This week, a guy out on bail on bank robbery charges shot five strangers at a bus stop, killing one. Do his relatives express their regret at his behavior? Do they apologize to the victims for their relative’s crime? Do they retreat in shame from public view? Do they repudiate him?
No, of course not. In today’s victim culture, even the criminals are victims. According to Lamar Tillery’s family it’s the police department’s and judge’s fault. It was a “cry for help.”
Tillery was let out of jail Oct. 21 when a separate bank robbery case pending against him was dismissed by Dorchester District Court Judge Rosalind Henson Miller after she’d waited more than three months for prosecutors to return a grand jury indictment. The indictment came two days later and a warrant was issued for Tillery’s arrest.
“It’s the judge’s fault,” Tillery’s cousin said. “It sucks. Now this boy is done. It’s sad. A life was taken. Two families have been torn apart. What can you say?”
Maybe granting bail was a bad idea and the judge could be blamed for that. But the shooting belongs to Tillery. He pulled the gun out, he aimed it, and he sprayed enough bullets to hit five people.
