Ryan Ferguson Post Release Press Conference — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:03good evening
2. 0:05everyone I uh really had my doubts as to
3. 0:09whether we would be here tonight with
4. 0:11all of you so uh I'd like to thank all
5. 0:14of you each and everyone for being here
6. 0:17and of course all ran supporters
7. 0:19everywhere absolutely amazing we really
8. 0:21do appreciate that and so without
9. 0:24further Ado let me introduce which I
10. 0:26know you know her name very well K zon
11. 0:29who she'd like to
12. 0:52song I know you really want to hear from
13. 0:54Ryan so I'm not going to talk too
14. 0:57long today was just an incredible day
15. 1:00because when we got to the prison I know
16. 1:03a lot of you were there we had planed to
17. 1:05take him out and we went in and I had to
18. 1:09hold a piece of paper up on the glass
19. 1:12because he didn't know what had happened
20. 1:14he thought they were actually going to
21. 1:16put him in the hole today he thought
22. 1:18something was wrong and so I had to hold
23. 1:21up a piece of paper that said it's over
24. 1:24so he could see it and then we were like
25. 1:26trying to talk to each other through the
26. 1:28glass then they brought him in a room
27. 1:31and we sat in there and they he had his
28. 1:34clothes that Micah had gotten for him
29. 1:36and so they took him they put his
30. 1:39clothes on him uh he wasn't
31. 1:41handcuffed guards were Milling around
32. 1:45and then
33. 1:46unbelievably the warden came in and said
34. 1:49we have another court order you got to
35. 1:52take those clothes off and put back on
36. 1:54your orange jumpsuit horrible horrible
37. 1:57one of the worst experiences of my life
38. 2:00and I'm sure for him it was just awful
39. 2:03then we chased him over half of the
40. 2:05state back to Boon County we had to get
41. 2:07a judges order um and then when they
42. 2:11pulled him into the sally port uh he
43. 2:14again thought he was being
44. 2:16rearrested so here he is to uh tell you
45. 2:21how thrilled he is to be free because it
46. 2:23was amazing right to the end what a
47. 2:26struggle this
48. 2:28was
49. 2:54feel like Jay Leno or something steps
50. 2:56back people start uh clapping again um
51. 2:59thank you Cath uh yeah it was a wild day
52. 3:03for sure a lot going on a lot of
53. 3:05emotions it's been long and uh I'm glad
54. 3:08that the difficult part is over for sure
55. 3:11um in that I would like to absolutely
56. 3:14thank my my parents my father and my
57. 3:27mother seriously they are the absolute
58. 3:30most amazing parents people you know you
59. 3:32could ever have obviously you've seen it
60. 3:34you've been following it and uh without
61. 3:36them you know I wouldn't have had any
62. 3:39hope it would have been very difficult
63. 3:41and that goes for my sister as well who
64. 3:43is not here yet she is trying to get
65. 3:45here but take another couple minutes so
66. 3:49uh you know I just have the most amazing
67. 3:51family and I love you guys so much um
68. 3:54also some of my supporters who have uh
69. 3:56you know my friends who've been there
70. 3:57from day one there's very few of them
71. 4:00and you know it's really difficult in
72. 4:02the beginning knowing that you're
73. 4:05innocent and everyone you knew and talk
74. 4:07to they're not talking to you and you
75. 4:09don't know what they think or what they
76. 4:10feel so the people who have been there
77. 4:13uh you guys know who you are there
78. 4:15there's a handful so can't even really
79. 4:18find them all but you know who you are
80. 4:21and uh I mean I have so much respect for
81. 4:25you guys it's just that means so much to
82. 4:28me I have a
83. 4:30list of other things as well I knew this
84. 4:32would be a little bit too much for me so
85. 4:34uh no definitely uh also the supporters
86. 4:38everyone who's you know written me
87. 4:41uh you know it's it's been amazing
88. 4:44seeing the support and I think that's
89. 4:45been very very helpful to my family uh
90. 4:49obviously my my you know parents love it
91. 4:51and it's helped them keep going and help
92. 4:53me keep going also you know really I
93. 4:57would not be here today minus my family
94. 5:00and Kathleen zoner and Doug I
95. 5:27mean there's a lot of people kind of
96. 5:30scary um but yeah without my attorneys
97. 5:34Kathleen and Doug I mean seriously the
