Posted on 10/09/2020 10:11:06 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
Madison police announced Friday they have not been able to corroborate allegations made by a biracial Monona woman that she was burned by four white men in Downtown Madison in June in what was initially reported as a hate crime and garnered national and international attention.
Althea Bernstein, 18, told police someone sprayed lighter fluid on her and set her on fire in the early morning hours of June 24 after one of the men yelled a racial epithet.
But on Friday, the police department said it was closing the case because “after an exhaustive probe, detectives were unable to corroborate or locate evidence consistent with what was reported.”
The case was also investigated by the FBI and the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, and in its own statement Friday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Wisconsin said “after reviewing all available evidence, authorities could not establish that the attack, as alleged by the complainant, had occurred.”
Bernstein’s family said in a statement they appreciated “the detailed investigative efforts by all involved in this case,” asked for privacy and said they would not be granting interviews.
“Althea’s injuries are healing and the support of our community has been invaluable in that regard,” they said.
*SNIP*
No charges
Despite the investigation’s findings, acting Madison Police Chief Vic Wahl said his department is not recommending Bernstein be charged with obstructing an officer, which can apply in cases in which a person makes a false police report. A representative of the U.S. Attorney’s Office was not available for comment, but Wahl said he doubted it would pursue charges against Bernstein, either.
Wahl said there is a difference between actively trying to deceive law enforcement and law enforcement not being able to corroborate a report of a crime, and he said Bernstein and her family have been cooperative throughout the investigation.
“We were unable to corroborate (Bernstein’s story), but we are not speculating on what did and did not happen,” he said. He also confirmed that Bernstein’s injuries were consistent with being burned, and said she has offered no “alternative explanation” for what happened to her.
Police noted that Bernstein has been consistent in her description of the attack to friends and family, her phone’s GPS locations matched up with what she reported to police and her phone messages did not indicate an intent to deceive law enforcement or the public. ‘Frat boys’
Bernstein told police she was driving her brother’s 2007 Hyundai Elantra through Downtown following a date when she stopped at a stoplight, possibly on West Gorham Street at State Street, at around 1 a.m. June 24 and was approached by four white men, one of whom yelled a racial epithet.
One of the men squirted her with lighter fluid through her open driver’s side window and then threw a lit lighter or match at her, she said, setting her face and neck on fire before she patted out the flames. Her family later released photos of her showing burns to her face.
She described the men as looking like “frat boys” — two of whom were wearing “floral shirts” and blue jeans and two of whom were in all black and wearing masks. The man who allegedly sprayed her was wearing a “salmon-colored” floral shirt, she told police. No camera evidence
An exhaustive search of video from city- and privately owned surveillance cameras, however, turned up no evidence of the attack, and the investigation identified a number of inconsistencies in Bernstein’s story.
A surveillance camera at West Gorham and State, for example, captured images of the Elantra at 12:44 a.m. but nothing to substantiate the alleged attack.
Surveillance cameras did not capture Bernstein’s vehicle at two intersections: University Avenue at North Bassett Street, and University Avenue at North Lake Street. The cameras at the first intersection skipped recording when Bernstein drove through and were positioned away from the street at the second intersection.
But a detective said Bernstein likely had not been stopped at red lights at these two intersections because “the vehicle was almost continuously captured on video as it traveled through the Downtown entertainment zone, without stopping.”
A review of 17 city cameras in the Downtown area from 12:15 a.m. to 1:15 a.m. found no groups of white males matching Bernstein’s descriptions.
Police also did not find any fire damage in the Elantra, according to police reports, and a dog trained to sniff out accelerants did not find evidence of them in the car.
HUGE waste of TAXPAYER DOLLARS investigating her LIE...and then doing NOTHING ABOUT IT!
And she walks. Guess she gets a do over.
Throw her in prison.
Tawana Brawley Crystal Mangum 2.0
It looks like these hoaxers are trying to out-Juicy-Smollett in their fabricated stories.
Bookmark
“No charges”
We now have two two tier law systems:
One for Democrats one aka Liberals and one for Republicans aka Conservatives:
Democrats break the law...apologize and move on.
Republicans break the law...prosecute to the full extent of the law
The second one for people of color and one for whites. People of color break the law...no problemo..probation at the most
White people break the law....prosecute to the full extent of the law
Don’t close it. Charge her with making a false report. THIS is a racist hate crime
Looks like the burns are on the wrong side for an attack through the driver’s side window. Perhaps this was the first clue for the “detailed investigative efforts”.
She could have been driving backwards. It could happen. In a town like Madison.
Even then, the driver’s-side window would have been on her left. Perhaps she was driving an English or Australian vehicle.
Yea, but did she laugh when the undercover agent suggested they kidnap a Governor!! Now THAT gets you 20 years!!!!
The market for hate crimes is much bigger than the supply, thus we have so make fake hate crime as people attempt to create supply for the demand.
Everyone who falsely accuses, must pay the penalty that a falsely-accused person would have paid.
They probably get 100 of these a day throughout the country, all fake. The only difference is that this one was handed to large news outlets that spread this type of fear manure.
rwood
Jussie Smollett set the bar for this kind of “assault” by persons “unknown” to the victim. Only Jussie had some video tape that kind of destroyed his narrative, and caused him to run afoul of public opinion.
I think she had a crack pipe malfunction. *SHRUG*
Curling iron burns. She has to be genuinely mentally ill.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.