Christopher Ridley Case/Janet Difiore.

The Advocate
Richard Blassberg

Stanley Ridley, Father Of Slain Heroic
Police Officer Christopher Ridley, Declares,
“My Son Didn’t Have To Die That Way”

Last Tuesday morning, April 14th, a press conference was held at the site of the tragic shooting of Police Officer Christopher Ridley on January 25, 2008. The purpose of the press conference was to officially announce the filing of a $90 million federal lawsuit by Officer Ridley’s father,
Stanley Ridley, in United States District Court, White Plains.

The suit, which names Janet DiFiore, District Attorney of Westchester, individually and in her capacity as District Attorney, as well as the four County police officers directly involved in the shooting, together with their commissioner, Thomas Belfiore, Chief Medical Examiner Millard Hyland, and County Executive Andrew Spano, also names the County of Westchester, New York; nine Defendants in all, and seeks $10 million from each.

Stanley Ridley, the Plaintiff, is primarily motivated to uncover the truth, the whole truth, regarding what actually happened outside 85 Court Street, White Plains just minutes before 5pm on January 25, 2008. He knows, logically and instinctively, that much of what the district attorney
and her cohorts would have him, and the rest of us, believe is neither truthful nor believable; and, what’s more, that there are witnesses who insist that from their vantage point, much of what came out of the grand jury was a whitewash.

Mostly, Stanley Ridley wants to clear his son’s name, something he shouldn’t have to do except for Janet DiFiore’s demeaning fabrications that Officer Ridley would embark upon a mission to confront and apprehend a brutally violent perpetrator, Anthony Jacobs, who had just assaulted
and battered a middle-aged man, breaking both of the man’s wrists, but would carry out an arrest carrying only his service weapon, but leaving his badge, his universally-recognized symbol of police authority, behind in his car.

DiFiore would have Mr. Ridley, and all of us in Westchester with sense enough to tie our own shoelaces, believe that Christopher would first go running into the security entry area of the County Office Building seeking to enlist police assistance, with a gun in his belt, but no badge.

Witnesses very close to the action are saying it didn’t happen that way. They’re saying he was holding a badge in his right hand and his service weapon in his left hand, arms fully extended from his sides, facing three of the four County police officers standing no more than 10 feet from him when they opened fire, though his gun wasn’t pointed at any of them. Those witnesses are saying that he then dropped his badge and his gun on the sidewalk, and was going down to his knees when a fourth officer, who had taken cover behind a tree at the curb, came out and placed his gun, at point-blank range, and shot Officer Ridley in the head above his left eyebrow.

Witnesses also report seeing the entry wound with powder burns around it as Christopher Ridley’s body lay on the sidewalk, uncovered for some time; and, that the badge which lay on the sidewalk near him was quickly removed, even before White Plains police arrived on the scene.When Plaintiff Stanley Ridley went to the Westchester County Medical Examiner’s Office to identify his son’s mortal remains, he was shown Christopher’s body with his head wrapped in white bandaging from his eyebrows up.

He told reporters, “We want the truth, we want the tapes, and I want all the people involved in this brought to justice. My son didn’t have to die that way.” Responding to questions from a large contingent of newspaper and broadcast reporters, attorney Jonathan Lovett declared, “I have plenty of witnesses, but now we will have a tidal wave.” He cited District Attorney Janet DiFiore’s “repeated refusal to release the unredacted video
tapes.” Asked why the grand jury found the killing was an accident, Lovett responded, “Grand juries do what they are asked to do by the DA.”

Damon Jones, a Westchester Corrections Officer and President of the Westchester Chapter of the National Black Police Association, told reporters, “The Westchester County justice system needs an enema because it’s full of crap!” He went on to say that there were “lots of witnesses who came forward to the Mount Vernon police,” but that they were all directed to White Plains.

Jones expressed his opinion with regard to the DA’s investigation saying, “This case is a poster child for the need for a special prosecutor.”

There were no fewer than four surveillance cameras mounted on the County Office Building, and elsewhere, that took videotapes of the tragic events leading up to the killing of heroic police officer Christopher Ridley, and the shooting itself. The fact that District Attorney Janet
DiFiore has repeatedly refused to show the public the unredacted, untampered-with tapes for more than 15 months now, speaks volumes about the integrity of her investigation and the product of her grand jury.

