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Listen to the message he left on our voice mail just hours
before his murder. He knew he was going to die ... His last words home were "I'm scared. I want to get out of here. I've never been this scared in my life."
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... and this is him a few hours after his last call to us.
What's wrong with this picture? Click it and decide for yourself.
An American teacher killed in a foreign land ... the facts of which our government has spent a lot of time and money to conceal. His death was no accident and top U.S. officials knew this better than anyone else. That's why they don't want the truth to come out, lest they be seen for who they really are.
Thirteen years later, we're still fighting our own government to get answers ... and we're not about to quit
My son, a degreed and credentialed English teacher, was murdered in Guangzhou, China, on April 14, 2005. He had been teaching in an illegal English-language school there and had left his job just days before his death over an ongoing work
permit-visa dispute with his employer.
He was immediately forced out of the school-owned apartment and placed in a hotel, where he was robbed of his passport and money. After the robbery, he contacted the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou for assistance. Over a frantic period of four days after the robbery and until his killing, I contacted the consulate too, along with the U.S. Embassy in Beijing several times for assistance on his behalf. Our calls for help were all but slacked off.
What they could have done, they didn't. What information they could have come forth with after my son's murder they've vigorously withheld. In fighting to get the truth, we sued in federal court under the Freedom of Information Act to have records released. Our litigation would go on for nearly five years before the government would spend a lot of time and money -- and paper -- in an ongoing effort to deliberately thwart the course justice. Through crass procedural maneuvering, postponements, continuances and last-minute delays, the U.S. Justice Department made every effort to conceal the truth by overwhelming our grieving family with an exhausting paper fight when all they had to do -- and can still do -- is simply release every record they have. On top of everything, they showed -- and continue to show -- a reckless disregard for the truth and the law they have been sworn to uphold. If it really was an accident, what could there be to hide?
My son's murder, which occurred within days of contacting the consulate, was officially reported as a pedestrian-truck accident. Because of his rocky relationship with the owner of the illegal school, I did not believe the official version of events then and I do not believe it now. To cover their own laziness and bungling, they put out a bad cover story they're still stuck in.
There are two crimes here, seemingly unrelated: A local murder driven by commercial thuggery in a Chinese city of 17 million people, and a concealment of the truth of what really happened before and after so officials with big paychecks, prime career paths and fat retirements wouldn't find themselves embarrassed. In the process, their actions -- their obstructive actions -- amount to the indefensible.
In May of 2005, an official in the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou told me, "Be lucky you got your son's body back. Put this behind you and move on."
Thirteen years later, I am still unable to "move on" in any way because I don't have all of the facts.
Until I get them, I will continue to press for answers. And regardless of the outcome of our Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, I will continue to work to effect positive changes so nothing like this ever happens to anyone else or their family.
What happened to my son is unconscionable. What his government has done to cover it up is unthinkable and un-American. What our family is trying to do about it is what we think you and your family would do too if you lost someone you loved and the government, to cover it's own bungling, engaged in a full-scale cover-up.
Thank you for taking time to read our site. We will not stop until justice is done and everyone is held to full account.
Maxine B. Russell
June 2018
Russell v. United States Department of State et. al.
(Case No. CV09-06050 PSG)
To read the dozens of filings in this case, click here to go to the government's online case record service.
If it really was a truck-pedestrian accident, then why won't our own government release its records?
If it really was a truck-pedestrian accident, then why won't our own government release its records?
NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW
AND
NO LIE CHANGES THE TRUTH
AND
NO LIE CHANGES THE TRUTH
Contact your U.S. Representative and Senator today! Urge them to support true reform of the
Freedom of Information Act and all legislation that better assists, serves and protects Americans abroad.
It's up to us to make Congress act. We can't wait for them to do something, can we?
Freedom of Information Act and all legislation that better assists, serves and protects Americans abroad.
It's up to us to make Congress act. We can't wait for them to do something, can we?