When the second Kevin Johnson trial got underway I was assigned the story. I was in the courtroom for the jury selection but I was looking for an additional story. I had found a website in defense of Kevin Johnson. There was also an on-line company that sold "Justice for Sergeant William McEntee" items such as sweatshirts, mugs, bumper stickers etc. I contacted both websites to ask if those responsible for the sites would agree to interviews. A few days later I received the following response from the Kevin Johnson website (I have cut and pasted my request along with the response. I did edit the expletive).
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MY REQUEST:
I'm a reporter at KMOV. I would like to conduct an interview with someone about the website.
If you are willing, please contact me at 314.444.64357
Thank you,
Ray Preston
KMOV-TV
THE RESPONSE:
"EXPLETIVE you. We have nothing in common. Go ahead and quote any of this."
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To be quite honest, I was surprised. The website to "Free Rockhead Johnson" (Rockhead is Johnson's street name) was quite extensive in its argument. It was put together by someone who was passionate about their cause. I was also confused about the comment "We have nothing in common." I'm not sure if the person understands the role of a journalist. I was not looking for a date. I was looking to report a story in as fair, objective and accurate a manner as I could.
I also emailed the website which sold the McEntee items. A few days later I received a response. The person behind the McEntee items told me they wished to remain anonymous and would be known only as "X" but would answer any questions I had by email. I sent several questions and received the response which follows. I have cut and pasted the response in its entirety as well. It is rather lengthy but I would encourage you to take the time to read it.
My questions are preceded by " > ". The responses from "X" follow.
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>Thank you for your reply.
> I was hoping for an on-camera interview but I understand your desire to remain anonymous.
This isn't about me. It's about the assassination of Sgt William McEntee, the devastated family his murder left behind, and the cause of justice. There should be no attention on or interest in me whatsoever. I'm not important. That there be justice for Sgt McEntee is.
> I wanted to find out---
> ...when did you decide to put these items on-line? before, during or after the first trial?
Immediately after the mistrial. It took me a few days to get the website together.
> ...why?
It was a miscarriage of justice. The "race card" had been played. The case had nothing to do with race. It wasn't a "white thing," it wasn't a "black thing." It was about the premeditated murder of a man chosen as a target because of his profession and his uniform. That makes it a "blue thing." The crime was vicious, cold and carried out with malice aforethought.
Johnson's crime was not "heat of passion." It was an execution, and a "revenge killing."
The Jews believe that every good deed done, every commandment ("mitzvah") observed, hastens the coming of Mosiach (the Messiah.) One does good things not in the hope of secondary gain, or for recognition, but because they are there to be done, should be done, need to be done.
I saw a family crushed by an ineffable tragedy, then effectively slapped in the face by a hung jury. As Edmund Burke says, "all that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."
"Justice for McEntee" was my own, albeit small, attempt to do something.
> ...do you feel there isn't support in the public for Sgt. McEntee? police in general?'
I think, unfortunately, these days that people often have the attention span of fruit flies. Our media is saturated with "news that really isn't news" and like so many words, the word "hero" is misused. For example, in the immediate aftermath of the death of Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock, there were signs of "Death of a Hero."
Hancock was not a "hero," by any definition of the word. He was a ballplayer, which is very nice, but a matter of athletic skill, not personal sacrifice and heroism.
We hear about every detail of the lives of "stars" like Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton. They're treated as "newsworthy," but it's more about the empty, "glamorous" lives of People Behaving Badly... and thinking the laws don't apply to them.
The "interest" and "sympathy" does not hold true for police officers. Every move they make, every action they take, is parsed, "interpreted" and second-guessed by a public that the majority of whom have NO idea of what it is like to walk, often ALONE, into a life-and-death situation. Police officers are routinely portrayed, and believed, to be overly aggressive, quick to use lethal force, racist, uncaring...
There is little respect; in fact, it's "acceptable" to many to view police officers with contempt, to say, as if it is simply a fact and not offensive, that officers are unintelligent and unskilled, police officers by virtue of being unfit for any "better" profession.
I believe the public, at large, was very sympathetic in the aftermath of the murder of Sgt McEntee. But violence is now so "acceptable," so "explainable" in our society that all too soon, many aside from Sgt McEntee's family, friends and coworkers, quickly moved on.
I am not naïve. I know there have been police officers who have fallen far short of the ideal. However, if one were to condemn any other group of people, whether based on skin color, ethnic origin, religion or profession, one would be considered biased, prejudiced. Disdaining police officers appears to be "different." It's somehow quite acceptable to dismiss the very real and daily dangers and stresses they face, the profession, and even police officers as human beings. There is only sympathy and a showing of concern and respect when a police officer is in a flag-draped box.
> ...how have the sales been going? the # of products sold?
The sales were steady throughout the summer. 117 products were sold.
> ...where does the money go from the sales?
