I thought I had read it all by the liberal writers of The Post.
The Jan. 17 front-page article by Wil Haygood was the most offensive article I have ever read.
Haygood glorifies and makes a martyr of Wilbert Rideau. All Rideau did was rob a bank, kidnap three people, hold them hostage, shoot all three and finally stab one to death. Where is the compassion for the victims and their families? Rideau freely admits that he committed the crimes, yet where is his remorse? Nowhere in the article does he say he is sorry for his actions. He even tries to put a spin on the death, saying it was a "killing" and not a "murder." There is only minimal response to Rideau's actions from the victims' families. Rideau said he "had no choice" that day, but we all have choices. It's almost as if he is blaming his victims for his actions. Yes, Rideau is black, but that does not excuse his actions that day. All the talk about the jury and trials does not exclude the fact that he is guilty of the crimes. All of the people who oppose the death penalty and try to retroactively apply "social justice" to this and other crimes such as this would probably think differently if it was their mother, wife, husband, father or other loved one who perished that day.
-- Steven K. Hall
Fredericksburg
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I am puzzled by Wil Haygood's story celebrating the release from prison of Wilbert Rideau.
In 1961, Rideau robbed a bank at gunpoint, took three hostages, shot them all and then stabbed one to death. He was tried for murder three times, convicted each time and sentenced to death. But each sentence was overturned, until this month he was convicted of manslaughter instead and freed.
Rideau does not deny his guilt. But for Haygood, the case isn't about guilt or innocence. He sees the case as "a decades-long ordeal for a man who had gained fame as a prison journalist." This is where I get confused. Shouldn't anyone who kills and robs expect his life to be an "ordeal"? Isn't that how we deter crime and punish criminals?
Killers-turned-journalists are still killers, aren't they?
-- Michael W. Steinberg
Bethesda
