The streets did not whisper, they yelled about the alleged Brownsville rape case in January.
Proud, longtime Brownsville residents have a saying, “The Ville—Never ran. Never will.” It is with that same sense of honor many of these Brooklynites accepted the news late last Wednesday that Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson was dropping charges against five teens initially accused of raping a young woman at gunpoint after chasing off her father.
“We don’t do that in Brownsville,” was the overall sentiment as expressed to AmNews reporters in the days immediately after the news first broke.
While the mainstream media “clamored for blood” and splashed Central Park Five-esque full-page tales of an ever-changing news story, and certain community activists and elected officials stood before the press and demanded swift apprehension and action, on-the-ground activists such as A.T. Mitchell, founder of community advocate organization Man Up, told the AmNews, “The story is not what is being reported. I refuse to ‘Central Park Five’ these boys.”
Now, just a few weeks after the initial furor, Thompson told the AmNews, “Working closely with the NYPD, my office has thoroughly investigated disturbing and very serious allegations of a gang rape at gunpoint last month inside the Osborn Playground in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn. The complainant, as well as her father, provided multiple inconsistent accounts to NYPD detectives and to experienced Special Victims prosecutors about important material facts in this case. The complainant has recanted her allegations of forcible sexual assault and the existence of a gun, and she does not wish to pursue criminal charges against any of the defendants.”
A young woman was violated, no doubt. The speculation and the story told by the five accused teens spoke of witnessing an abuse that some locals say should have the father investigated.
Thompson told the AmNews, though, that the young lady “also refuses to cooperate with any prosecution against her father, who was engaging in sexual conduct with her.”
“There’s a moral aspect embedded in all of our actions, and while not criminal, the conduct engaged in by this young woman’s father and these five young men was simply wrong,” Charisma L. Troiano, press secretary for the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office, told the AmNews.
The Police Department stated that on Thursday, Jan. 7 at 9 p.m., “The victim, an 18-year-old female, was with her father inside Osborne park … when they were approached by five Black males, one of whom was armed with a gun. The male with the gun pointed it at them and told the father to leave the area. The father complied and each one of the five suspects raped the victim. The father returned a short time later with two uniformed police officers and the suspects fled the location. The victim was removed to Kings County Hospital, where she was treated and released.”
Yet, in a much berated move, the police did not tell the public of the incident until late Saturday night.
As outrage spread across the city, though, within 24 hours, two mothers turned in their sons, another two walked into the 73rd Precinct and the last was apprehended the following Tuesday at a local high school.
All five boys, 14 to 17 years of age, were charged with rape, criminal sex act, forcible compulsion and sex abuse.
Because the suspects were minors, even though they were charged as adults and the NYPD released their names, which were published by the mainstream media, the AmNews chose not to publish their names in January. The AmNews asked the Police Department why the names and addresses were sent to the media just as four of the minors appeared in court. The NYPD replied, “The names were released to the media because they were charged as juvenile offenders. When charged as a juvenile offender, your name can be released.”
Mitchell said at the time, “All the facts are not in yet. People have been proven guilty already. These young men are presumed innocent until proven otherwise. They have to be given due process.”
As early as the Monday after the Sunday morning news broke, members of the community told the AmNews that word was the young boys came upon the father and daughter in the park already engaged in intercourse. The accused teens told cops they asked if they could participate, and both the father and girl granted consent. Two of them reportedly did just that. Then the father, reportedly possibly intoxicated, went off down the road, later to claim that he was held at gunpoint while five Black teens threatened to rape his child.
The father’s story that he was threatened by five gun-wielding youths soon began to disintegrate, though, when he stated that he asked two deli workers to use the phone, never saying why, and was refused both times. Then he came across a police car and led the cops back to a park. By that time, the youths were gone. Also, no gun was recovered.
Every few hours, the initial police-reported story seemed to change. The tale told by the young men— Denzel Murray, 14, Shaquell Cooper, 15, Ethan Phillip, 15, Onandi Brown, 17 and Travis Beckford, 17—had some disturbing credibility.
Indeed, they may not have been guilty of the charges brought against them. Although Thompson said within a few days of their arrest and release that it would take until July to investigate the whole case, within five weeks the charges have been dropped.
The AmNews is now publishing their names because the charges have been dropped and because their names have already gone viral. This news needs to be just as widely reported.
The female victim, who the AmNews will not name, is reportedly no longer living in the same home as her father and is receiving help from the Victim Services Unit.
Thompson concluded, “That night, this young woman’s father and the five young men engaged in conduct that was reprehensible and wrong, but because of the lack of reliable evidence, criminal charges simply cannot be sustained. It is my fervent hope that this young woman gets all the support that she needs going forward. My office, including our victim advocates who have been working with this young woman, stand ready to provide her with any assistance she may need.”
“On behalf of my client and his family we are very happy that Ken Thompson and the Kings County District Attorney’s Office thoughtfully and prudently took the time to do what the NYPD failed to do, which was fully investigate the case,” said Kenneth Montgomery, attorney for Murray. “They did not do what these politicians and so-called community leaders did, which was rush to judgement without knowing the facts or giving these young Black men what all citizens deserve, which is the presumption of innocence. My client will continue living his life, which is full of promise, and he refuses to let these false accusations define who he is as a human being. He has been vindicated.”
“It is fitting that DA Thompson investigated this case as he should, and these charges were summarily dropped,” said attorney Michael Warren, who was not involved in this case but was instrumental in getting exonerations in the “Central Park Five” case.
“I hope these brothers reach out to Man Up and A.T. Mitchell for guidance,” offered Brooklyn Assemblyman Charles Barron. “The police and the white media should be held accountable for misinformation.”
Mitchell said, “Although we at Man Up, and our community in general, are extremely satisfied with DA Ken Thompson’s decision not to charge these five young brothers with a crime, we are very dissatisfied with what played out in the park that night. We do not condone this behavior on any level.
“I am really interested in bringing these five young brothers to meet with the Central Park Five, so they can get to know each other and discuss the unfortunate similarities in their cases, and speak on the severe consequences of the allegations made against them. Right now, they have the opportunity to help the community and become role models in saving other young people from making rash decisions which could have ruin the rest of their lives because of really bad decision making.
“We at Man Up! Inc. have have tremendous resources available for young men at that age, where we can have a huge impact on their decision making and personal development. The same exists for our young sisters with our Woman Up! programs. We look forward to working with these particular young brothers so we can turn what could have been a real negative into a teachable moment and life-learning lesson.
“While you’re still innocent until proven guilty, the mothers who brought the boys in in this case did what they did because they understood what could have happened. They were perceived as armed and dangerous, and had this been prolonged, the cops could have just gunned them down without much questioning.”
As for the community’s immediate response in this case, which had law enforcement and media taking a closer look at the initial sensationalized case, Mitchell said the role must not be undermined or ignored.
“We know how to force the hand of real perpetrators involved in criminal acts against us,” he said. “It is important that people see how we cough up the scum which preys on us, letting them know that they have a better chance if they turn themselves in, rather than dealing with any consequences on the streets. Community pressure does not have the same stigma as so-called snitching. But even with that, as for cops saying someone should be given up or give themselves up, that might happen more if they cleaned themselves up, too.”