Bill Dobbs, a long-time activist and gay civil libertarian, lives in Manhattan, but ever since he learned of the shooting death of Dean Gaymon he has been personally riveted by the case. He wrote to us about his trip last week to see where Gaymon died. The sign shown in the picture is actually in six panels. The entire message is transcribed, from Dobbs’s photos, at the end of this piece.
A friend sent the news: man killed in a cruisy Newark park by an undercover sheriff’s officer.
As a gay man living in Manhattan this got me very anxious and curious. What happened July 16?
Six days after the shooting of DeFarra “Dean” Gaymon, I took the PATH train to Newark and found my way to Branch Brook Park’s northern section. Over an afternoon I learned a lot from walking around and talking to regulars.
The area is a beautiful landscaped vista surrounding a long narrow lake, a small section of a much larger park. Later I realized there was nowhere to sit down; perhaps that all part of the plan of its designer, Fredric Law Olmsted, also the designer of Central Park. Along the park’s edge is a wooded area and that’s where some take their pleasure.
Not very many people were around that day. On a walk through the wooded area there were some beer cans, condom wrappers – about what the average person has in their trash.
Park regulars took me to the area that had been cordoned off with yellow “crime scene” tape. A beautiful spot by the lake, the tape was gone. There was nothing of Dean Gaymon there, no sense he had been fatally shot by a plainclothes officer. I left some flowers.
So many questions – how did an unarmed man visiting a park in the afternoon end up dead by that evening?
We only have the officer’s account, as relayed by his bosses at a press conference. If there were witnesses let’s hope they come forward. There are many facets to this case, involving sex, sexual orientation and race. Certainly they are part of the truth and must be addressed. One overarching concern is that this death happened at the hands of law enforcement. That means that getting justice will be an uphill battle.
The Essex County Sheriff and Essex County Prosecutor refused to reveal the name of the officer in question, saying that he is working undercover. The officer’s credibility is central to any inquiry. How can we evaluate his statements or actions without a name? Even after a reporter revealed the officer’s name, official stonewalling continued. This erodes public confidence in law enforcement and signals that the investigation cannot be done by local officials.
A thorough, impartial investigation of Gaymon’s death is needed. I join the New Jersey ACLU and the Star-Ledger in calling on the state attorney general to quickly step in. We must get an answer to the question: was the use of lethal force by Edward Esposito against Dean Gaymon justified under the law? Local gay groups and beleaguered New Jersey taxpapers should join Garden State Equality in stepping forward to ask why the Essex County Sheriff’s Office is conducting dangerous and costly undercover operations for what are minor offenses.
The detective who shot Gaymon has been identified in press reports as Edward Esposito — although the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office is refusing to confirm it. An editorial in today’s Star Ledger, noting that Esposito was once a driver for county executive Joe DiVincenzo, calls for an independent investigation.
The sign panels:
WANTED INFO REGARDIN
POLICE INVOLVED SHOOTING
IN BB PARK ON 7-16-10
CONTACT PROSECUT OFFICE
HOM PROF STAND BUR
1-877-847-7432.
Bill Dobbs can be reached at Duchamp@mindspring.com
it’s a little odd, don’t you think leaving flowers for someone he doesn’t know?
And if he “I learned a lot from walking around and talking to regulars.” What did he learn?
“Issues in involving race” What would those be? That the people involved had races?
There is nothing of value in this “story” no new information.
It’s just a maudlin display verging on creepy.
I’m with ROC on this, but I would say it IS creepy….
Also the link to nj.com sent me to patch.montclair.com, which I didn’t know existed.
Another example of Baristanet slapping something up here with minimal relevance to the tragedy.
Also: Why do we need to know the author is gay?
Apparently, patch.montclair.com is the news outlet that first published the undercover officer’s name.
I don’t think it’s creepy to lay down flowers in Mr. Gaymon’s memory even though he was a stranger.
I’m curious how police in other cities deal with areas that become known for cruising and public sex. Does anyone know if it’s typical to use undercover police in these situations? Intuitively, it seems like regular patrols and ticketing by officers in uniform would be a more effective and less dangerous deterrent.
under cover seems perfectly appropriate to me. even a sting operation seeps appropriate. People should not be having sex in a public park.
What is HOM PROF STAND BUR??
HOM must be homicide.
Professional Standards Bureau.
ROC–I agree that people shouldn’t have sex in a public park. I just wonder whether an undercover operation is proven to be more effective in reducing activity than uniformed patrols.
It’s that obvious? If the patrols are uniformed (I’m just guessing here) everyone will just zip up and be engaged in conversation regarding the flora and fauna – nothing against the law about that….