98. 5:37work that they've done in the last was
99. 5:39since 2009 has been incredible and uh
100. 5:42you know talking with us and working
101. 5:45with us and supporting us and putting in
102. 5:47all that time and the effort and the
103. 5:49money that they've done put in to help
104. 5:51us it's I don't know it's phenomenal and
105. 5:54uh clearly without family and Kathleen's
106. 5:58owner Associates we would would not be
107. 5:59here today and Justice would not be done
108. 6:02so uh I appreciate that I can get back
109. 6:05to living my life although I don't know
110. 6:08yet how that'll feel this is any
111. 6:10indication it's kind of weird
112. 6:14so and you
113. 6:18know having gone through what I've gone
114. 6:20through with our justice system uh I was
115. 6:23kind of scared about what was going to
116. 6:24happen next uh I didn't know this
117. 6:27morning that I'd be standing here
118. 6:28tonight I didn't know any anything I
119. 6:30didn't know the next step at all and
120. 6:33it's very scary very daunting so you
121. 6:36know I'm just I'm very glad to be here
122. 6:38but I want to thank the Attorneys
123. 6:39General for looking at the facts of this
124. 6:41case and making a decision based off
125. 6:44those facts and doing the right
126. 6:56thing I think uh you know when you it's
127. 7:00very I don't know it's got to be crazy
128. 7:03at that level you know and uh it's a lot
129. 7:06to look at it's a lot to deal with so
130. 7:08certainly appreciate them and also the
131. 7:11judges who ruled on this you know I felt
132. 7:13like this is really the first time we've
133. 7:16been listened to by the justices you
134. 7:20know and and it feels incredible knowing
135. 7:22that when we had our hearing they were
136. 7:23actually listening to the facts they
137. 7:25were talking about the facts and it
138. 7:26seemed as though they were going to
139. 7:27actually rule on the facts which which
140. 7:30to me has been different than what I've
141. 7:32seen before so uh to Judge Martin to
142. 7:36judge wit and Ellis um you know I want
143. 7:40to thank them for taking their time and
144. 7:42looking at everything and pulling out
145. 7:44the facts of this case the documented
146. 7:46facts and dealing only with those and so
147. 7:49to them also a round of applause
148. 7:58please
149. 8:03and of course my beautiful
150. 8:13girlfriend no but uh there so many
151. 8:16incredible people as you can see it it
152. 8:18really to get arrested and to get
153. 8:20charged for a crime you didn't commit
154. 8:22it's incredibly easy and you can lose
155. 8:24your life very fast but to get out of
156. 8:27prison it takes an army as you can see
157. 8:30and an incredible group of individuals
158. 8:32family friends uh attorneys who are
159. 8:35willing to sacrifice so much and you
160. 8:38know it's just amazing to be here
161. 8:40knowing that other people are in my
162. 8:42situation don't have the support and the
163. 8:45help that uh that I've had so you know
164. 8:48this is not an anomaly I think we need
165. 8:50to look at other cases and be aware that
166. 8:52this is part of our justice system and
167. 8:54you know there are more innocent people
168. 8:56in prison so keep your eyes open and uh
169. 9:00support them as well for sure so other
170. 9:03than that pretty much all I've got to
171. 9:10say um I guess that's just like what's
172. 9:13next as Anthony asked uh I really don't
173. 9:16know I have I have no idea you know
174. 9:19I I don't know that I was expecting just
175. 9:23to get out and be able to do whatever I
176. 9:26wanted um you know I couldn't look too
177. 9:28far into the future so like I said I've
178. 9:31been preparing um for my life from day
179. 9:33one I got arrested you know I've been
180. 9:35reading and writing and studying and
181. 9:37working out and been taking care of
182. 9:38myself so I'm ready for anything really
183. 9:41and uh it's whatever my family what is
184. 9:44that
185. 9:46colia mayor of col mayor of
186. 9:51Columbia next Attorney General
187. 9:58yes
188. 10:06um I I never really got the news um you
189. 10:10know I uh as Kathleen said uh they told
190. 10:13me to pack my stuff up I thought I was
191. 10:15going to adeg I didn't know you know
192. 10:17there's there's in prison there's
193. 10:19threats being made on you and there's a
194. 10:20lot of wild stuff going on things that
