Andrew J Hanlon
I have spent the morning over on Bock’s site.
Andrew J Hanlon
I have been reading the full story of Andrew Hanlon, and his death on the 30th June last. It makes for very disturbing reading.
The facts, as far as I can ascertain are:
- Andrew Hanlon [20] from Dundrum was shot down and killed in Oregon on Monday the 30th June.
- He was unarmed.
- He was shot seven times [twice in the arm, three times in the abdomen, once in his thigh and once in his back] by police officer Tony Gonzales.
Tony Gonzales
- Gonzales was suspended with full pay after the event.
- The medical examiner refused to give a copy of the autopsy report to the family, who will have to wait six weeks for information about the causes of his death.
- Gonzales has since been arrested on allegations of two charges of first-degree sexual abuse and three of third-degree sexual abuse.
- There is a disturbing lack of information from the authorities who are examining the case.
There are some very disturbing questions here.
- Why was an unarmed man shot seven times?
- Why was he shot in the back?
- Why are the authorities being obstructive?
I suggest you head over to Bock’s site and read for yourself. It is disturbing reading.
Andrew was laid to rest on Monday.
But in the meantime, his family not only had the expense of bringing Andrew home, but have an ongoing battle ahead of them to uncover the truth.
Andrew’s family have set up a fund to help with their costs. If you’d like to contribute, these are the details.
Account name: Kate Hanlon re Andrew Hanlon Home Fund
Account number: 08376045
Sort code: 93 13 30
Bank: AIB, Terenure, Dublin
Of course it’s shocking, You are absolutely right. But is it more shocking because of the media interest (including bloggers) in the case? How many poor unconnected non-white non media savvy people are killed daily ? Look at the chinese and the house clearances. Darfur. North Korea. But America itself is shocking almost beyond belief.
Check out the LA homicide blog at http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/homicidereport/
Poor Andrew’s case would merit a line or two.
And of course I will contribute. Action is important. And by the way, the print media is laden down with lazy bastards who send time trawling the net instead of getting out there – we’ve all been robbed.
Kerryview – You are, of course, spot on about the media interest. Look at the Madelaine McCann case where you would think she was the only child ever to have gone missing. What I find so repulsive is the constant bleating by the Americans about ‘The Land of the Free’ and ‘Freedom’ and holding themselves up to be a shining light in this world of darkness. They are a society gone mad with their ‘shoot first, question after’ policy. That link of yours is the perfect example. Naturally this case has hit the headlines here because of the Irish connection. That doesn’t diminish it in any way though. Nor does it diminish any of the other atrocities that seem to happen in the States on a daily basis.
Of course I agree, Grandad. I’ve been getting kinda moody recently. It is good to see the blogland can deal with serious matters, along the the cynical sneering stuff. The very least we can do is support those cases we know about (also join Amnesty). We MUST support those cases, it is our human responsibility. Posting/emailing/sending money, all these things can help the Andrew Case.
I am sorry for the family. But I will not rush to judgment. A policemen coming upon a burglary does not know what to expect and they have seconds to make a judgment that we can spend hours and day thinking about. Early reports , which are not always reliable, indicate that Andrew had runs in with the law on earlier occasions. They also report 7 bullet holes, but a total of 5 shots fired. At least two of the bullet holes maybe exit wounds. Despite what is shown on TV, cops don’t shoot unless they feel they have to. Knowing how anti law enforcement our news media is, I am sure that any irregularities will be extensively reported. Our legal system, news media, and society are not perfect, but I will with hold judgment until the facts have been examined by the system. Police officers can and do go to jail for their crimes, but not until they have had a chance to defend themselves in a court of law. If the officer is guilty I’ll be glad to see him off the streets and in a jail cell.
Only five bullets hit Andrew? And only one between the shoulder blades?
Oh, well that’s all right then. If only we’d known.
Andrew was barefoot, unarmed, and weighed 9 stone.
Gonzales was a seventeen-stone martial arts instructor and ex-Marine cage-fighter with a gun. He must have been terrified of Andrew.
I didn’t see details of any previous run-ins Andrew had with the law, by the way. Maybe you’d provide references for that statement, and maybe you’d also explain how you know a burglary took place.
