Posted on 05/13/2013 7:33:36 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
PATERSON, N.J., May 13 (UPI) -- Tawana Brawley, who falsely accused six men of raping her 25 years ago, was celebrated at a fundraising event in New Jersey, officials said.
Attendees paid $50 for the Sunday event at Integrity Masonic Temple in Paterson, the New York Post reported.
While proceeds from the event went to fund a kids camp run by the Freedom Retreat for Children, some attendees also filled envelopes with cash for Brawley. It wasn't known how much she received.
When Brawley was 15, she was found in a trash bag in Dutchess County with slurs written on her body. She alleged she had been raped by six men, including former Dutchess County prosecutor Steven Pagones and a police officer. However, a grand jury found Brawley's accusations to be false.
Pagones won a defamation lawsuit against Brawley, who was ordered to pay $190,000. Since then, the amount she owes has grown to more than $430,000 with interest.
"Let's let this young queen Tawana know we love her to death," said incendiary former City College Professor Leonard Jeffries, the master of ceremonies for the event.
Brawley, now 40 and who was recently found living under an assumed name in Virginia, did not make any comments at the event.
Pagones, meanwhile, said he was outraged by the event.
"It's ridiculous," he told the Post. "If [Brawley] wanted to be a hero in the justice system, she could come out and admit the entire thing was a hoax. She can do the right thing -- she could just tell the truth."
“Integrity” Masonic Temple? You’ve got to be kidding.
Giving her money for what? Is she running for office? I hope not, she is a shoe in if she runs as a dhimmicrat!
The New York Post recently found Tawana Brawley living under an assumed name in Virginia, and a court promptly ordered her wages to be garnisheed to start paying back the debt.
Attendees paid $50 for the Sunday event at Integrity Masonic Temple in Paterson, the New York Post reported.
I've never heard of a masonic temple called "Integrity".
I wonder if the IRS can pull some agents off the Tea Party investigation to check into her undeclared income.
The only one who should be giving money to this liar is Al Sharpton, and it should be coming from the nearest federal penitentiary.
This was not the best headline they could have chosen.
I was like what? They did what??
For those who don’t remember...
On November 28, 1987, Tawana Brawley, who had been missing for four days from her home in Wappingers Falls, New York, was found seemingly unconscious and unresponsive, lying in a garbage bag several feet from an apartment where she had once lived. Her clothing was torn and burned, her body smeared with feces. She was taken to the emergency room, where the words “KKK”, “Nigger”, and “Bitch” were discovered written on her torso with a black substance described as charcoal.
A detective from the Sheriff’s Juvenile Aid Bureau, among others, was summoned to interview Brawley, but she remained unresponsive. The family requested a black officer, which the police granted. Brawley, described as having an “extremely spacey” look on her face, communicated with this officer with nods of the head, shrugs of the shoulder, and written notes. The interview lasted 20 minutes, during which she uttered only one word: “neon.” Through gestures and writing, however, she indicated she had been raped repeatedly in a wooded area by three white men, at least one of them a police officer. A sexual assault kit was administered, and police began building a case.
Brawley provided no names or descriptions of her assailants. She later told others that there had been no rape, only other kinds of sexual abuse. Forensic tests found no evidence that a sexual assault of any kind had occurred.
There was no evidence of exposure to elements, which would have been expected in a victim held for several days in the woods at a time when the temperature dropped below freezing at night.
Public response to Brawley’s story was at first mostly sympathetic. Actor Bill Cosby, among others, pledged support for her and helped raise money for a legal fund. In December 1987, 1,000 people marched through the streets of Newburgh, New York, in support of Brawley.
Brawley’s claims in the case captured headlines across the country. Public rallies were held denouncing the incident. Racial tensions also climbed. When civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton, with attorneys Alton H. Maddox and C. Vernon Mason, began handling Brawley’s publicity, the case quickly took on an explosive edge. At the height of the controversy in June 1988, a poll showed a gap of 34 percentage points between blacks (51%) and whites (85%) on the question of whether she was lying.
