Jonathon Edington: In Wake of Revelation, Some STILL Defend Vigilante Justice
Yesterday, we all gaped in awed terror at the revelations surrounding Jonathon Edington. Edington had murdered his neighbor Barry James after Edington’s 2-year-old daughter seemed to accuse James of sexual molestation. But police say that they are certain that no molestation ever occurred. My opinion piece on this case was featured on the social bookmarking site Reddit, where it sparked a furious discussion on vigilante justice. What’s amazing about the thread is that some people are still defending Edington’s use of vigilante justice against James.
One flagrantly irrational user, jjsonp, insists that the cops may well be manufacturing a picture of innocence for Barry James in order to gain a conviction against Edington. When I pointed out to him that the police wouldn’t call themselves “confident” that this incident never happened without strong evidence, the user replied, “bullshit. the cops make false statements all the time. how many ‘terrorist’ cases have we had in the past year where we heard all the ’solid evidence’ law enforcement had, only to see those cases evaporate?” Nice fear-mongering, dude (or dudette). If you have specific evidence of police corruption in this case, I’m sure the FBI would love to hear it. Otherwise, don’t insult all of the brave men and women in our nation’s police forces, who put their lvies on the line for minimal pay so that your sorry ass can live in peace and comfort.
Most users were much more rational. In response to the accusation that police make shut up, user asbjxrn retorted, “I think the moral of this story is that so do 2 year olds.” And user pstuart provided direct evidence of how active a child’s imagination can get:
Tags: connecticut, fairfield, homicide, jonathon-edington, murder, sexual-abuseMy 3 year old daughter described an act with Micky Mouse that freaked me and my wife out. Who knows where the hell it came from. It clearly wasn’tbased on reality.
“Strong statements from a 2 year old” is verging on an oxymoron.
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5 opinions for Jonathon Edington: In Wake of Revelation, Some STILL Defend Vigilante Justice
Anonymous
Oct 20, 2006 at 8:39 am
Jonathan Edington: In Wake of Revelation, Some STILL Defend Vigilante Justice…
Yesterday, we all gaped in awed terror at the revelations surrounding Jonathan Edington. Edington had murdered his neighbor Barry James after Edingtons 2-year-old daughter seemed to accuse James of sexual molestation. But police say that they are certa…
Albo
Oct 20, 2006 at 9:06 am
As the father of a 9 year old girl, I can sympathize somewhat with how Mr. Eddington felt. If someone told me my daughter was molested, I would freak out as well.However, I would NOT arbitrarily run to the person who I think did it and murder him.Many people fantasize about vigilante justice,even movies have been made about it. Rmember Death Wish?.In light of the recent revelations from the police that there was no molestation,the dangers of vigilante justice are apparent. The full weight of the law will and should come down on Mr. Eddington for his actions.
ann adams
Oct 21, 2006 at 11:18 am
Okay, I finally found this.
I said when this first happened that no matter what I might have liked to do to anyone who touched my kids, what the parent did was wrong.
Whether or not the man was guilty, we have laws for a reason. His probably being innocent only compounds the tragedy.
Sam
Oct 23, 2006 at 2:15 pm
Rest in peace Barry James.
But for Jonathon Edington, may you hate yourself forever, may you miss your daughters’ upbringing, may you regret that fateful day forever, may you always sleep in fear, and may you always fear you death. Your judgement day is coming.
Alice
Oct 27, 2006 at 4:01 am
See, this is what I said all along: what the hell is going to be said if it turns out this guy was innocent? “Oops”?
THIS is why I disagree with the death penalty. THIS is why I disagree with the kind of *justice* that people like Jonathon Edington dish out. Because there are so many instances where that piece of *justice* turns out to be *murder*. Because there are too many instances where it turns out that actually, “oops” we/he/she/they were wrong.
Does that mean I agree with child molesting? No. Does that mean I think there should be no justice? No.
Does that mean I feel that things should go through the proper channels?
Damn straight.
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