Rich Pellegrino, Cobb County’s anti-enforcement “Village thinker” and violence advocate Rich Pellegrino can be contacted at Pilgrim1@mindspring.com 

Marietta Daily Journal ( pay wall )

Letters to the editor

July 3, 2016

Writer threatens ‘no peace’ for Smyrna, Cobb County

In numerous articles during the past year since this police-involved fatal shooting, the MDJ reported that the GBI, Cobb Police and DOJ have investigated this case and determined the shooting was justified. That is totally inaccurate as all local agencies were charged with investigating the case and presenting the results of the investigation — the evidence — to the district attorney, without any determination of justification, or not. The district attorney’s office then also conducted its own investigation and all of this evidence — over 1,300 pages of it, including multiple videos and witness testimonies — were condensed into a 30-minute presentation by the district attorney to the grand jury — the only body in this chain charged to determine whether there should be a criminal indictment, and with that limited time and information presented to them, they made a determination not to indict. That was the only agency or body which made any determination.

Having reviewed that body of evidence, along with other concerned citizens, including attorneys, it is clear to this writer, to even a lay person, that there was no way anyone or any group of citizens, like those comprising the grand jury, could effectively evaluate the mountains of evidence in thirty minutes time in order to render a fair decision and determination. Of course, the district attorney knew this, so his impartiality must be questioned, and therefore there must be a new independent special prosecutor and a new grand jury empaneled.

Failing this solution, I, along with other concerned individuals and organizations in this community, will be forced to try this and related cases in the streets and courts of public opinion, which we will continue to do through many avenues, echoing the words of the millennial youth and civil rights movements, “No justice, No peace” — if there is no justice in this case, there will be no peace for Smyrna and Cobb. As a parent of sons and daughters like Nicholas Thomas, I will not have peace nor will I rest until Officer Owens is off our streets, and, as a citizen of this county, I will not have trust in our justice system until the cover up of his wrong doing is ended.

Rich Pellegrino

Mableton    HERE