195. 10:23you know you're implicated in who knows
196. 10:25so I thought I was getting locked up I
197. 10:27didn't you know for prison it's kind of
198. 10:30crazy so when I finally saw Kathleen and
199. 10:34I couldn't talk to her I was just asking
200. 10:35her like what's going on you know I was
201. 10:37asking her if we got baale and she just
202. 10:39held this up and uh this is this is how
203. 10:41I knew what was going
204. 10:53on how confused were you today I'm still
205. 10:58confused
206. 10:59no uh I've been so confused the last
207. 11:02couple
208. 11:04hours they were hard you know and um
209. 11:07whenever I was I was wearing these
210. 11:09clothes and I was standing there with
211. 11:12Kathleen and Doug waiting to go and my
212. 11:13family was out in the lobby waiting for
213. 11:15me they came in and said you know we
214. 11:17need you to take your clothes off and
215. 11:20put back on this orange jumpsuit and
216. 11:23we're going to transport you to Columbia
217. 11:24to Boom County and uh when you get
218. 11:26transported you know you generally have
219. 11:28on shackles and everything so it's not a
220. 11:31good feeling and you don't know what's
221. 11:33going to happen next and it's incredibly
222. 11:35scary I you know I was incredibly
223. 11:38stressed out to say the least I mean you
224. 11:41don't know what's going to happen next
225. 11:42with your life and uh and even when I
226. 11:45got into boom County I didn't know
227. 11:47they're going to try to rearrest me or
228. 11:49you know it's not over till it's over
229. 11:53saying it's not too
230. 11:55unique experience from
231. 12:00how do
232. 12:01you yeah uh I don't know if I can
233. 12:04characterize it decade but
234. 12:06uh oppression is a good word for it
235. 12:10um it's a struggle you know I mean pure
236. 12:13and simple it's a struggle and it's been
237. 12:15that way for my family and I and uh I
238. 12:18don't know I'm just I'm actually happier
239. 12:21for my parents right now than I am for
240. 12:22me because you know they're they've had
241. 12:25to deal with so
242. 12:27much
243. 12:37what was the first thing you wanted to
244. 12:38eat when you got out of I don't know I
245. 12:40kind of want some Dairy
246. 12:44Queen I think do definitely I'm pretty
247. 12:47sure he does that more than we
248. 12:50know why is it that you didn't know what
249. 12:53was the system happening there that you
250. 12:55did not know what you had been told or
251. 12:58anything found out in the car we were
252. 13:00just going in for a visit and we found
253. 13:02out in the car what had
254. 13:05happened so we ended up telling him so
255. 13:07he was just coming to the visit with us
256. 13:10he didn't
257. 13:11know but they told him then they started
258. 13:13packing his things up so he had these
259. 13:15two big boxes it's incredibly complex
260. 13:18yeah should determine exactly how it how
261. 13:21it all plays out for
262. 13:23sure but he was like he always is Grace
263. 13:27Under Pressure this was so he's so worth
264. 13:32the effort of of what we did what his
265. 13:35parents did he's just an amazing amazing
266. 13:38person and even
267. 13:44today just saying he's just he's such a
268. 13:49remarkable come up here he was such a
269. 13:51remarkable person even today I mean most
270. 13:53people even much older you know somebody
271. 13:56much older would have just started
272. 13:58crying and been upset and been angry and
273. 14:01he didn't he was like okay that's what
274. 14:03I'll do I'll go back in the room I'll
275. 14:05put back on the orange jumpsuit he's
276. 14:07always like that he's an incredible
277. 14:11person how do you do that he's strong I
278. 14:14mean living in prison you got to stay
279. 14:16levelheaded if you uh if you have let
280. 14:18Downs if you know you let emotions take
281. 14:21control then you can be victimized very
282. 14:23easily so you know from day one uh my
283. 14:27dad always told me you know said uh you
284. 14:29got to be uh Stronger Faster and smarter
285. 14:31so do everything you can to make
286. 14:32yourself that way and and since then I
287. 14:34wrote a book about that actually uh for
288. 14:36the most part it's mostly done but it's
289. 14:38just about some of my journey you know
290. 14:41it's not all about prison or anything
291. 14:42but I just wanted to see if I could