I am sorry about Andrew,this happens more than you might think,and the police will slow any investigation, hoping it just get shelved away.Follow this link and you will see it happens way to often in any state here in the U.S. and other countrys. http://www.badcopnews.com/category/oregon/
I had to withdraw from the comments on Bocks as it was all getting very emotional and angry over there. It’s a very sad and disturbing situation and I feel deeply for the family.
Hopefully some justice will be served however without proper advocates for Andrew in the US I fear that this may not happen.
The link to the news story is http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/family-of-irishman-shot-by-us-police-must-wait-six-weeks-for-autopsy-results-13898325.html
These are quotes in the story from Mr Hanlon’s sister, Melanie Heise
“The 20-year-old, originally from Sandyford, Dublin, was shot dead on Monday night in the town of Silverton, Oregon, by Officer Tony Gonzalez, who was responding to a reported robbery in progress.”
“She said Andrew, who in recent months had begun to experience slight psychological problems, had two bullet holes in his arm, three in his abdomen, one in his thigh and one between his shoulder blades.
However, she said she believed he was shot five times and that two bullets inflicted both entry and exit wounds.”
The officer may very well be guilty and if so I hope he receives the appropriate punishment, but I won’t join a lynch mob until I know more about the circumstances.
That word “reported” will turn out to be very important. There’s no evidence of a robbery, and I believe there never will be.
Gonzales wasn’t frightened. He had more than a few seconds to react as he and his companions hunted Andrew down the hill and put five or seven bullets in him, including a number of shots as he lay face down on the ground screaming for mercy.
Melanie Heise (Andrew’s sister) has since said that she deeply regrets saying anything about psychological problems when door-stepped by a reporter. The remark was made off the cuff after she had just found out her brother had been killed, and was used in a colloquial way. Andrew was never diagnosed with any psychiatric illness, and even if he had been, I don’t believe the US yet has a death sentence for being mentally ill. (Though I begin to wonder). Melanie has apologised to the family for the comment.
If I had lost my job, had nowhere to live, and if my visa was expired and I was facing the prospect of having to leave all my friends, I think I might have some slight psychological peroblems too.
You haven’t addressed the issue of previous “run-ins with the law”, as you put it. Would you please provide your references for that statement? I don’t believe Andrew was ever charged with anything, so perhaps you could clarify what you mean by “run-ins”.
We are a country blinded by self-love. It will probably get much worse before it ever begins to get better.
From the same article,
“On the occasion of one such incident, according to Jessica, the police told Andrew to calm down. “I don’t know the exact circumstances but I do know he had an interaction with the police.”
“I know he didn’t get arrested but the police came and calmed it down.”
As I have said in all of my posts, I would prefer to wait until the investigation is complete before making any judgments. I don’t know if the officer is innocent or guilty. When I know more, I may very join you in condemning his actions , but I won’t until then. I realize that this makes me part of a small minority in the comments of this blog.
I live far from Oregon, in South Carolina. In this area in the last three years there have been three police officers shot and killed while on duty. Its a job I know I would not want to do.
I wish Andrew were still alive, I also wish these three officers were.
If the Silverton police told me to calm down, I’d certainly do what they advised.
Who wouldn’t?
PS Why does a South Carolina commenter have a French flag?
Grandad? Tech stuff?
Don’t mention the flag, Bock. Look at me with a Union Jack. It’s not Grandad’s fault, unless of course I have been asleep since 1916.
Bock – If I use my PC at home I get the USA flag, but I work for a Swiss company that use a French ISP.
Ah. I see.
As custom in law enforcement agencies in America, an officer involved in any shooting is placed on administrative leave until the investigation is completed to judicial disposition. He hasn’t been suspended with pay. As a follow up, he has since been arrested on allegations of sexual abuse unrelated to the current investigation. The family of Mr. Hanlon has been quoted in the media that they are in full cooperative discussions with the officials involved in their sons’ death and both parties have agreed to not disclose the results of those discussions. So, unless you’re a family member with priviledged information or a member of the investigative team involving Mr. Hanlon, I would refrain from conjecture and conspiracy theories.
Full cooperative discussions.
I didn’t hear that. Where did you see the quote?
Police are evil. End of story.
That has to be the most crass comment on this subject yet.