As stated on the "first page" of the website-online store "Justice for McEntee," ALL profits were evenly divided between the McEntee Family, and Backstoppers, an organization devoted to helping the surviving families of police officers and firefighters who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
I chose CafePress because it allowed me the largest choice of products (T-Shirts, sweatshirts, mugs, bumper stickers.) The "down side" to that is, because CafePress provides the products, does the manufacturing, handles the transactions (for example, I never see anyone's address, credit card information, etc) and all customer service, they also, quite understandably, have the lion's share of the profits. For example, if the "base price" of a T-Shirt is $15, the only profit I can make is to raise that "base price." In the interest of keeping things affordable, I raised prices to a maximum of $3, and usually only $1 or $2. Those dollars would be the only "profit" made.
When checks were issued, I put them together, evenly divided them, got money orders and sent one to the McEntee family, and the other to the Backstoppers in honor of Sgt William L. McEntee.
I sent copies of financial reports to the McEntee family. Many people say they are doing something for charity, and then don't. I wanted them to have proof in case anyone challenged a charitable effort in their slain brother's name. Every penny went where it had been promised: to the McEntee family and to Backstoppers.
The McEntees and Backstoppers do not know my identity.
> ...are you a friend or family member of Sgt. McEntee?
No. In many ways, law enforcement is a closed society. You must be considered within the "blue circle" and be able to speak the "language" to hear how police officers really feel about anything. I neither worked with nor even ever met Bill McEntee, but heard many wonderful things about him. He was very well thought of, both within the "police family" and the community. That speaks very well of him.
> ...is there a particular clientele that have been buying the products? those in law enforcement? their families?
It appears to have been a broad spectrum. I couldn't know the backgrounds of the buyers. Some names were familiar as law enforcement, many others were not.
> ...are you able to get a feel by the mailing addresses as to where most of the products have been sold? I imagine the Kirkwood area, but are you seeing out-of-town addresses as well?
The majority of the products were sold in the St Louis area. I did see out-of-town, and even out-of-State, orders.
> ...during his closing arguments Robert Steele told the jury that a second degree murder conviction was "just and fair" not only for Kevin Johnson but for the McEntee family as well. Your thoughts?
Robert Steele is a defense attorney. Once upon a time, the job of a defense attorney was to see that a defendant received a fair and impartial hearing before the law through zealous advocacy.
Times have changed. Now everything is about "winning," sometimes having nothing to do with what is "fair" or "just."
"Zealous advocacy" should not mean advocating one's client receive a lesser punishment when his actions merit a greater one.
I do not personally know Robert Steele or Karen Kraft, so I cannot possibly comment on their thoughts and/or motives. They zealously defended their client.
That being said, I think Steele's avowing that a second-degree murder conviction was "just and fair" was simply untrue. It would have been neither "just" nor "fair," either to the McEntee family, nor, really, to the "people."
We have become a society where Victimhood is not only acceptable, but celebrated. Personal responsibility has become forgotten in favor of explanations and rationalizations for violent and criminal behavior. No matter how heinous an action, there is always an "excuse."
Sometimes there are mitigating factors, but all too often now the definition of "mitigating" and what is acceptable as mitigating has broadened and the standard lowered to the point that just about anything can be offered up as a reasonable "explanation."
What kind of "message" would a second-degree murder send to the public? That's it's reasonable to assassinate a police officer if you're really upset and have had a horrible childhood?
As the "Justice for McEntee" posters say: "If a man can plan and execute the assassination of a man sworn to serve and protect, WHO can hope to be safe?"
> ...any additional comments?
I am sure you will spend today, Friday, 9 November, hearing the sad stories of Kevin Johnson's blighted upbringing.
You will hear about his incarcerated father, his crack-addicted mother who lost custody of him and his sibling, how he was shuffled through State care and group homes. You will hear how he "needed help," and yet never received it.
But it must be asked, how many other people have faced these same terrible situations - and worse - and have not murdered someone? There is so little personal responsibility, it's endemic in our society. Trouble, and how one faced it, used to be what defined a person. Certainly, the United States, and St Louis, has seen floods of immigrants who fled situations that make Johnson's pale in comparison. Yet, the vast majority of them do not gun down police sergeants.
What do the zealous advocates of men such as Johnson want? By their defenses, they are basically saying that people with backgrounds, experiences and personalities similar to Johnson's are ticking time bombs, they're damaged goods. They will "explode." If that is true, what is to be done with them? If they're destined to act out criminally, violently, lethally... they are dangers to society, and must be removed from society in order to protect others. So... do we wait until the "bomb" explodes, and an innocent person dies? Or do we sequester those "ticking time bombs"?
To do so before they have committed a crime would not only be prejudicial, it would immoral and illegal. But the "defense" of lessened culpability sets up the situation described above.
Kevin Johnson made a choice. Actually, he made several. Steele and Kraft protest he "hadn't thought it through." That's not a legal defense, that's an excuse. Johnson wanted to blame someone for the death of his brother. He blamed the police. In truth, he was more than likely already angry with the police because they were staking out his home; he was wanted on a parole violation. He had been in trouble with the police before.