This is the same district attorney, after all, who covered up the violence of Yonkers Police Officer Wayne Simoes, the rogue cop who bodyslammed Irma Marquez without justification; the same district attorney who then proceeded to prosecute Ms. Marquez on totally fictitious charges even after viewing the horrific videotape of Simoes’ unprovoked attack. Likewise, this is the same district attorney who prosecuted Rui Florim, who was brutalized by six off-duty Yonkers cops, and who prosecuted numerous other victims of Yonkers police brutality, including Dr. Sherry Bobrowsky.

Janet DiFiore is the same district attorney who, upon entering office, kept concealed, for 16 months, until compelled by the federal courts, to turn over 376 pages, 52 boxes, and miles of audio tape, all of which indicate Anthony DiSimone’s innocence in the stabbing death of Louis Balancio,
in Yonkers, 15 years ago, including a confession by the actual murderer, Nick Djonovic. How can Stanley Ridley, or any intelligent and reasonable
individual, trust anything as crucial as the investigation of the killing of their only child to such an individual?

Nevertheless, before and after the press conference, The Journal News made their bias very clear. On Tuesday, the day of the press conference,
Phil Reisman, who always drank the kool aid for Jeanine Pirro, willingly did the same for Janet DiFiore. For him, the Ridley tragedy and the failure of the DA’s Office to come clean, was merely about an effort to “take down the DA.”

The simple fact is DA DiFiore has refused to reveal the unredacted, unaltered videotapes taken by several surveillance cameras of the tragic incident. If those original images supported her version of the killing, she would have shown them to the public 15 months ago, would have
released the medical examiner’s report, and turned over articles of Christopher Ridley’s clothing to his family immediately.

Janet Difiore and Chris Ridley Case.

Thursday, April 16, 2009.

The Court Report
By Richard Blassberg

Father Of Murdered Heroic Police Officer
Christopher Ridley Sues DA DiFiore In Fed Court
If Allegations Prove Correct, DiFiore Faces Prosecution

Stanley Ridley, father of the late Christopher Ridley, the Mount Vernon Police Officer who lost his life nearly 15 months ago to a bullet fired by a Westchester County cop, has brought a $10 million lawsuit in Federal Court charging Westchester District Attorney Janet DiFiore with organizing and perpetuating a fraudulent cover-up of a “self-evidently racist murder of an African-American Police Officer”, his son Christopher Ridley, 23, “by a Caucasian County Police Officer.”

The Summons and Complaint filed last Friday, April 10, in United States Federal District Court, White Plains, alleges that DiFiore “enlisted the cooperation of her co-Defendants to hide from Officer Ridley’s father the circumstances under which his son had been executed.” It is further charged that, “DiFiore directed, and Hyland (Chief Medical Examiner Millard Hyland) agreed to keep secret the medical examiner’s report regarding Officer Ridley’s autopsy even though that document is a public record, because it would prove the fatal, albeit unnecessary point-blank gunshot to Officer Ridley’s forehead.” The complaint further charges, “Hyland arranged to have the upper portion of Officer Ridley’s head bandaged while he was in the morgue so that Plaintiff could not see either the entry wound above his left eye or the bulge in the rear of Officer Ridley’s skull.”

Interviewed by The Guardian, Stanley Ridley explained that he was bringing the present federal action against the District Attorney and all of her co-Defendants who have conspired to keep the truth from him and from the public, in an effort to clear his son’s name. In that connection, readers will remember the calculated effort by DA DiFiore to suggest recklessness on Officer Ridley’s part by way of attempting to mitigate the County’s role and responsibility in his tragic death; the whole fiction advanced that Officer Ridley was not displaying his badge while carrying his service weapon; that it was found left in his car.

There is a reason why Janet DiFiore has repeatedly refused to release the video recordings of no fewer than four, and possibly as many as six, cameras mounted on the County Office Building as well as at 85 Court Street, each overlooking the scene of the tragic incident. DiFiore has stubbornly refused to show the un-redacted, un-doctored tapes because they would clearly confirm what several horrified eyewitnesses saw, located within a few feet of Officer Ridley, and have reported, that he was assassinated by Officer Frank Oliveri.

