That Brawley’s story was worth considerably less than bat guano.
How did the jurors reach their conclusion? Stories from several different papers might provide the clues.
From the Daily Mail of the United Kingdom of Aug. 4: ““(The jurors) found evidence that Brawley had (run) away from home and was hiding out in her parents’ former apartment after they got evicted….Traces of the charcoal-like material used to scrawl the hateful word on her body were found under her fingernails, and she showed no signs of genital trauma or exposure, the jury found. One witness said Brawley was spotted crawling into the (trash) bag.”
From a story in The New York Times of June 3, 2013: “A Sharpton associate told news media at the time (of the grand jury investigation) that Ms. Brawley’s lawyers….and Mr. Sharpton ‘were frauds from the beginning.’ About six months after the hoax, Ms. Brawley’s former boyfriend told Newsday she had invented the allegations, apparently to avoid a beating by her mother’s boyfriend after running away from home for four days.”
Seeking to clear what was left of his good name after Brawley called him a “gang-raping, kidnapping racist,” Pagones hauled her, Maddox, Mason and Sharpton into court.
That court ruled in Pagones’ favor. Mason was ordered to pay $188,000; Maddox had to pay $97,000; Sharpton, who led the race baiting, got off relatively easy. He only had to pay $66,000, part of which was paid by attorney Johnnie Cochran and other “benefactors,” according to The New York Post.
Will Reverend Al step up for Brawley, the way Cochran and others stepped up for him?
You would think that after aiding and abetting one of the cruelest hoaxes in American history, that Sharpton’s career would have been done after that 1988 grand jury investigation.
But Sharpton’s career took off. He portrayed himself as a bold crusader for civil rights and the defender of black folks across the land.
Today, he even has his own show on the MSNBC network, for which I suspect he’s getting paid a pretty darned good penny.
Since Brawley is mainly responsible for Sharpton being where he is today, he really ought to hook the sister up with a little something-something.
And that something-something should come to about, oh, $431,000.
(Photo: AP)
COMMENTARY: It’s Time for Reverend Al Sharpton to Step Up Again For Tawana Brawley was originally published on blackamericaweb.com
