The Reverend Al
Most readers will be aware of the recent events on the New York Subway, where a mentally ill man, Jordan Neely, was harassing and threatening other passengers. A former Marine, Daniel Penny, wrestled him to the ground with the help of two other men, and detained him with a leg lock on his torso. The police were called; they questioned witnesses, called the coroner (Mr. Neely died at some point after Mr. Penny released his hold) and departed, deciding that no arrests were justified.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg wasted no time issuing an arrest warrant for Mr. Penny, charging him with second degree murder. Then, rather than try to calm things, the Reverend Al Sharpton set about inflaming the black community. That was when I decided that Mr. Penny was innocent.
The Reverend Al has an unblemished record of inserting himself into racially sensitive issues on the losing side.
Crown Heights
In 1991 Reverend Al began his career of picking whichever side of an issue that would result in black Americans looking like villains or dupes. The incident became known as the Crown Heights Riots. It began with a tragic car accident in which an Orthodox Jew struck a young black boy in a traffic circle. The Jewish man stopped, tried to render aid, and waited for the police to arrive. They did so and declared the tragedy an accident. Not good enough for the Reverend Al. He led a group of black Americans to the site and demanded justice. One young Jewish man was beaten to death, and property damage was significant. Traffic reconstruction experts concluded that the tragedy was, indeed, an accident.
Tawana Brawley
The next milepost occurred in 1987 and involved Tawana Brawley. Ms Brawley was a black teenager who had spent four days with her boyfriend and didn’t want to get in trouble with her parents. Of significance was that there was racist writing on her body. That is a classic sign of failure to tell the truth in a reported abduction. She claimed that four white men, including a county prosecutor had kidnapped and raped her. The Reverend Al preached her story to anyone who would listen.
The prosecutor took umbrage at the defamation and sued both Brawley and Sharpton. A civil trial ensued, at which the prosecutor was vindicated.e
Yes, I reversed the order of the first two incidents. It’s past my bed time.
Duke University
After this the incidents become difficult to keep in order. Highlights include the Duke University lacrosse team brouhaha, in which a black stripper hired by the mostly white Duke Lacrosse team along with a white stripper to entertain at a party. The black stripper claimed gang rape; the Reverend Al showed up and led large protests demanding the University disestablish the team and the county prosecutor place all players on trial. Both complied.
Unfortunately, truth will out. The school settled for an undisclosed amount with the players. The county prosecutor was disbarred. The Reverend Al escaped unscathed and never admitted culpability.
Trayvon
The Trayvon Martin affair was classic. George Zimmerman, a white-appearing Hispanic, had failed to follow established protocol and, instead of reporting only, left his vehicle. The community watch forbade members from going armed; Zimmerman carried a weapon. To this layman, when he shot Martin, who was attacking him, the violations crossed the line from legitimate self-defense The state was prepared to charge him with such, until the Reverend Al arrived on scene. He incited widespread demands that Zimmerman be charged with murder; a timorous state’s attorney complied.
There was no evidence to support the greater charge, and Zimmerman was found not guilty, escaping punishment for homicide thanks to the Reverend Al.
Jena Louisiana
The Jena Six was a catastrophe all around. The reference is somewhat inconsistent with my personal recollection of televised interviews and is chock-full of irrelevant information. The case boiled down to African American students being offended by nooses hung on a tree on high school grounds. Six of them attacked a white student, Justin Barker, admitting that they had no knowledge of whether Barker was associated with the nooses; they admitted that they attacked him only because he was white. The Reverend Al showed up because of a civil rights violation. He led protests about the overcharging of six black youths who had admittedly attacked a white youth only because he was white. You can’t make this shit up.
Hands Up, Don’t Shoot
On to Ferguson, Missouri. Reverend Al, now a White House Advisor, traveled to Ferguson and led protests that turned violent. He also was the primary source of the baseless “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” chant that is repeated up to this day.
Reverend Al supported inflaming the “mostly peaceful” riots in Minneapolis following the death of George Floyd. It’s getting late and I’m fading fast. There are another dozen incidents over the years that I recall, but I don’t have the energy to pursue them or even to try to recall them.
Daniel Penny is doubtless not guilty. The Reverend Al has pointed the way to that conclusion.
I’m working on two pieces, one on business planning and the other on assumption-based models.
Great piece. As a now ex-Noo Yawkuh, I've been despising the ungoodly [no typo] Rev. Al for quite a long time. In terms of emetic power, the times Nicolle Wallace, former Dubya flack and now MSNBC host, worshipfully conversed with him in his role as paid consultant to the network ought to have made me slim and trim.
Only a vile racist like you would speak the truth. I hope the reverend doesn’t see your racist tirade. He’s a sensitive man.