We imagine by now, thanks to Netflix, you’re familiar with the case of Steven Avery and tales of alleged police corruption, but this guy’s story takes things to an insane new level.
John Lang from Fresno, California wasn’t pleased with the way that the local police were treating his community when he unearthed a local ‘scam’ that he claims the Fresno Police Department were running.
Basically, he accused them of scanning license plates while cars were parked up in low income neighbourhoods. They would then see whether they had any violations and pull over unsuspecting drivers when they left the store, claiming they’d come across the vehicle while on patrol.
Lang said:
This unethical and possibly illegal activity was simply motivated by ‘profit’ and unfairly targeted Fresno’s poorer residents.
He also discovered that the local paper, the Fresno Bee, was sharing the information of those who were critical of the law enforcement or local government with the police themselves.
Lang decided to share the the evidence he found online but his IP was logged and that’s when the trouble began. The police obviously weren’t happy with him grassing them up and began to make regular visits to his house to intimidate him.
Unfortunately for them, Lang recorded each of their visits and he managed to post their scare tactics online. They even once turned up in a van equipped with thermal imaging gear to check if he was in the house.
Lang believes the police wanted to use the equipment to see if he was in and potentially ‘set him up for various crimes’.
Things, however, took a very dark turn when he posted this on Facebook, along with a video:
He wrote:
If I turn up missing or dead remember this van. I think I seen (sic) a couple of guys sneak out the side door and into the building when it was parked in the carport.
Days later, John was found dead. He’d been stabbed multiple times before his house was burned to the ground.
Coincidence? Maybe. But, reportedly, Guarantee Carpet Cleaning, the van seen in the video, isn’t a real business.
He even reached out on Facebook:
And to the local media:
It would be easy to dismiss John Lang as a paranoid crank, but surely there are a lot of questions that need answering here.
More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.