Really, a little common sense…
Yes, ROC–I should hope that the point of any of these initiatives would be to deter people from inappropriate sexual activity in the park. It is COMMON SENSE that frequent and visible uniformed patrols would do more to deter this than the possible once-in-a-blue-moon up-close-and-personal encounter with an undercover cop.
Sheesh.
They could put up signs too!
sigh
look at it this way Kate. While people will slow down on the parkway when there is a squad car around they won’t change their behavior on a long term basis.
For that to occur the police have to actually hand out tickets with fines. In order to do that they have to be “sneaky” . Parking behind billboards, on overpasses driving unmarked cars.
Make sense?
Give it up katie. There’s no end to it.
As you can see, ROC has developed a type of personality that makes sex of any kind, in any venue, unlikely.
Heh.
Actually, the link to the other site is http://montclair.patch.com. Weirdly enough, they actually seem to do some original reporting.
By taking on too many towns, B’Net will lose its edge in its core towns where original reporting is concerned.
That was an exceptionally unnecessary, unfair post of yours above, croiagusanam. It’ll maybe make a few groundlings chortle, but otherwise it was just cruelty.
Am I supposed to also believe that you, by contrast, probably cavort faunlike in public parks if the spirit moves you?
That the Baristas have clearly decided to attempt to exploit this story unmercifully and shamelessly does not make their milking of it any more fairminded, journalistically appropriate or even halfway accurate. What really is the purpose of the item above? What, even, is a “gay civil libertarian” if it comes to that? Why are things to be so demarcated by gender preferences? Especially in, however it really played out, what sounds like a squalid incident which might not have even happened if there’d been some commitment to conventional standards of deportment and self-control. (On the sides of both the police and any “cruisers” involved, to be sure.)
And it should also be pointed out in reasonable fairness that ROC was one of the earliest-posting skeptics about the official version of this incident.
I really could not be less interested in your verdict regarding my post, cathar.
Cruelty? I wonder what your frequent and rather tiresome tirades against lasermike, spiro, mike, jerseygurl, et al would be called.
Physician, heal thyself.
“it’s a little odd, don’t you think leaving flowers for someone he doesn’t know?”
i think it’s less odd (and far less creepy) than someone who comments online incessantly, feeling the need to share (and then blindly defend) every knee jerk thought that crawls thru their brain.
Patch is actually pretty awesome, the South Orange edition is the only place to get reliable local news.
Flowers aside (which I think was a nice gesture), I don’t see this incident as a gay vs. non-gay issue. The victim, for all intents and purposes, appeared to not have lived his life as an outed gay man.
We should be upset not because the victim was gay or straight, black or white but that an unarmed man was shot to death. Yes, he is alleged to have been participating in a questionable activity but nothing that warranted being shot to death.
We now know the “who,” we need to know the “why.”
Good for you! How many of those “wedding crowd activists” would dare to dirty their hands by delving into this messy situation.
After all, this guy might have been a frustrated closet denizen seeking a necessary “promiscuous” release.
The “proper” establishment gay organizations simply are not geared to deal with ‘real life’ situations like that.
Right of Center makes me sick. Also, I looked it up- ROC does NOT hold the ‚Ñ¢ on “Right of Center”! Let’s hope there isn’t an undercover sting… he may be shot next time he is cruising in Branchbrook for other unsuspecting trade-mark holder frauds!
But, to stay on topic, the real issue IS why an unarmed person would be shot in a public park (OK, ROC included,‚Ñ¢ or not), whatever recreational activities they may or may not be participating in. That deserves a full investigation at city, county, state, and if necessary, federal level.
Frankly speaking, this story is of importance for everyone in the state of New Jersey, gay and straight, black and white, urban and suburban, Republican and Democrat, liberal and conservative. It has to do with how citizens are treated by law enforcement, which laws are enforced, and most especially how much tax money is spent enforcing those laws. Everyone who reads about this incident, and other incidents, should have some opinion on all those things, hopefully based on some sense of decency and humanity.
My own sense is that undercover policing in such venues is a waste of money and manpower, period. With Newark having to close heavily used libraries because of budget cuts, with police forces facing layoffs and local government going into shutdown mode one day a week — this is no time to be out wasting $$$ busting [portion of comment deleted] in the park. If the common citizen is told he must make do with fewer services across the board, why haven’t these bozos gotten the message from the folks at the top who write their budgets? This, of course, is in addition to training their officers to be able to take control of an unarmed individual with minimum force and no gunfire!
