Ralph Cipriano (seen
in the bottom photo) offers a piece at BigTrial.net on the widow of a Philly cop (seen in the above photo) who was murdered by a criminal released by Philly’s progressive D.A.
Terri O'Connor
has a message for District Attorney Larry Krasner.
She's speaking
out for the first time since her husband, Corporal James O'Connor (seen in the below photo with his police officer son), was murdered
on March 13th. At the time, Corporal O'Connor and his fellow SWAT team members
were serving an arrest warrant on an armed and dangerous drug dealer who should
have been in jail, if it wasn't for Krasner's permissive policies.
The officer's
widow, a former police dispatcher, gave her speech on Thursday night at
an emotional "Back the Blue" rally held at the FOP lodge, where the
guests included Vice President Mike Pence.
During the four
long months since her husband was murdered, "I kept my mouth shut and I
kept my opinions to myself," Terri O'Connor said. "But I can say for
now, I will be the name, the face, the loud voice, whatever it takes. I will
try to make our district attorney's life miserable," she said to a
standing ovation.
"Someone
needs to make him [District Attorney Larry Krasner] pay for the pain he has not
only caused my family but is now continuing to do to our extended police
family," she said. "I will not go down without a fight."
Terri
O'Connor was remarkably composed when she came to the podium. At her side was
her son, James Jr., a police officer in the Sixth District, and FOP President
John McNesby.
"Hello
everyone, for those of you that don't know me, my name is Terri O'Connor,"
she began before giving a powerful four-minute speech
that left an audience in tears.
"I lost my
husband Jim four months ago in the line of duty. He was a member of the
Philadelphia Police for 23 years and he served as a corporal in the SWAT unit
for the last 15 years. Seventeen weeks ago tonight at around this same time Jim
and I were out celebrating my birthday. We had just come back from a fabulous
vacation four days prior."
"Life was
great," she said. "As empty nesters. we were already preparing for our
next vacation a short six weeks later, our 25th wedding anniversary."
"Roughly 12
hours later," she said, breaking into tears, "Jim was gone. He was
pronounced dead at 6:09 a.m. Jim was just doing his job. While just doing a job
he loved, his life was unfairly taken from him by a criminal who should have
never been out on the streets."
"Our world
fell apart," she said. "With him being gone nothing seemed right any
longer."
Terri O'Connor
is right when she says that Hassan Elliott, her husband's accused murderer,
should have been in jail.
On Jan. 24, 2018
in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court, Elliott pleaded guilty to a negotiated plea
of carrying firearms without a license. The judge sentenced Elliott to 9 to 23
months in prison and three years probation. But on Jan. 24, 2018, Elliott
walked out of court a free man because the judge accepted as his prison term
the amount of jail time previously served.
While he was on probation, Elliott was brought before the judge three times for alleged parole violations. But rather than put Elliott in jail for any lengthy time period, where he belonged, the district attorney's office repeatedly gave Elliott one break after another.
… If you wonder
why the murder rate this year in "Killadelphia" is on a record pace
for 400 homicides, look no further than the permissive policies of D.A. Larry
Krasner, the alleged criminal justice "reformer" who is directly
responsible for the death of Corporal O'Connor. And many more tragedies.
… Then, Terri
O'Connor took a public swipe at Mayor Kenney, known for his public pandering to
protesters, rioters, and looters, and empty rhetoric and outright disrespect
when it comes to the cops.
This is the same
mayor who just gave 756 protesters arrested by the cops during the George Floyd
riots a free pass, by announcing that he was dropping all the charges against
them.
"It's
pretty pathetic that the mayor from the small town of North Wildwood where we
spend about six weeks in summer has given our hero more recognition than our
own mayor," Terri O'Connor said, to wild applause.
… "Please
stay safe," Terri O'Connor told her extended cop family at the FOP.
"Please never forget Jim . . . a true hero who gave his life for the
city."
You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:
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