292. 14:43write a book and that's you know making
293. 14:46yourself a better person so that you can
294. 14:48survive and so that when I did get out I
295. 14:52would have opportunities you know I
296. 14:53didn't want to look back and say I
297. 14:55missed five 10 years however long it
298. 14:57took took longer than we thought but uh
299. 14:59I didn't want to get out and still be a
300. 15:0119-year-old kid in my mind so you know
301. 15:05I've uh I've done everything I can with
302. 15:06with my the help of my family and you
303. 15:09know a little hard work and uh and I
304. 15:12think you know I succeeded do you and
305. 15:15your dad see yourselves advocating on
306. 15:17beh of other men or women in your
307. 15:21situation certainly certainly absolutely
308. 15:23uh there are so many individuals I
309. 15:25believe who are you know incarcerated
310. 15:28wrong Yul or have uh just terrible
311. 15:31sentences you know it's disproportionate
312. 15:33there's a lot of miners in prison who
313. 15:35have been in there over half their life
314. 15:36you know there's a lot of issues and uh
315. 15:39there's a lot of people who need help uh
316. 15:41number one as I think Bill already
317. 15:43pointed out was uh Charles Erikson I
318. 15:46mean the guy's a lot of things but the
319. 15:49thing is more so than anything else is
320. 15:51innocent so uh he does not belong in
321. 15:57prison
322. 16:00I don't know I don't
323. 16:02really I don't really get caught up in
324. 16:04my feelings towards him I know that he
325. 16:07was used and manipulated and uh I kind
326. 16:11of feel sorry for the guy and I know
327. 16:13that he's been victimized he is an
328. 16:14innocent man in prison so you know he
329. 16:17needs help he needs uh support and you
330. 16:21know he doesn't belong in prison I don't
331. 16:24know anything beyond that really and I
332. 16:27don't really have any comment beyond
333. 16:28that he's not a killer he doesn't Bor in
334. 16:29prison
335. 16:45so oh my goodness I mean I really wish I
336. 16:50knew what to say to those people because
337. 16:52they are so incredible and they've
338. 16:54helped my family and I so much I really
339. 16:56wish I knew a way to give back to all of
340. 16:58them because them being there and
341. 17:01supporting us and doing everything they
342. 17:03can they designed the image on my
343. 17:05father's car and the Billboards and
344. 17:07they've sent me so many letters and just
345. 17:09so many incredible things that you know
346. 17:10we've all appreciated so much that uh
347. 17:14you
348. 17:14know I don't know their their help was
349. 17:17invaluable and I think that really I
350. 17:19think being in prison for a crime you
351. 17:22didn't commit you start to lose trust in
352. 17:25society and humanity and you see a lot
353. 17:27of the negative sides of it but through
354. 17:30those people I was able to see that
355. 17:32there are a lot of incredible human
356. 17:33beings out there and that you know I I
357. 17:36really want to be back into society with
358. 17:39those good people and uh and it makes me
359. 17:42look forward to the future because I
360. 17:43know there's a lot of really amazing
361. 17:45people out there so it gave me hope in
362. 17:47in humanity I guess personally thank you
363. 17:51so much for that un Mur is there want
364. 17:55to absolutely uh
365. 17:59you know I can't imagine how they're
366. 18:00feeling but the one thing I would want
367. 18:03for them is to be able to look at all
368. 18:05the facts and to ask for justice
369. 18:08because you know they've been lied to by
370. 18:12the people they trust and to see them
371. 18:15misled by people that they you know
372. 18:18believe are trying to help them I can't
373. 18:21imagine anything worse than that really
374. 18:23so you know I just hope that they're
375. 18:25able to look at the facts and I hope
376. 18:28that everyone is able to ask that
377. 18:30Justice is done and that they find who
378. 18:32actually committed this crime I that's
379. 18:36number one
380. 18:57really
381. 19:22Kelly you want to
382. 19:25cl to Kevin
383. 19:30I have no comment on
384. 19:36that so we're either going to go to
385. 19:38Dairy Queen or ring the bell in front of
386. 19:40the courthouse but we're out of here
387. 19:42okay thank you we love
388. 19:57you
389. 20:24actually