Cory Booker reached out to Ed Koch last night, after the former NY Mayor called for Booker’s involvement in the DeFarra Gaymon shooting. After their chat, Mayor Koch came away with a better understanding of the Newark Police Department vs. the Essex County Sheriff’s Department and modified his statement (after the jump).
Koch will be discussing the Gaymon incident and taking calls on his weekly Bloomberg radio show – Ed Koch, The Voice of Reason — tonight, between 7-8pm.
We know Koch wants to hear from Baristaville on this, and we know you all have lots to say. Click here to listen between 7-8pm or call 1-800-971-1130 to join the discussion. You can also find the show at 1130 on the AM dial, XM, 129 and Sirius, 130.
Here’s what Mayor Koch said after his call from Cory Booker:
I mistakenly concluded that the undercover police officer who fired the weapon that killed Mr. Gaymon in the Branch Brook Park was a member of Newark’s Police Department and, therefore, under the control of Mayor Cory Booker. In fact, the police officer was a member of the Essex County Sheriff’s Department.
I spoke with Mayor Booker yesterday, he having called me to correct the misinformation, and apologized for my error. He is very concerned with the killing incident and seeking ways to prevent a reoccurrence.
Tune in for the conversations, and take Baristanet’s comment section to another dimension.
Oh, no, please… put back the photo of Koch from the 1970s… quickly.
Where is Al Sharpton when you need him?
Just a few days on Baristanet, and Ed Koch has aged markedly.
I think there are alot of mistaken conclusions on this board about this case.
Mayor Booker is wasting time trying to prevent a recurrence of the incident…Mr. Gaymon is sadly dead; recurrence is not an issue.
While this incident has touched me, and my heart goes out to the Gaymon family, I think it’s more about am innocent man being shot and killed than a gay innocent man being shot and killed (innocent in the sense that Mr. Gaymon didn’t appear to commit a crime worthy of losing his life). But would Ed Koch care about this sans the gay angle?
Maybe it is time, though, to put this issue to rest. I’m even boring myself talking about it…
Whoa, Nellie–it’s quite presumptuous for you to ‘put the issue to rest’ and ‘be bored of it’ when it’s not your family or loved one who was killed, and you don’t live in that community.
I draw no conclusions about what happened because I wasn’t there, but this is a case that screams for an independent investigation, which so far has not been initiated. It is not time to put it to rest. Doing so would signal to the Essex County Sheriff’s Office that their handling of the case and its aftermath has been acceptable. It isn’t.
Ed, you haven’t been losing your keys and finding them in the refrigerator, have you… ? And I think it is cool that the Ed Koch Radio show runs on the Bloomberg network. Your doin’ fine, Ed.
At this rate, Koch will look like this by 5 pm.
That is very astute of you indeed, walleroo!
KBR, I meant in terms of putting it to rest on B’Net because we’re talking more about Ed Koch’s picture than the issue (Not saying it’s not funny, walleroo). It seems that we’ve exhaused the topic, in the absence of a major development.
It might behoove those who feel strongly about this to contact the sheriff’s office and ask for an independent investigation.
KBR, if you’ve read any of my previous comments on
thios, you would see that I am not indifferent to this tragedy. Regardless of what did or didn’t happen in the park, it seems that this poor guy just wanted to attend his high school reunion and didn’t deserve the fate he suffered. This situation has saddened me.
Fair enough, Nellie–I agree that the Ed Koch angle doesn’t add much to the discourse, although I appreciate that Koch has tried to bring light to the issue.
This case has really haunted me, and I can only begin to imagine how the family must feel knowing there’s a very good chance this will be swept under the rug forever unless there is a major public outcry. I am assessing how I can help make sure that doesn’t happen.
… there’s a very good chance this will be swept under the rug forever unless there is a major public outcry….
Sorry to let you know this, but there’s an absolute certainty that this has been swept under the rug forever with or without a major public outcry.
The problem is that we don’t require immediate investigations when a civilian is injured by an officer. We don’t blink an eye if a train engineer or aircraft pilot is immediately questioned after an incident and subjected to toxicology tests, but somehow we as a society accept very different treatment of the police.
Good point, appletony. In addition, even children who have witnessed horrific crimes are questioned as witnesses immediately despite their emotional condition.