This story is emblematic of so much coverup and corruption and ineptitude inside the establishment that only the sheep among us can be excused for not feeling violated on one level or another. With a governor whose background is in prosecuting corrupt pols and whose mission now seems to be protecting the super-rich from taxation while putting everyone else on a diet, “business as usual” needs to be questioned at every opportunity. To look at this incident narrowly as just a morals issue or just a police issue is to ignore the bigger picture.
I like how this is a gay issue.
It’s only a gay issue on any level whatsoever if you believe the officer’s story. And I find the officer’s story to be wholly shady. So as far as I am concerned it’s a police misconduct issue until such time as it’s conclusively proven otherwise.
If only he obeyed the law and listened to the officer.
reasonable theory, herb, assuming the cop is clean.
… and soon we will be hearing the pitter-patter of little lawyer feet. Check the [real] news for the results of the Sean Bell lawsuit.
Normally I’d offer that many of the comments on this matter are simply silly and unfounded, but ones like Amandala’s above are also unfortunate and judgmental. The partisan yammering that people like her offer up in lieu of a genuine willingness to wait for an official inquiry and to sift through what few “facts” have been offered up to date reminds me of the line from the 60′s, to the effect that if you don’t like cops, “then the next time you’re mugged call a hippie.”
Can we all at least agree that Gaymon was probably not at Branch Brook Park to see the cherry blossoms? (Or, sort of like Bogart as Rick Blaine in “Casablanca” re the spa waters, he was wildly misinformed as to when they’re actually in bloom?)
ROC wrote: “What did he learn?”
More, much more, than you have any hope of ever learning.
While I agree this piece has little or no value to the case besides a reporter (who happens to be gay) took a little day trip to a crime scene. Sounds similar to a NJ person describing in detail their day trip to Radio City Music Hall to watch Bon Jovi or the Boss perform.
ROC – The flower comment is pretty weak as Lady Di had tons of flowers laid at her crime scene (do you think everyone personally knew her)? It was his money, his choice and hopefully the flowers were purchased in NJ to help local business.
I’d bet the purpose of the flowers was the photograph.
And the real purpose of this whole exercise (this “article”) is to frame this as a bias incident, of which there is absolutely no evidence.
A man doesn’t have to be armed to be shot justifiably by police. If for instance, a police officer who has a gun is in a struggle with someone and fears that he will be harmed to the point where he is rendered unconscious (i.e. punched in the face) and there is a struggle for the police officer’s gun, that officer would be 100 percent justified in shooting his assailant to prevent that assailant from getting the gun away from him (the officer) and killing him with his own gun. Unfortunately the media loves to gloss over that with sensationalist headlines like “Unarmed Gay Black Man Shot By Police”
Police are trained to always remember that there is always a weapon on any scene, that weapon is their own and they have to protect it.
No matter how kind or successful someone may be, if he has something very deep to hide, is it hard to fathom that maybe he fought the detective to evade being arrested for such an embarrassing act?
That’s a ‘bingo’, realitychk.
Bottom line…if the guy wasn’t trolling around the park looking to engage in deviant sex, he’d be alive.
Did he say: “beer cans and condom wrappers – about what the average person has in their trash”?? Why, yes he did. God Bless America.
That statement pretty much tells the reader that this guy lives in a different reality than most. The average person does not have beer cans and condom wrappers in their trash, I’d wager. But it was good for a laugh.
Yeah, fer real. I always put my condom wrappers in the recycling.
Terms like ‘gay’ and ‘straight’ are polarizing and obsolete.
Most people are a blend of both. The critical choice is ‘which which sex are you more comfortable being truly intimate with, sexually, emotionally, psychologically’ is usually what determines a persons choice for life partners.
A person can be sexually aroused by either sex but will function in society as a hetersexual or a homosexual.
Mr. Gaymon may not have been gay, but just another person who decided to, for whatever reason, to masterbate in public park. This is a really sh**ty way to lose ones life and to be excoriated by some as a ‘deviant’.
Listen to Billy Joel’s song, ‘The Stranger’. I think he nailed it with that piece.
“Mr. Gaymon may not have been gay, but just another person who decided to, for whatever reason, to masterbate in public park. This is a really sh**ty way to lose ones life and to be excoriated by some as a ‘deviant’.”
Masturbating in public is not deviancy?
I think it is. Gay, Straight or some blend in between.
Everyone’s a little bit gay, eh Mellon? Think again, you preee-vert!
ROC, haven’t you ever walked through the park on a beautiful day, felt the cool breeze blow up your thigh, and thought, hmmnn, nobody’s looking, I’ll just duck behind those bushes, among the beer cans and condom wrappers…
All this talk of deviants.
