"From this point forward I anticipate that
anything I say will be ripped apart and shredded by those who either
have an axe to grind,
aren’t focused on prevention of violence/rape against women or
even may simply not care about the truth."
To me it sounds like - if anybody disagrees with his version of events is labeled a hater and whatever they have to say can be easily dismissed.
"I was not convicted. I was innocent."
Innocent of rape, yes. Innocent of observing and/or assisting in one, ???. Judiciary system found you "not guilty of rape". That has very little to do with "I wanted to but couldn't get it up". My greatest concern isn't even whether he did it or not at this point, my greatest concern is whether his perception of that situation is that of "it wasn't rape". Surely at 20 you should be able to distinguish between rape and consensual sex.
"I can only hope that you,
my BJJ and MMA brothers and sisters,
judge me based on this truth of what actually happened 23 years ago"
I will judge LI on what he did. At best, he stood by and watched a 17 year old girl get raped. Even today, he fails to understand what people are truly angry about even after all that's been said.
"But revisiting & rehashing every detail from the case 23 years ago would be nothing but selfish on my part (especially a case whose conclusion found me innocent of all charges)."
And that is the reason why we should stop talking about it? Selfish for LI? And again, being innocent in court does not equal being a good human being. He is hiding behind the innocent verdict as if it absolves him of any responsibility for what happened in 89.
There was a way to do this right and this is not it.
