CCW unjustly convicted in Lehigh

[ccp72]

A fellow PAFOA member, Andy Gesslein II, bear3245, recently went to trial in Lehigh County.
For those of you who may not have heard, Andy was employed by Eye in the Sky LLC Security at the North End Republican Club at 8th & Tilghman in Allentown. Andy was inside the rear door of the club at 3:20 am. At this point, the doors were closed to members and guests as last call had been given and the club was due to shut down soon. At this time someone began pounding loudly on the door to be let in.

Andy, after being told by the club manager, opened the door to tell the people that the club was closed. After being told this, Andy became involved in what became a struggle for his life. In a conversation with Andy, he told me that the three outside the door, later identified as Michael "Ohead" Randolph, Malik Smith, Tom Hawkins, and his brother, rushed him, attempting to pull him out the door into the parking lot to beat him down. Randolph and the others had been there the previous night and had made serious threats.

Andy had a very real cause for his fear. 6 months previously, at the same club, another guard from the same company, Josh Willoughby was pulled out and beaten badly enough to spend a week in the hospital.
Andy braced himself against a speaker and door frame and tried to keep from.being dragged out. He saw Randolph reach under his shirt and made that decision that all of us dread. Andy drew his legally licensed, legally concealed Springfield. 45 and orders his attackers to back off or he will shoot. They didn't and he had no choice. He had been calling the whole time to Terry "TJ" Glick (a bouncer) working the front door for help. No help came, nobody called 911.
Alone, outnumbered, he made that decision.
That decision cost him. Greatly. 6 weeks later he was charged with voluntary manslaughter in Lehigh County Court. He was Pa Act 235 certified, had a LTCF and a NRA Police Firearms Instructor. He did not make that decision lightly.
The prosecution and press characterized him as a vindictive fool who killed an innocent aspiring rapper and father. An innocent with a lengthy record.
Look at the "victim" and hear his words. Go to YouTube, look up" ohead haha freestyle" posted by ohead610, and see what he raps about, at ironically, the very place he died.

Andy went to trial April 1 and was convicted 3 days later for defending himself. I ask fellow PAFOA members to mail, email, and call the court, state reps, state senators and urge the court to show him leniency. He should not have been convicted and he surely does not deserve to do 20 years for defending himself.

[GunLawyer001]

From reading news accounts (which are often wrong, in general), it looks like what hurt him was that he was hired as "unarmed security", the club is posted "no firearms", but he had a gun in defiance (according to the club manager) of club rules; that, plus the DA said the dead guy was shot in the back as he fled.

There was apparently some outside surveillance footage that captured parts of this, and it looks like the group did force their way inside. There was a time when hostile, forcible trespassing would justify shooting at them, but things are more complicated than that these days. Unfortunately. You have to hope that the outcome would be different if a group of men tried to force their way inside your home, and you shot one of them.

I trust that his attorney is arranging for whatever character testimony is admissible at sentencing.

[ccp72]

I absolutely agree. I was told by Andy that the owner of the company and his supervisor, an assistant chief knew that he was carrying and told him not to be obvious about it. The North End Republican or "Repo" club as it is known has a rather unsavory reputation in Allentown., and is known as a dangerous place. Andy further told me that the general manager knew he was concealing and that the club DJ (with no LE/security experience) also carried concealed inside the club. If the DJ felt enough threatened in his DJ booth should not the security guard feel threatened? I feel that if Andy was allowed to carry openly with his full duty belt, he would have had the more tools to respond differently. He would have a baton and pepper spray. Instead a stripped belt was mandated by club management. Andy was carrying deep cover iwb. A mk4 can of OC or a small asp can't be easily concealed or deployed quickly enough in that situation. He made the call and went home that morning.

[Manxdriver]

A prudent man might have weighed the wisdom/foolishness of not only working in such a place, but of being there for any reason other than wanting to have his life end or be ruined. As Mom used to say, "Nothing good happens after midnight".

I wish him well, but also hope everyone else here learns from his mistakes. Sometimes we cannot avoid where we are sent, but to go there willingly chasing a dollar is foolhardy at best.

[39flathead]

It's probably best that you not continue to post hearsay if this guy is going to appeal.


And I totally agree with manxdriver, I wish the guy the best, and hopefully his situation causes others to think about where they are employed and to think about the "advice" given to them by others.

[Square Bag]

I have noticed from guys on my job and some civilian friends alike, some are deathly afraid of shooting someone in self defense due to getting charged by an overzealous DA for excessive force. What has the world come too?

[ccp72]

I have noticed from guys on my job and some civilian friends alike, some are deathly afraid of shooting someone in self defense due to getting charged by an overzealous DA for excessive force. What has the world come too?

I agree. What happens when someone else is in that position, condition red, threat imminent and they hesitate when hesitation=death? There are a lot of bad people out there. This is why we carry open, concealed, or as a security guard. When my friend worked at armed accounts, his firm's clients observed that things were bad enough that they needed guards with guns.

I wish him the best and will do whatever I can to help him and his wife through this. I would like to thank gun lawyer for his wisdom and input. He has ever been a friend and defender of legally armed citizens.
I would also like to thank other members of our PAFOA community who have followed this post as well as the news and have not rushed to judgement.
We all know that it could happen to any of us. Stay safe people.

[HUHwhat]

The right of the citizens to bear arms in defence of themselves and the State shall not be questioned.

I told that to a cop after I was questioned about why I had an AK over at someone else's house, and later he went on to defend me in court. I also explained somebody was after me, and I have no idea how badly they would try to beat me or what kind of drugs they may have been on. Even the judge defended me in court as this brat's lawyer attempted to victimize his client. Although I didn't shoot anyone.

I just wonder how does our state constitution not automatically shot this down?

[ccp72]

Well, here we go - Andy was convicted by a jury who overlooked the obvious evidence, and made a decision based on ignorance and fear. The judge, Steinberg (often regarded by law enforcement as liberal) was so distressed by the verdict as to issue a STRONG opinion of opposition to the verdict. Andy's lawyer filed an appeal.

I call on all law abiding gun carrying members of the PAFOA and their friends and relatives, hell anyone they can grab to take to the streets in support of Andy Gesslein.
Picket in support of Andy's (and by extension YOUR) right to defend yourself. He was attacked by a group of hoodlums and successfully made it out alive, only to be prosecuted for surviving.
To those of you who armchair quarterback, remember that you were not there at 3:30am, alone, being assaulted by 4 hoodlums, with an entire club of their friends at your back.
I dare you to call a timeout so you can call the cops.
I have held my tongue so as not to damage his case.
The time for silence is over. This man is a sheepdog who was betrayed by the sheep. I ask you, are you sheep? Will you bleat out denials and recriminations as the wolves circle? Will you turn your backs and pretend the wolf doesn't exist as he picks off members of the flock? Me and mine will stand alone with Andy if necessary, and consider ourselves fortunate to do so.

[libra8]

What a shame. A place like that should have state of the art security cameras 360 degrees around the building.

Has an appeal been granted?