Weekly Update #89
Dear Members and Advocates,
This past weekend, James Fairbanks shot 64-year-old Mattieo Condoluci. His motive, according to a confession email sent to the police; “he was listed on Nebraska’s sex offender registry”.
Over the past few years there have been numerous murders of people on the registry by people who did not know them, but hunted them down merely because they were on the list. Hank Eisses and Victor Vasquez were gunned down by Michael Anthony Mullen, who later confessed to killing the Washington men because they were on the sex offender registry. Stephen Marshall used information from the Maine online registry to locate and kill William Elliot and Joseph Gray in separate incidents. John Joseph Huffmaster beat his 74-year-old neighbor with a hammer because the neighbor was on the Missouri sex offender registry. Huffmaster claimed he was “doing God’s work”. Patrick Drum killed two registrants, Gary Lee Blanton and Jerry Wayne Ray in Washington state. Drum admitted that he was targeting sex offenders and planned to continue killing them until he was caught. Jeremy and Christine Moody murdered Charles “Butch” Parker and his wife Gretchen in South Carolina. Jeremy Moody confessed to deputies that he had killed Charles because he was a registered sex offender, and murdered Gretchen because she lived with him. He admitted to targeting other registered sex offenders and said he would have killed another on his “hit list” a few days later had he not been arrested.
There are few of us who can say that we have not been victimized merely because of our presence on the registry. Some of us have been physically battered, were assaulted, had our property vandalized, threatened with violence, were fired, been the target of registry scams and in too many cases, killed. Not only ourselves, but our family and friends are ostracized and our children bullied. All because our names are published on a hit list.
For those who think these assaults are justified, there are people who are victimized merely because they are mistaken for someone on the registry. Jace Decker, a homeless man living in California, was viciously beaten and killed by Matthew Arguello and Ruben Rosales in an unprovoked attack because they thought he was a registered sex offender. In Texas, a mentally retarded young man, Thinh Pham, was attacked by four men who beat him unmercifully, chanting “child molester, child molester” only Pham was not on the registry – his address was listed on the state’s Internet registry but the registrant was the previous occupant and the state never updated the list. In Washington, Shane Reilly was shot in the head and left paralyzed by Robert Start, who thought he was a sex offender.
Here in Florida, Robert Pascale and Michael Garay beat 78-year-old Hugh Edwards to death with a baseball bat because they mistook him for a sex offender. Jorge Porto-Sierra, 50, was arrested and charged with four counts of attempted premeditated murder when he set fire to the Friendly Village Inn in Kissimmee, Florida. Porto-Sierra confessed to the crime and said he arrived at the motel to “barbecue all the child molesters on fire and kill them.” Many non-registrants were staying at the inn, including families with children.
We can fill an encyclopedia with extremely horrible collateral consequences that come from being on the registry (or being related to someone on the registry, or confused for someone on the registry), but that’s not productive for a weekly update. We need action.
There are a plethora of sites and social media that are calling these killers heroes. Though we don’t always see eye-to-eye, we think Derek Logue of OnceFallen has suggested the right approach on this one. We have posted his suggestions here, and ask that each of you take a few minutes out of your day to contact the news outlets that are justifying Mattieo Condoluci’s killing (or post in their comments), the social media platforms that are hosting support sites, the legislators in Nebraska (and in your home state) to remind them that the registry is being used as a hit list, and our sister-affiliate in Nebraska to offer support. If you don’t act, then next time it might be you or someone you love.
You can find a list of your Florida House Representatives and Senators on the 2020 Legislative link of our website.
We need to end the cycle of violence. We need to end the public registry. We need to act NOW!
Sincerely,
The Florida Action Committee
Reminder: FAC needs your support to raise funds for the “Non-Registrant Collateral Consequences (NRCC) Challenge. This lawsuit will challenge the registration requirements imposed on people not on the registry! It will be brought on behalf of registrants’ family, friends, employers and others who are impacted by the registry by virtue of living with, employing, or even sharing the same family name as a registrant. Plaintiffs will be spouses who have their vehicles registered and flagged, children who can’t have a parent watch them graduate or perform in a school play, roommates who are prevented from decorating their home for the holidays, and others. Please DONATE TODAY so that we can launch this lawsuit NOW.
NEXT MEMBERSHIP CALL: Thursday June 4th at 7:30 pm ET. This call will be hosted by NARSOL. Watch for details.
SOME HEADLINES FROM THE WEEK
‘We’re sitting ducks’: Concerns of copycat attacks following sex offender’s killing
When “Jay” first heard the motive behind Mattieo Condoluci’s death, he immediately feared for the safety of his family. “We’re sitting ducks,” he said. Prosecutors believe James Fairbanks sent KETV Newswatch 7 an anonymous email about killing Condoluci. The sender…
How the “Stranger Danger” Panic of the 1980s Helped Give Rise to Mass Incarceration
Below are two excerpts from article on the “memorial laws” and how they shaped society’s psyche and created a “stranger danger panic” nearly 40 years ago, that still remains today. The ACLU and others raised concerns that some memorial laws were too far-reaching, and…
Fear Mongering Tactic
Kudos to our media committee for getting this point in the Daytona Beach News Journal ___ I just recently read the opinion article that was posted on May 8 concerning the subject of sex offenders — registered citizens. I was set back by several of Flagler County…
TN: Great Decision Out of Tennessee – Registry Violates Ex Post Facto
Yesterday, a Federal District Court in Tennessee found that the Tennessee Sex Offender Registry, as applied to the Plaintiff, violates the Constitution. The Court found; that the restrictions of SORVTA are much like traditional punishments of shaming, banishment, and…
Recent Comments