I don’t have evidence to support my postulation, but I believe the Theodore Edgecomb murder trial was scheduled for January to circumvent the possibility of his guilty verdict inciting a riot.
Because the outcome was preordained, I hypothesize ‘JUST-US’ officials delayed the trial until the dead of winter, knowing Black folks don’t riot when it’s cold. Instead, we will internalize our frustration, complain and cuss behind the doors of our well-heated rental apartment doors.
We will cuss, fuss and lust for justice. But we won’t take our frustrations outside if there is snow on the ground.
Or, we go on social media and radio and vent.
Through the prisms of many, if not most African Americans, Theodore Edgecomb’s trial for killing a White attorney by accident—or self-defense—was not merely about his deadly response, but more so whether there are two systems of justice in America, one for privileged Whites and the other—the JUST-US system—for Black victims of oppression, systemic bias, and apartheid.
From that perspective, the justice system was on trial, and Edgecomb was a victim of ‘bike riding while Black.’
In case you’ve been living under the James Groppi Bridge (a Black History Month reference), Edgecomb was convicted last week of killing a ‘prominent, White immigration attorney, ‘Jason Cleereman, during what was described as a road rage incident 16 months ago near Brady Street.
Edgecomb rode his bike en route to an eastside restaurant when he was struck by a vehicle driven by Cleereman’s wife, Evangelina.
According to reports, Jason Cleereman, intoxicated and high on drugs, was sitting in the passenger seat.
The Cleeremans’ reportedly tapped Edgecomb’s bike as he merged into traffic, setting off a chain of events that ended with him shooting Cleereman in the head a few minutes later.
According to conflicting trial testimony, after the vehicle swerved in an attempt to avoid hitting Edgecomb, an angry Cleereman called the bicyclist a ‘nigger’ (not n-word) as his similarly intoxicated wife drove away.
A verbal confrontation ensued moments later when the Cleereman vehicle stopped at a street light.
Edgecomb approached the passenger side of the vehicle, asking if the drunken attorney had used the ‘n-word’ (‘nigger’).
He testified that not only did the drunken attorney acknowledge using the racist epithet but belligerently used it again, prompting Edgecomb to punch him in his face.
Edgecomb rode off— heading north (toward freedom, we can only assume) across the Holton Street bridge.
Several seconds later, he jumped the curb redirecting toward a flight of stairs that would have taken him to a small park below the bridge. But he never made it, as Cleereman, who had followed in hot pursuit, jumped out of his vehicle and approached him ‘aggressively,’ Edgecomb said.
At that point, Edgecomb either pointed his gun at Cleereman, and it accidentally discharged, or he shot him in self-defense as, he testified, the attorney lunged toward him.
I provided those different scenarios as both were introduced during the trial, providing conflicting testimony that may have contributed to the defendant being found guilty.
Originally, Edgecomb stated he acted in self-defense, a justification that drew national attention since it involved a Black man killing a White man of privilege. His defense plea replicated the defense of that ‘racist roach in training,’ Kyle Rittenhouse, who had only months before been exonerated for the killing of two ‘demonstrators’ in Kenosha following that city’s riots in 2020.
The disturbance followed an incident in which Kenosha police officer Rusten Sheskey shot an unarmed Black man, Jacob Blake, seven (or was it 70?) times in the back as he entered his car.
Sheskey claimed he unloaded his gun because he was fearful for his life. In essence, it was acting in ‘self-defense.’
Many Black folks saw a link between the Rittenhouse and Edgecomb cases, although that connection was at best misapplied or symbolic.
What wasn’t in doubt was that everybody and their mama’s sister agrees had Rittenhouse been of a darker hue, he would have received the death penalty for his actions (even though it’s not currently offered in Wisconsin).
Instead, I posit had Rittenhouse been a tribal member, he probably would not have made it to trial.
Given my grasp of ‘His-story,’ I could envision the great, great-grandchildren of the Waukesha ‘abolitionists’ who marched from that upper-middle-class community in 1854 to free escaped slave Glover from the Milwaukee jail, would replicate that historical event to steal Edgecomb away from his legal captures.
