By Michael Winerip – June 3, 2013 – The New York Times
My cmnt: Notice how fat the race hustler Al Sharpton was back then. He’s now a skinny old man who’s trying to live forever since he’s made a fortune lying about race relations in America.
The news reports at the time, in the late 1980s, were horrific. Tawana Brawley, a 15-year-old African-American girl from the New York City area, was said to have been abducted and repeatedly raped by six white men. She was found with “KKK” written across her chest, a racial epithet on her stomach and her hair smeared with feces. She was so traumatized, according to reports, that at the hospital she answered yes-or-no questions by blinking her eyes. Making the crime even more vile, if that were possible, she and her lawyers later claimed that two of the rapists were law enforcement officials.
Ms. Brawley’s spokesman was the Rev. Al Sharpton — a dapper television personality and political commentator these days, but a fiery street activist back then. At a news conference, he named suspects.
“We have the facts and the evidence that an assistant district attorney and a state trooper did this,” Mr. Sharpton said. He called Gov. Mario M. Cuomo a racist and warned that powerful state officials were complicit. When asked whether Ms. Brawley would speak with the state attorney general, Robert Abrams, Mr. Sharpton said that would be like asking someone in a concentration camp to talk to Hitler.
But, as the meticulously researched Retro Report points out this week, it was all a hoax. After seven months, 6,000 pages of testimony and 180 witnesses, a grand jury found Ms. Brawley’s story to be a lie. Neither the police officer nor the district attorney accused by Ms. Brawley and Mr. Sharpton had been involved in any way, the report concluded.
A Sharpton associate told the news media at the time that Ms. Brawley’s lawyers, C. Vernon Mason and Alton H. Maddox Jr., and Mr. Sharpton were “frauds from the beginning.”
And about six months after the hoax, Ms. Brawley’s former boyfriend told Newsday that she had invented the allegations, apparently to avoid a beating by her mother’s boyfriend after running away from home for four days.
Last week, Retro Report interviewed Mr. Sharpton and asked whether, 25 years later, he felt that any crime had occurred at all.
“Whatever happened,” he answered, “you’re dealing with a minor who was missing four days. So it’s clear that something wrong happened.”
Not exactly contrite.
As for Ms. Brawley, the video notes that she is now working as a nurse in Virginia under another name and has refused to explain her actions publicly. However, there is archival footage of an interview with her from many years back, in which she said: “What did I lie about? Lie about what? The grand jury to me didn’t really exist — that was all a farce.”
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Readers’ comments:
Kristina
Corpus · March 10, 2019
The people that believe she was telling the truth, would more than likely do the same thing, that is why they can’t believe none of us believe her. Well, believe it or not, there are still smart people like us out there, who see through the liars and manipulators. By the way, young kids are the best manipulators… And naive people like y’all are the ones that always believe them. If I were her, and I was telling the truth, I would have fought it until all six of those guys were put away!!! Or at least until my name was no longer dragged through the mud like this.
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Liz
Hartford, CT · May 14, 2017
I am absolutely disgusted that the New York Times would give these delusional men such a platform to voice their misogynistic, racist, and false opinions. Of course those two men could account for where they were those past four days, they had the power to have the cops, lawyers, and public believe any lie they told because they themselves were part of that institution. If the NYT believes that a 15 year old girl would do that to herself for a news story then I question the morality of every person that contributed to this story. This is blatant victim blaming that is a result of sexism and racism, the perpetuation of which are why these horrible instances happen in the first place. I am shocked that so many people would instantly call solid evidence false and claim that a young girl would lie about being raped and write racial slurs and put feces on her own body.
Pediatrician X commented February 25, 2018
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Pediatrician X
Columbus Ohio · Feb. 25, 2018
Nope, it was all a lie from day one. Sorry that you can’t wrap your head around the fact that people do lie. Including the Rev Al.
John commented December 22, 2014
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John
Memphis · Dec. 22, 2014
This guy is a disgrace to Martin Luther King, Jr., Gandhi or anyone else related to social justice. He is a race baiter and agitator. He works against peace and harmony between the races.
Mary L commented July 21, 2014
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Mary L
Gillette, NJ · July 21, 2014
What’s worst is that Al Sharpton is considered a legitimate voice on race and politics today. I refuse to watch MSNBC since he has a show on that channel. His refusal to apologize is disgusting. This story continues to disturb me and the lack of accountability from Tawana and Al Sharpton is so wrong. Boycott MSNBC!
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David
Lexington, VA · March 4, 2018
I don’t blame you for not watching MSNBC, which is my favorite news outlet, but I don’t blame the whole array of programming for Sharpton’s participation. I’ve never believed anything he has said.
Barbara Quinn commented July 21, 2014
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Barbara Quinn
Yorktown Heights, New York · July 21, 2014
I still cannot believe how Al Sharpton was able to lead this fradulent, hoax and was not held accountable by a grand jury. Too bad Tawana did not tape record Mr. Sharpton advising her how this charge could make her very well known and become a very rich ‘victim’. Mr. Sharpton is the one who got rich from all the hoopla. I lived only 20 min. from where this supposedly happened. It was and continues to be an area strife w/racism. Why would any intelligent individual pay him ANY mind whatsoever? Yet it happens. What’s wrong w/this picture?
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