The Toronto Star Reports A Toronto library worker accused of shooting a Chicago police officer in the arm nearly four decades ago has abandoned his struggle to stay in Canada.
Gary Freeman, 58, who has been in the Don Jail since his arrest in 2004, made the announcement on his website Monday – Martin Luther King Day.
“I have decided to abandon my Supreme Court challenge of the Ontario Court of Appeals decision. I will be returning to Chicago and will be incarcerated at the Cook County Jail,” Freeman wrote.
About time
It is incumbent upon those charged with crimes in a society in which we all respect the rule of law to submit themselves to the civilain justice system. Fleeing to Canada was simply the coward’s way out.
He submitted to extradition because he would not get out of jail in Canada and because it was simply a matter of time before he would be returned involuntarily. You simply cannot shoot someone without a complete investigation and if the circumstances warrant a trial by one’s peers.
OJ got an apparently fair trial, playing the race card this late in the game is absurd. Changing one’s name for other than religious purposes is in my opinion simply a ploy to avoid facing one’s duties.
The fact that he worked in a library is not important, in reality he is a coward who would not answer charges laid against him. I hope he is returned to Chicago, given a reasonable bail, and tried in a Court with a jury that will understand the serious nature of the crime with which he is charged, and the circumstances under which it occured.
I think it’s awfully easy to
I think it’s awfully easy to call him a coward and dismiss his fears. It’s been nearly forty years since this took place. The shooting took place in an extremely unstable time in Chicago and I wouldn’t be surprised if all if details are now obscured and will end up relying on eyewitness accounts. At a time when tensions were at an all time high and black men and women were being killed across the country unarmed, one must also give weight to the fact that Freeman’s claims of self-defense may be true as well. The very fact to me that the police officer didn’t die and that Freeman escaped to another country where he remained a law-abiding and respected citizen gives some weight to the story he was not attempting to kill the police officer. Maybe both individuals were simply afraid and acted out of fear, both thinking the other was going to kill them. I haven’t heard enough of the story to be clear.
Freeman is not a rich actor and football player. Saying OJ got off doesn’t mean much. There has been a long-standing history of racial tension and politics in Chicago. I doubt Freeman can afford the several lawyers that OJ did.
Race isn’t a “card” in this story. It’s at the heart of the whole issue and it seems odd to try to pretend that everything is so clear cut.