Joseph Long's death only made Kevin Johnson angrier. He announced his intentions. He got his gun. He laid in wait. Whether 30 seconds or 3 hours passed, as Johnson waited for "the first police officer he saw," he had time to think and consider his course of action. Obviously, he decided to continue forward. A free choice, his own choice.
He ambushed Sgt McEntee. He didn't shoot him from a "grassy knoll" or from hundreds of feet away. He looked into Bill McEntee's eyes, and he pulled the trigger. Not once, but several times. He could not have failed to see McEntee's body reel from the impacts, see the blood pour from his body.
McEntee made an attempt to evade the situation. Grievously wounded, he couldn't even radio for help, nor could he control his patrol car. He didn't get very far.
And Kevin Johnson followed him. Whatever hopes Steele and Kraft could have reasonably had for "second degree" went absolutely out the window when Kevin Johnson coolly walked down the street, following McEntee's patrol car. Despite the pleas of onlookers, Kevin Johnson calmly executed Sergeant William McEntee, who was on his hands and knees. He killed a police officer. He had accomplished his stated intent.
In an outrageous act that should have sickened everyone who heard it, Johnson then took the gun and rifled the pockets of the man he just murdered.
So much for this was just an "explosion" of violence because Johnson was "overwhelmed with grief."
Secondary gain, Mr Preston. According to his attorneys, Johnson had "no time to reflect" and "hadn't thought things out", yet he had the mental acuity to realize he was nearly out of ammunition (his weapon, with a round chambered and a full clip, could have held 13 bullets; having fired 11 times, Johnson was down, at best, to two rounds.) So, he took McEntee's fully loaded, high caliber service weapon. According to witnesses, he then rifled McEntee's pockets.
What was he looking for? The answer can only be: Cash. Things to steal.
That's not a "trance," that's a choice. No medical or legal definition of psychiatric dissociative disorders, fugue states, transient breaks, etc, allows for "secondary gain." Johnson shot McEntee. He then followed and executed him. He then topped that off by stealing from McEntee. So much for the "trance" theory.
If Johnson was so known for "explosive outbreaks," if his attorneys truly believed that he had been "in a trance," why not plead him "not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect"? They never did. Though they presented their contrived "trance defense," there was no psychiatric evaluation, nor psychiatric defense made. It was thrown out there in the first trial, like a desperate "Hail Mary" pass.
If you were in the courtroom, you saw that "head form" atop the skeleton, shot through with dowel rods showing angles of trajectory. Allow me to assure you, that sight, while chilling, is a thousand times "easier" than the real thing. There would have been blood, and brain matter, bits of bone... everywhere. McEntee's body would have jerked and reeled. He would have collapsed in a heap. McEntee was a big, strongly-built man. Kevin Johnson would have had to maneuver literal "dead weight." That's a lot harder than people think, to move a dead person, or a person who provides no independent support. But Johnson did it. He got the gun, and he checked the pockets.
And then he walked away, leaving a police officer, a husband, a father, a son, a brother, a friend, a man devoted to the service and protection of the community... dead on the street.
Johnson's actions were selfish, self-absorbed, cold, calculating and cruel. There were not some kind of mysterious "explosion" attributable to his disadvantaged upbringing. They're not symptomatic of disease, either organic or environmental. He has a flawed character and personality. He is, in all likelihood, a sociopath. He "feels" for no one but himself. The world, and everyone in it, exist only in relation to him.
If you have any doubts, witness his lack of emotion at the verdict, and his ease immediately afterwards, as he smiled and spoke with supporters. You yourself reported on how Johnson "appeared relaxed, smiling, and was talking with those in the courtroom, typing on his computer and writing in his journal."
Johnson certainly did appear perfectly at ease, even convivial. Had viewers not been told Johnson was in a courtroom, immediately after a first degree murder verdict and outside the presence of the jury, he might have appeared to be at a social event.
At no time has Johnson appeared remorseful, neither at the time of the crime, or since.
> I'll be covering the penalty phase of the trial today (Friday 11/09) and won't be accessing my email until later.
> Any responses and your time are greatly appreciated.
If you have any more questions, or anything else, just drop me a line. You can see the products on the "Justice for McEntee" website. If you need permission to reproduce them for broadcast, I give it. If you have any contacts with the McEntee family, they may be willing to show you "Justice for McEntee" products they have or direct you to someone who does.
One last thing: I know people who were taught by your mother. Even decades later, they speak of her only in superlatives. She is remembered with intense and happy affection.
x
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Note to viewers concerning the reference to my mother--I was raised in Normandy in north St. Louis County. For several years, beginning in the early 1970's, my mother ran a pre-school for children. She died in 1987 from Alzheimer's disease.
Hi,
We have created a free and open memorial site to pay tribute to those loved ones who have passed away, http://www.people-to-remember.com
A special page has been started for Sergeant William Leo McEntee http://www.people-to-remember.com/wiki/index.php/Sergeant_William_Leo_McEntee
Thanks,
Josh