on the Sex Offender Registry. See this story for confirmation...http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=257696&ac=PHnws. I know it's not as sympathetic story that the officer saved a Registered Former Sex Offender. But it's the truth. Many family members are living in fear of just this kind of thing happening. Would he stopped at shooting just the one person or would he have not shot anyone when he found out the man was not at the meeting? One of the unintended consequences of the Registry is the collateral damages it causes to family, friends and even innocent members of the public whose only crime was they attended the same meeting the Former Offender did. I generally love your station and admire it, I have been a faithful listener since the days when you were out at Poland Springs. But I find it unconscionable that you would either hide facts or not investigate the facts of all your stories. Even the ones that might create controversy. No one wants to admit that these laws are unconstitutional and that they encourage vigilantism and they have not been shown to protect a single child, while harming many children, those of the Former Offenders.

Letter to the Portland Press Herald

After reading today's newspaper article I spent sometime thinking about it and composed the following letter. I limited the letter to just one idea that the Registry needs to be returned to a Law Enforcement Tool. There was so much I wanted to say but felt limiting my comments would increase the chance they would actually read what I had to say. You will notice that I put Former in red and bold! We need to emphasize that whatever got someone on the Registry is in the past. Please let me know what you think.

Dear Mr. Maxwell and Mr. Hench,
First of all I would like to commend you on an excellent article based in truth and fact. I noticed that since this information as come to light that other media sources have become silent on the facts behind the case. Secondly, I am writing to you to bring attention to the very real fear that families of RFSOs (Registered Former Sex Offenders) live in. Herbert Jones is just another example of vigilante justice that exists in today's society. Anyone who wants to can access the online Registry to gather names to hunt them down. Remember the case of Steven Marshall who came here from Canada. He killed two men and intentioned to kill others. In other states vigilantes have killed not only RFSOs but innocent family members, as well. One sad example would be that of, Melissa Chandler who died in an arson fire set to kill her Sex Offender husband on Sept 4, 2007, in Helenwood, TN. Mr Chandler was not home at the time the fire was set and escaped. As of 2008, there have been 187 RFSO deaths attributed directly to the Registry being public. That figure does not include innocent family members. The news is quick to run stories about Sex Offenders and their crimes, making it seem like they are horrible monsters out stalking children, (Jessica Lunsford, Adam Walsh, Adam Wetterling to name a few). But not so quick to report when someone stalks them or their families. It is wrong for anyone to be hurt or killed! The original intent of the Registry under the Adam Wetterling Act was to maintain the Registry for use by Law Enforcement only. Even Ms. Patty Wetterling, whose son the Act was named after feels the Registry and other laws passed since then, have gone too far. (See: http://sexoffenderissues.blogspot.com/2009/04/interview-with-Patty-Wetterling-June-27.html, this interview was given to Richard Wright for his book Sex Offender Laws, Failed Policies, New Directions.) Another fact is the registry has become an over inclusive list, and even has many children on it. The Adam Walsh Act would force states to include children as young as 14. It lists crimes as varied as public indecency (flashing, mooning, even taking a pee behind a dumpster), statutory rape (often teens with a younger girlfriends) as well as the types of offenses you'd expect to see. While families are not proud of the Offenses that put their family members on the registry, we feel that we don't deserve to be publicly shamed, harassed or even killed. When a person is placed on the Registry his whole family is also impacted.
Again thanks for reporting the truth behind this attack. If you would like more information on this please contact me.

Jane M. Cantral
Coordinator for Maine Citizens For Change
207-615-8385
ladyfurebear@yahoo.com
Http://mecfc.blogspot.com