But instead of giving him a bus ticket to Canada, this time, they would lynch him on the courthouse steps where we rallied during the Justice for Ernie Lacy demonstrations (another event worthy of discussion this month).
In fact, since this is Black History Month, I assume it’s appropriate to note there were over 3,100 ‘reported’ lynchings of innocent African Americans in the first five decades of the 20th century, 41% of which were for assault—fighting back or striking a White person. That figure is a significant undercount and only includes newspaper reports after 1910.
Oh, yes, you should also know a minimum of 1.8% of the Black victims were lynched for ‘talking back to a White person.)
While the residents of Waukesha have morphed from liberal abolitionists to right-wing conservatives over the last century, what hasn’t changed is the American ethos that a Black man cannot kill a White man, even in self-defense.
Nor has the fact that systemic racism dominates the American judicial system, particularly in Wisconsin, which has the highest Black incarceration rate in the country.
While that sardonic analogy might sound hyperbolic, it is the mindset of many African Americans who are at the boiling point given the tsunami of high-profile police and vigilante murders of innocent Black men and the emergence of White Supremacists; who want to ‘take back America.’ The confederate rebellion of January 6, 2021, was a warning shot across the bow that we can’t ignore.
Adding fuel to the fire in the Edgecomb case was a myriad of inconsistencies, investigative shortcomings, and the trial judge’s conduct, who seemed biased in applying the law.
Moreover, Cleereman’s wife acted irrationally (and illegally), a video was doctored, and police apparently botched their investigations counter-balanced Edgecomb’s shaky defense strategy.
It also spoke volumes that opinions on the case fell almost exclusively along racial lines. Many White folks made Cleereman out to be a saintly victim of an uncivilized Black male brute; a vengeful escaped slave.
Black folks saw Edgecomb as an innocent brother who was heading to a restaurant to purchase food for his daughter, for whom he sought to spend quality time. That endeavor provides Edgecomb with extra character ‘brownie’ points since over 70% of African American households are headed by women. A caring Black father, it is believed, is a rarity in Milwaukee and is worthy of accolades.
Moreover, in the eyes of many African Americans, Edgecomb was a victim, both of White privilege and institutional racism.
And therein lies the root of my assumption.
If you use social media and Black radio comments as a gauge, the verdict (albeit expected by most) was a match looking for a stick of TNT (not the television network).
The anger and vexation I’ve heard and read suggest frustrated people wanted to strike out— violently—at the system; they want to tear down the walls of American apartheid.
In fact, there were many threats made on the radio that indicated we could be revisiting the Kenosha riots.
Or, we would have had the verdict been issued during warmer weather.
Y’all know Black folks don’t riot when it’s cold, even if the fires from burning innocent businesses offer heat.
But make no mistake, this isn’t over (although the embers will probably start diminishing before spring).
Or maybe not.
One of the most enlightening discoveries in the court of public opinion was the contrasting comments of folks on the Sherwin Hughes and Tory Lowe’s shows on the Truth radio last week.
Sherwin, my favorite talk show host, dug deeply—and rationally— into the inconsistencies in the trial, but also the conduct of Edgecomb during and after the shooting.
Sherwin noted history would have taken a different turn had Edgecomb not violated his prohibition against carrying a gun because of pending charges of domestic violence. (Mentioning that latter point was a risky proposition, Sherwin acknowledged, since many tribal members felt any negativity or disparaging reports about Edgecomb distracted from the causation theories.)
Sherwin repeatedly stated his comments were in no way meant to impinge Edgecomb’s character or to tarnish his public persona but merely to state the obvious.
Had he not been carrying, chances are he would have merely whipped Cleereman’s behind—always bet on the Black— and been cited for assault or exonerated because Cleereman initiated the confrontation. While drunk.
Sherwin also noted that the case would have taken on a different connotation if Edgecomb had not fled the scene and left town (he was arrested in Kentucky six months later).
Most disconcerting, had Edgecomb not taken the witness stand or changed his testimony from self-defense to accidental shooting, the outcome would probably be different.
Sherwin was equally critical of the police, Cleereman, his wife (who chased Edgecomb and tainted evidence and apparently zooted herself), and Judge David Borowski.