Sharpton, Maddox, and Mason generated a national media sensation. The three claimed officials all the way up to the state government were trying to cover up defendants in the case because they were white. Specifically, they named Steven Pagones, an Assistant District Attorney in Dutchess County, as one of the rapists, and a racist, among other accusations
Under the authority of New York State Attorney General Robert Abrams, a grand jury was called to hear evidence. On October 6, 1988, the Abrams Grand Jury released its 170-page report concluding Brawley had not been abducted, assaulted, raped and sodomized, as had been claimed by Brawley and her advisers. The report further concluded that the “unsworn public allegations against Dutchess County Assistant District Attorney Steven Pagones” were false and had no basis in fact. To issue the report, the Grand Jury heard from 180 witnesses, saw 250 exhibits and recorded more than 6,000 pages of testimony.
In the decision, the grand jury noted many problems with Brawley’s story. Among these were that the rape kit results did not indicate sexual assault. Additionally, despite her claim of having been held captive for days, Brawley was not suffering from exposure, was well-nourished, and appeared to have brushed her teeth recently. Despite her clothing being charred, there were no burns on her body. Although a shoe she was wearing was cut through, Brawley had no injuries to her foot. The racial epithets written on her were upside down, which led to suspicion that Brawley had written the words. Testimony from her schoolmates indicated she had attended a local party during the time of her supposed abduction. One witness claimed to have observed Brawley’s climbing into the garbage bag.
Brawley herself never testified.
Much of the grand jury evidence pointed to a possible motive for Brawley’s falsifying the incident: trying to avoid violent punishment from her mother and her stepfather Ralph King. Witnesses testified that Glenda Brawley had previously beaten her daughter for running away and for spending nights with boys. King had a history of violence that included stabbing his first wife 14 times, later shooting and killing her.
There was considerable evidence that King could and would violently attack Brawley: when Brawley had been arrested on a shoplifting charge the previous May, King attempted to beat her for the offense while at the police station.
Witnesses have also described King as having talked about his stepdaughter in a sexualized manner.
On the day of her alleged disappearance, Brawley had skipped school to visit boyfriend Todd Buxton, who was serving a six-month jail sentence. When Buxton’s mother (with whom she had visited Buxton in jail) urged her to get home before she got in trouble, Brawley told her, “I’m already in trouble.” She described how angry Ralph King was over a previous incident of her staying out late.
There was evidence that Brawley’s mother and King participated knowingly in the hoax. Neighbors told the grand jury that in February they overheard Glenda Brawley saying to Mr. King, “You shouldn’t have took the money because after it all comes out, they’re going to find out the truth.” Another neighbor heard Mrs. Brawley say, “They know we’re lying and they’re going to find out and come and get us.”
Now is there any corroborating evidence that such an event actually occurred?
Brawly at the time was a stupid attention seeking 15 year old imbecile that fabricated an absurd story. (most likely still is an imbecile)
Al (cockroach) Sharpton turned this fabrication into a three ring circus in order to make himself famous. To this day that scum refused to accept blame for ruining people’s lives. I despise that SOB.
I’m thinking the same thing.
The fact that the story claims it happened in a Masonic temple is a GIANT red flag.
Thanks SeekAndFind.
Just went to Grand Lodge site and I can’t find em either.
Please don’t consider my skepticism of this story as any reflection on you. You post a lot of good stuff. I’m just say’n.
There’s one born every minute.
Do a bit of poking around ...
Here's your Integrity Masonic Templs".
Or at least a reference thereto, located at 224 Broadway, Paterson, NJ 07501.
Plug that address into "Google Earth", enter "Street View" there, and you'll see "Integrity Masonic Temple" is a rather plain looking tan brick structure. Right next to the little check cashing place.
Broadway is apparently also known as "Doctor Martin Luther King Way".
FWIW.
Facts are your friends.
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.