From the November 2008 Idaho Observer:


"All the truth, nothing but the truth, so help us God"

This was the motto of the paper I published in Middletown New York. The name of the paper was The Wallkill Journal, and I, Anthony Russo, the publisher, spent years relentlessly exposing government officials and public servants for their treasons against "We the people."

On many occasions over the years I was offered positions of prominence by the aforementioned traitors, always turning them down. Why would I want to be counted among the miscreants? I care too much for "the people" and too much for the truth. I had been threatened over the years and suffered greatly in my pursuit of the injustices and crimes against the people they were charged with protecting. In an effort to deter me, I was motivated even more to bring out the truths. I have fought against the powers of darkness with all the resources of God, and now I will tell you how they tried to silence me...

At 4 a.m. on December 24, 2004, I was returning from the corner store when I pulled into my driveway. I looked in the rearview mirror and saw, parked diagonally behind me, a police car with its lights on. It is safe to say that I was very concerned for I had not broken any of the traffic laws that morning. I rolled down the window to see what the officer wanted and to my utter astonishment Officer Darrel Agarin of the Wallkill Police Department yelled at me, "Mr. Russo, give me the gun you have in the car now!" To say I was shocked would be the understatement of the year. I didn’t have a gun in the car. I realize now that was the set up.

As I was sitting in the car, my back was still facing the officer and suddenly, without provocation, my life was changed forever. Officer Algarin started shooting at my car. I felt a thud in the middle of my back; bullets were smashing all around me. I was terrified! I went into a state of total shock and turned into the gunfire. I was shot a total of six times, twice in the shoulder, twice in the forearm, and once in the hand. This shooting was the long awaited assassination, the retaliation I was warned of. I realize now that had I not turned towards the gun fire, the two bullets that hit my shoulder would have hit my head! That’s about all I remember before it all went black...

What I am about to tell you I heard from concerned neighbors and officials that were at the scene. They all later testified at my trial. What they said is that Officer Algarin pulled me out of the car after shooting me. He then dragged me to the back of the car, which was facing the street. I now think he did this to make it look as though he shot me while I was outside the car, I don’t know. It was witnessed that he kicked me in the side and that is how my ribs were cracked. This was told specifically to me by Everett Moore, an eyewitness that Officer Algarin regrets having there. Moore saw the whole thing. Algarin then bent down over me and declared, "He is dead; call the coroner!"

He then placed a black tarp over me, letting me expire. All of the gunfire drew more witnesses, one of which was Dan McDunne. McDunne is a paramedic by trade. He was one of the first response teams called to the Oklahoma City bombing because of his well-known expertise. He also tried to attend to me after the shooting. His heroic efforts will never be forgotten. When he tried to come to my aid, Officer Algarin would not let him near me. He told McDunne, "Step away from him! We are waiting for the coroner to get here."

McDunne told me later that he heard Officer Algarin tell dispatch there was no need to send paramedics because I was already dead. Algarin’s ruse did not work. When the ambulance got there, they pushed their way over to me and shot something into me, and declared, "This man is not dead!" They put me on the gurney and proceeded to begin taking four of the six bullets that were most life threatening out of my body. These 45 caliber bullets were fired at me from no more than 15 feet away. Then it was off to the hospital for another harrowing experience.

It seems that Officer Algarin had a strong ally in renegade New York County Judge Jeffrey Berry, who was against me from the start. Officer Algarin, Jan B. Golding of The New York State Police Department, and Judge Jeffrey Berry all conspired against me to cover-up the failed assassination of Publisher Anthony Russo. It was only after being released from jail that I discovered these atrocities.

On my first face-to-face meeting with Judge Berry, my attorney, Mr. Hirsch, asked the judge to lower my bail from $300,000 to an attainable amount. Judge Berry refused initially citing that it was "not the nature of the crime but the man." The charges themselves were reduced from attempted murder to criminal possession of a weapon. The amped up original charge of attempted murder of a police officer, the grand jury would not indict me on. When the attorney informed the judge, "Your Honor last week in the town of Deer Park a man charged with a similar charge was given a bail of only $1,000, much less than the amount you are asking here."

The Judge replied, "Its different ‘scopes’ for different folks."

Bail was reduced to $200,000, an amount just as ridiculous and showed Judge Berry’s prejudice and bias. At the trial, police officers testified on my behalf. The testimony of the police would have been enough to dismiss the entire case from the court but Judge Berry ignored the testimony. The nightmare has not ended. There is not enough space to write all that I have endured.

For more information regarding this case, please contact me at Bare Hill Correctional Facility, my DIN # 05A5228, Caller Box 20, 181 Brand Road, Malone, New York 12953.

Anthony Russo

Note: Russo, 68, swears that the above "affidavit" is true and correct. For the "crime" of being an unarmed man shot by a cop, in his own driveway, without legitimate cause, in an apparently botched murder attempt, Russo was sentenced to 14 years in prison in October, 2005. The earliest possible release date noted by the state of New York is October, 2009.