The video of Lt. Alison Russo's murder never should have been seen
FDNY personnel stand to attention as slain Lt. Alison Russo’s body is carried away from Mount Sinai Queens Hospital to the Medical Examiner’s office on Sep. 29, and right, Russo.
The first time I watched the video of Lt. Alison Russo being stabbed to death, the impact was crushing. Because it was the first time.
Russo, a Huntington Station resident and FDNY paramedic, had been dead mere hours when surveillance camera footage of the Astoria street where she was attacked was posted online. The quick knife thrusts, about 25 of them, allegedly came from Peter Zisopoulos, who pleaded not guilty to murder and criminal weapon possession last week.
The footage came to my attention via a Democratic political operative. The operative wanted word spread that Republican House candidate Anthony D’Esposito posted a link to the footage of Russo’s killing to his Twitter account, as had the state GOP to its Twitter feed.
The spreading of the video on social media was newsworthy: a mainstream candidate for Congress and a major political party promoting and circulating graphic murder footage for direct political gain. Because it was the first time.
So click, and view, and the heart is crushed. Then click, and view, and . . . the second viewing was deeply upsetting, but easier. Each run-through took 60 seconds. The third was awful but . . . familiar. By the fifth viewing, the stabbing began to lose its shock value. Unless you thought of her name. “She has a name, Alison Russo, remember,” the thought came.
Unless you thought of her life.
She was a co-worker, a neighbor, a mother and grandmother and daughter and sister. She was contemplating retirement. She loved her job, loved to render aid and give succor.
In the context of a relatable individual, the graphic violence again fully appalled. For a moment.
D’Esposito had the video on his Twitter account for just 29 minutes before pulling it down. The caption read: “The New York orchestrated by @JoeBiden, @SenSchumer, @SpeakerPelosi @LauraAGillen. It’s time for a change. #AmericaFirst #NewYorkFirst.”
In a phone interview, he said the video was replaced with a link to a New York Post story, with the caption unchanged, not because he regretted posting the video but because “I just thought the story we put up has better information.”
The state GOP kept the killing up on its Twitter page for nearly a week, with the caption: “This is the New York created by Democrat policies. It’s time to hold the people in charge accountable. As law-abiding citizens, we have the power to take back control of our state. It’s time to use #VoteThemOut.”
Zisopoulos, though, had no criminal record, nor of being a danger to himself or others due to his mental illness. There is no link between his actions and arguments over bail reform driving this election.
There was a time when a political attack, if proved untrue, could sway the once-sizable slice of the populace willing to vote for either party.
Both that time, and that slice, are vanishing.
Using graphic footage of Russo’s killing was a shameful act that produced only a small fuss. Using it to press a fearmongering political point to which the killing and suspect were entirely unconnected was a shameful wrong that produced almost no fuss.
Never say “this is not who we are.” Rail against it, work to change it, simply accept it, flatly ignore it, but do not deny it.
This is who we are.
Next time, it won’t even be the first time.
Her name was Alison Russo.
Columnist Lane Filler's opinions are his own.
Lane Filler is a member of the Newsday editorial board.
