Apr 2, 2009 5:06 pm US/Pacific
Man Who Tried To Save OPD Officers Faces Backlash
OAKLAND (CBS 5) ―
The Oakland Police Department honored Clarence Ellis for his attempts to help one of the officers gunned down last month, but now he is facing some threats from members of his own community.
Ellis said he is harassed and threatened by some of his Oakland neighbors because of what he did.
"Younger people who don't like the police, they shun me and talk about how 'one day we gonna catch you sleeping,' and all that kind of little stuff," said Ellis. "Now...because I helped the police, I'm a snitch. And I ain't seen nothing. All I did was when I got there, (was) helped the man."
Mr. Ellis was visiting a sick friend across the street from where Lovelle Mixon shot the first two of the four officers he murdered last month. Calling on his old Army training, Ellis held down one of the officer's arteries with his fingers to try to stop the loss of blood.
His acts won him praise, and the police force raised money to buy him a new suit so he could attend the officers' memorial.
Mr. Ellis said he still gets handshakes and praise from some, but the harassment is something he wasn't ready for.
"It's just like when the soldiers went to Vietnam and they came back and were spit upon," said Ellis. "I thought I was doing something good. And it seems like it was the wrong thing to do. But it was the right thing in my heart to do."
Mr. Ellis spends a lot of time indoors now, watching TV or visiting with his daughters. One daughter is even recommending he move.
"I think he did a really good thing and it's something he should be proud of," said Ellis' daughter Robin. "It's just really irritating that some people don't feel that same way and there could be some kind of retaliation."
"I have sympathy for the families, the police officers families and I also have sympathy for the Mixon family, you know what I'm saying? It's a sad thing for me. It's real sad," she continued.
We asked Mr. Ellis why he wasn't afraid to go back on camera if he's being harassed on the streets. He said he used to get bullied as a kid, and found out a long time ago that it doesn't do any good to run away and hide.
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