MOTHER OF MURDERED SON TO DELAWAREONLINE EDITOR - "YOUR EDITORIAL IS RACIST!"
Press Release
For Immediate Release
June 14, 2017
June Rodgers' son was shot by a career criminal who was arrested days earlier on gun charges then released without supervision because pre-trial algorithm considered him low risk
Millville, NJ: June Rodgers, a New Jersey mother whose son was shot by career criminal, Jules Black, is speaking out against an editorial that appeared in DelawareOnline accusing her of being used as a "scare tactic" for the bail bond industry.
Said June Rodgers, "I am appalled at what I read in the DelawareOnline article about my mission to warn people that the pre-trial algorithms aren't working. My son is dead because a dangerous criminal was let back on the street without bail or accountability and this newspaper has the nerve to call me a "scare tactic" because I am telling my story.
"First let me start off by saying - aren't reporters supposed to be unbiased? Maybe Delawareonline holds itself as some sort of authority on life in Millville or the plight of the poor, but they are not because their editorial was insulting, inaccurate and even a bit racist.
"To paint me as a gullible person who is being exploited by an industry instead of a mother who wants the public to know that my son is dead because government failed to keep him safe is offensive and condescending. What about me makes Delawareonline believe that I am being "exploited"? All across America, mothers who have lost their children tragically speak out to get government to fix problems so others won't die. That's how Mothers Against Drunk Driving got started. I don't remember newspapers calling those women "scare tactics".
"To be perfectly clear, I reached out to the bail bonds industry on my own because, except for my family, no one cared about my situation at all. I had nowhere to turn. Through God's grace and mercy, they agreed to help me get my story out. Thank you, Michelle Esquanazi. I even went so far as to contact Ms.Sarah Wallace from New York because in my home state of New Jersey, my plight fell upon deaf ears. And yes I blame bail reform for letting my son's killer out. He may not be convicted but I know he did it.
"People, like the editors of Delawareonline, sit in their ivory towers with their social justice friends, thinking up ways to help us poor people living in the "hood" because they want to feel better about themselves. They have no idea what happens in our neighborhoods. They have no idea how dangerous our streets are. When questionable characters march in the streets to get the police to pull back, reporters trip over themselves to put it on the news. They think that they are saving the world from discrimination by supporting bail reform, but what they are really doing is forcing good people to hide in their homes while career criminals - who know how to play the system - pick us off like fish in a barrel.
"My son did not deserve to die the way he did and to say that my campaign to stop legislators around the country from making the same mistake New Jersey did, is insulting, offensive and racist.
"New Jersey's bail reform ONLY helps criminals and leaves the public terrified. Well, I am not terrified - I am angry. I refuse to sit back and allow anyone to bully me into believing that they know what is best for me. My son is dead because people who know NOTHING about our community are making legislators feel like they will be labeled "racist" and "uncaring" about poor people if they don't support bail reform. Maybe they will all think differently when the criminals they want released without supervision commit crimes in their neighborhood. For their sake, I hope GOD will be merciful and save their children."