Westchester Guardian/The Advocate/Janet Difiore.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

One Year Later, Serious Doubts Remain Regarding
DA DiFiore’s Handling Of Ridley Killing
Failure To Release Videotapes And Turn Over Clothing
And Personal Effects To Family Point To Coverup

Sunday, January 25, 2009 brought a bitter cold afternoon in White Plains; so cold that holding a camera was very uncomfortable, even with gloves on. Equally painful, and uncomfortable to experience, were the faces viewed through the lens, Janet DiFiore, Andy Spano, David Chong, Clinton Young, Ken Jenkins, clearly there attempting to appear to be showing profound respect for the memory of Mount Vernon Police Detective Christopher Ridley, and concern for his family and loved ones. Once again, as is so often the case with Westchester County
Government, it was a matter of image v reality.

It had been precisely one year to the day since Christopher, a 23-year-old Mount Vernon police of-ficer with two years on the job, was
killed by four Westchester County police officers while he was in the act of trying to apprehend and arrest one Anthony Jacobs, a psychiatrically disturbed individual in his 30s who Ridley, off-duty and visiting White Plains, had seen brutally assaulting a middle-aged
man on the street, breaking both of his wrists for not giving him a cigarette on demand.

The attempt to single-handedly bring Jacobs under control, despite having moments earlier reached out for help from County police officers within the County Martine Avenue, would prove fatal unresolved in the minds of those gathered Sunday to pay their respects.

Officer Ridley’s mother would briefly approach the podium in tears. His dad, Stanley Ridley, spoke of having given his son to the community and of how very much he was missed before he, too, broke into tears before the crowd of more than 150 friends and relatives who had come, not only to pay their respects, but to show their unwavering support for the saddened and still grief-stricken family.

The event was, essentially, built around the unveiling of a plaque in what would henceforth be known as “Christopher Ridley Plaza”, the
and immediately adjacent to, 85 Court Street, site of the tragic incident that claimed the young police officer’s life.

Stanley Ridley, his father, could not hold back his tears, and paused to compose himself three times as he told those gathered, “This has been a very hard year. To even think about not being with him is hard, let alone thinking I won’t be able to see him get married or see grandchildren. He was my only son, and it’s been hard.”

The event was complete with a color guard and statements by Reverend W. Franklyn Richardson, pastor of Mount Vernon’s Grace Baptist Church, Stanley Ridley’s employer, as well as County Executive Andy Spano. Richardson’s remarks seemed somehow very restrained
in light of his prior anguish over the secrecy that surrounds the case. There was a candlelight ceremony and prayer offering. Everything had been orchestrated and choreographed by Larry Schwartz, who was careful to check things over, and then disappear before too many media arrived.

Therein lay the rub. From the mo-ment of Christopher Ridley’s tragic death, Larry Schwartz and Janet DiFiore have been working over-time
Rev. Richardson addresses the gathering to conceal the truth and to put a spin on the official account designed to limit the County’s liability
and responsibility, even to the point of making the actions of a young heroic cop come off looking reckless and unprofessional. As
usual, they will stop at nothing to cover their backsides, even resorting to the suborning of perjury. Those in the crowd with whom we
spoke were not particularly convinced by the DA’s version of the shooting death.

Furthermore, DiFiore’s absolute refusal to turn over Christopher’s clothing and personal effects, including his wallet, to his family, has irritated his parents and caused many to openly question her version of events.

Many are put out with DA DiFiore’s refusal to release the videotapes. Some have pointed to the release of the cellphone video of the
January 28, 2006 shooting of off-duty New York City Police Officer Eric Hernandez, at a White Castle restaurant in The Bronx, by a fellow
police officer who mistook him for an assailant when he refused to drop his gun, and shot him, inflicting severe leg injuries that ultimately
took his life 11 days later.

They point to the fact that Bronx DA Robert Johnson, and the New York City Police Department, released the tape of that tragic shooting slightly less than two years to the day prior to Of-ficer Ridley’s death, leaving absolutely no doubt as to what had actually occurred,
and serving to corroborate DA Johnson’s, and the grand jury's findings.

DiFiore’s refusal to release the video surveillance tapes, taken by as many as six cameras, bought, installed, and maintained with County taxpayers’ funds, is seen as just one more indicator that her account of events, the report released by her grand jury, who listened to witnesses whose accounts were closely controlled by her office would not, in fact, be borne out.

Given their unbearable suffering and loss, the parents and loved ones of Detective Christopher Ridley are entitled to know the truth about the
tragic events that took him from them forever. The People of Westchester who rely upon a District Attorney and a County Executive to
carry out their sworn duties to protect and inform them, are likewise entitled to know the truth.