Can anyone posting above tell me the last time they took a kid to Branch Brook park?
I think there might be a playground close to some apartments (but that might not be the park anymore.) And I know of a few homeless bikers that use to sleep there when they weren’t drinking at that weird bar on the corner.
But anyway – just curious – seriously – can anyone posting above tell me the last time they took a kid to Branch Brook park? had a family picnic ? day trip ?
Can anyone posting above tell me the last time they took a kid to Branch Brook park?
I am shocked that you would suggest, hrhppg, that any of us would use the park as a destination for molesting young children. Really, that’s a low blow.
“Can anyone posting above tell me the last time they took a kid to Branch Brook park?”
Can you seriously be suggesting hrh, that it’s ok as long as kids aren’t present?
As for Branch Brook Park, when the kids were younger we went many a year in the spring when the cherry trees were blooming – It’s quite an event actually.
Lots of kids there during cherry blossom season.
pfffftttt!!!
(me spitting out a mouthful or orange flavored Airborne – yes it’s that time of year when I am visited by my good buddy, the summer cold)
Roo! Control yourself, Puh-leeze! at this rate, we’ll be losing you to the writing staff at SNL!
I’m not familiar with the area where the shooting took place, but I try to get to BB park at least once during cherry blossom season, and see tons of families there. Looking at the basilica from across the lake is spectacular. A former boyfriend found it to be such a special place that he proposed to me there, if that gives any perspective on its beauty.
“A former boyfriend found it to be such a special place that he proposed to me there.”
Ouch.
While I agree that people should not be having sex in public parks, I do think that a visible police presence would be a better way to deter this than undercover officers trying to catch these people. I realize that those interested in sex would likely just move elsewhere, but I believe that the concentration of police in Central Park’s Ramble has helped to clear that area of trawlers. It does seem that the opportunities for this type of fatal interaction would be lessened.
I’ve seen plenty of families in the park. Also, plenty of runners, bikers, older folks out for a stroll, etc. It is a lovely park and should be a safe haven for all.
(Sorry I haven’t added anything, but I was reading the “Fat man looks for food at Elevation Burger” story on Baristafood.)
“A former boyfriend found it to be such a special place that he proposed to me there.”
———————————-
After a bunch of strangers walked up to you and presented you with flowers?…Oh, wait, that’s another thread.
Now I’m wondering if hrhppg (who gets sillier by the post anyway of a usual day) is seriously suggesting that Branch Brook Park, because of the paucity of children seen there, should simply be turned into some kind of masturbatory refuge for sexual outlaws (who coincidentally, according to Mellon Brush, seem to be every one of us to some degree).
And also for those truly sad-sounding “homeless bikers” also noted above. (A tip, honey: if he can afford a Harley and its insurance, he very likely ain’t ever “homeless.”)
*yawn* cathy has a negative opinion? I’m shocked ! and bored. Yes homeless bikers – I never said harley or mentioned any proof of insurance and as you weren’t at said bar where they hung out how would you know anything about it? Your irrelevance is reaching new heights. Sorry about my silly posting on the topic of the death of a fellow MHS alumni cathy.
and no i wasn’t suggesting any thing with my question cathy – it was a question. And from your avoidance of an answer I’m guessing you haven’t been to Branch Brook park at all in years. So what is your concern on this topic?
Anyone who mewls sympathetically about “homeless bikers,” hrhppg, hardly merits a real response here. Even if they too happen to be fellow MHS alums.
And yet, out of pity I gave you one. (Even though “bikers” to me automatically connotes machines of 1000 ccs and up.)
I also personally last visited Branch Brook Park when the cherry blossoms were truly in bloom, and the park seemed quite populated with children and family groups. Perhaps you just missed that occasion and/or that realization?
Everyone needs to stick to the topic and stop taking shots at each other. LOL You’re all making yourselves look petty and foolish.
cathy has a negative opinion? I’m shocked ! and bored.
Is it open season on misspelling posters’ names? Oh good? Thank you, herpgag, thank you.
They can install Cameras in the problem Public Park Bathrooms like they do in Carson City, Nevada, or run their names across the evening news for the entire family and town to know what has happened to them. This has caused Doctors and Lawyers alike to flee overnight settle into bigger towns and cities like Detroit.
They can install Cameras in the problem Public Park Bathrooms like they do in Carson City, Nevada, or run their names across the evening news for the entire family and town to know what has happened to them. This has caused Doctors and Lawyers alike to flee overnight settle into bigger towns and cities like Detroit.