Posted on 02/26/2008 11:06:45 AM PST by brwnsuga
RYAN FREDERICK is no hero, no matter what they're saying about him on the Internet.
He's the 28-year-old Chesapeake man being held in the Jan. 17 shooting death of Detective Jarrod Shivers.
Shivers, 34, was executing a drug search warrant at Frederick's residence the night he was killed. According to police, the eight-year police veteran was hit in the arm and chest by a shot fired from inside the house.
In a jailhouse interview, Frederick said he was in bed when the police came to his door about 8:30 p.m. Awakened by his barking dogs, Frederick said, he thought his house was being invaded. He didn't know the police were the cause of the commotion, he said.
Even so, it's troubling that a man charged with first-degree murder - for allegedly killing a cop, no less - has generated an ardent fan club. If you Google "Ryan Frederick" and "Jarrod Shivers," you'll get more than 1,000 hits and an eye-opening lesson in wild Internet rumor-mongering and misplaced hero worship.
From his jail cell, Frederick has somehow morphed from an accused cop killer into an innocent victim.
Supporters of Frederick staged a demonstration outside the jail on Saturday. Some protesters carried "Free Ryan" signs.
Oh, please. Ryan Frederick is right where he belongs - in jail. Until the matter is adjudicated, anyway. Even so, some are begging the system to spring him, fueled by the half-truths and outright lies spreading through cyberspace that portray Frederick as a "drug war victim."
Unfortunately, this uninformed rush to judgment isn't confined to the blogosphere.
When was the last time you heard a defense lawyer, in a highly publicized murder case, no less, say that he does not want a change of venue?
"No, no, he has too much support here," said Frederick's attorney, James Broccoletti, when asked if he'd like the trial moved.
If it's unfair to have a jury pool skewed toward conviction, it should also be unfair to have one awash in sympathizers.
We can all agree that this is a sad and troubling case, one that raises serious questions about Chesapeake police procedures. Yet it raises equally vexing questions about the duties and responsibilities of private citizens who choose to exercise their Second Amendment rights.
The tragic part of this story is not that this young man is behind bars. He'll have his day in court. The true tragedy is that a young woman has been widowed. Three children are fatherless. And Chesapeake lost a cop in the line of duty.
Since the shooting, there's been a lot of grumbling about Virginia's drug laws and efforts to enforce them.
If you believe marijuana should be legal, call your state legislator and demand that it be decriminalized. Don't blame the cops for enforcing Virginia's laws.
I don't know if Ryan Frederick is guilty of murder or of anything else. Neither do you. None of us has all the facts.
So here's a thought: What do you say we all hold our fire until the defendant goes on trial?
Is that “guy” in the picture the fella that shot the cop?
Because if it is, he looks like 90% of our security forces where I am right now. LOL
If they didn't identify themselves and he was normally in bed at that hour (because of work, health condition, etc.) he would truly have been surprised not knowing the caps were calling.
The question is whether or not the shooter is an innocent man who honestly believed he was defending himself.
What a pointless article. All she is doing is blabbing that nobody should form an opinion on the matter until it goes to trail. Sorry woman, but we do that all the time in society.
” if four guys with guns rush in on you yelling POLICE, give up; because if they are lying, they are still going to win any fight you start”
With a “don’t dare defend yourself” attitude you must be a cop. And are you saying that because it is 4 to 1 breaking into the VICTIMS house the common citizen should just give in? Before seeing any written proof it is a LEO?
Really???????
Unbelievable, sick, and sad. What a terrible attitude.
You should have lived in the USSR while they still had all the police services. You would have loved it.
What would be the difficulty of having the lights and sirens triggered just as the cops are hitting the door?
Even if Koresh knew that the robbers breaking into his home were employed by the U.S. government, he had every right to shoot them since they were not there to legitimately serve a warrant. As it is, I'm not convinced that the dead BATF agents weren't killed by other agents. Indeed, the Congressional hearing testimony made clear that the BATF set up a circular firing squad.
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