Citing Borowski’s ‘bias’ and intemperate behavior, an anti-racism group “demanded he recuse himself.
Many of Sherwin’s listeners and fans seemed to be more tempered in their views, accepting of his analysis and unwilling to castigate the five Black jurors who voted for the guilty verdict.
That was not the case on Lowe’s show, which not only draws a younger, more bombastic audience but one that wanted blood, including that of the Black jurors, who were called everything under the sun but children of Nyame (God).
Several callers went so far as to suggest anyone who brought up Edgecomb’s past, including the two open cases against him at the time, were traitors to the Black cause, and should be tarred and feathered.
One caller, Lowe’s sidekick and I assume paid pundit, ripped into Black folks for not attending the trial and promised ‘this is not over.’ I presume her reference was about an appeal funded by Black folks. (That would be Black History in and of itself.)
I’m not mad at the angry brothers and sisters.
In fact, I agree with much of what was said about systemic racism (a perfect example of CRT), the tainted trial and Just-Us system, and biased reporting. I thought Edgecomb had a strong case given the video showing he was chased and evidence of Cleereman’s state of mind. But, then again, as a student of both history and His-story, I wasn’t surprised at the verdict.
As such, I fully understood Edgecomb’s rationale for heading south after the shooting (although I would have sought sanctuary in a monastery somewhere in Tibet instead).
The brother was right to assume he would not receive a ‘fair’ trial or would have been convicted even if he had a halo hanging over his head.
That said, I’ve been through too many battles, conducted too much research, and witnessed far too much to join with the myopic soldiers who questioned the Blackness of the five jurors because they vote their conscience.
I say that even though I probably would have voted differently for the same reason, I jumped for joy a lifetime ago when O.J. Simpson was exonerated for killing his ex-White wife and her lover.
In short, there was enough communal frenzy following the verdict to suggest the pot of Black frustration could spill over.
The only thing that saved this city was that the verdict came during one of the coldest periods of the new year.
And our African people don’t like the cold, even to protest.
Interestingly, while the FCC took notes during the two tapings, the Ken Harris show I next heard brought a cool drink to the discussion.
Harris (my second favorite radio host) started his show questioning the lack of community uproar over the discovery of six Black bodies in a house on 21 and Wright Streets. The six, including a woman, were murdered— Mafia-style.
Those murders brought city homicides to a record number for January, to almost one per day. And, sadly, most victims were ‘Hue-man.’
Yet aside from a few press releases and conferences in which the usual political suspects decry violence and appeal for sanity (like that’s worked), it was as if no one cared. No mass marches. No angry callers to the Black themed radio station. Not even a prayer vigil of significance, even if that ‘remedy’ is merely symbolic or falling on ‘deaf’ ears.
I could not help but wonder if even a microcosm of the frustration and passion directed toward the Edgecomb trial was directed to community building, restoring families, controlling the institutions in our community, where would we be?
I wonder what would happen if a mere two percent of the radio revolutionaries had voted in the school board elections if we would be having this discussion?
If voting in the most crucial election impacting our community was a litmus test for inclusion on radio, the airwaves would be silent.
Education is key to resolving most of the social ills impacting our community. Yet I don’t hear lively discussions on radio, in the media, or at the NAACP conferences about this social ill. Make that social ‘evil,’ since our apathy has resulted in the loss of two generations of Black children. Maybe even Edgecomb’s.
While we express anger and frustration over the Edgecomb trial, we lose sight of the future of those trapped in educational apartheid today will all but guarantee record murders, mass incarcerations, and tainted trials—hopefully with Black jurors—tomorrow.
I feel for Edgecomb. My heart bleeds for the children who will be forever tainted by his absence.
Theodore was in a no-win situation. One faced by Black men in this country every day.
I understand the nature of the beast—judicial apartheid–that doomed him from the second he punched Cleereman.
If you want to start a campaign to recall the judge, contribute financially to an appeal, seek federal—hell, United Nations—intervention, or even take all of our goods and move back to Africa, I’m with you.
But as long as you’re putting the cart before the horse, prioritizing what Polka tune Nero is playing as Rome burns around you, I have other things to do.
And I’m not waiting until summer.
Hotep.