Duke Professors and the 610 Protests

Video from WRAL TV - The potbangers protest

Note! Italicized paragraphs were taken from Ekstrand Lawsuit & The Duke Lacrosse Team Lawsuit. The photos and videos are all available freely on the Internet.

With Durham PD Cpl Addison's inflammatory & false remarks on WRAL March 24 2006, the Duke community composed of professors, employees, Trinity Park residents, and local activists joined together to start a series of daily protests which propelled the dubious story into a national event by skillfully using organizing techniques. Voices of calm who called for restraint until the charges could be examined were thrown by the wayside. The Duke PD knew the charges came from a mentally troubled woman and had expressed their opinion it would go away.

However people were at work creating a metanarrative that fit the mantra of race, class, and gender which had become the centerpiece of these professor's academic agendas. It was promoted as the perfect storm composed of town and gown issues with the allegations buoyed by the false reports of injuries coming from Duke University Medical Center. Duke professors who should have followed the code of conduct in their faculty handbook threw it aside and began an vitroilic attack on the entire Lacrosse Team. It was a great opportunity! Brodhead and his Administration who were assured the charges were most likely false by their own PD failed to stop the Duke professors and their employees.

"But once you tell one lie, you've got to tell another and another and another. You're caught up in a web of lies."

Durham attorney Butch Williams
Herald-Sun, The (Durham, NC) March 31, 2006

Duke Faculty Encourage Campus Protests Against Lacrosse Players

250. As the Duke administration was thus rebuffing the parents' requests for support for their sons, a large number of Duke faculty members, other Duke employees, and students immediately rushed to condemn the lacrosse team. Over the weekend of March 25-26, they began a prolonged public campaign of harassment and organized protests falsely condemning the lacrosse players both for committing a heinous crime and for attempting to cover it up. They also called upon the Duke administration immediately to condemn the lacrosse team, to cancel the lacrosse season, and to impose disciplinary sanctions on the team, its coach, and its members.

251. On the evening of March 24, Duke English professor Faulkner Fox sent an email to numerous persons associated with Duke, calling for a protest at the lacrosse game. Other Duke professors attended the protest as well. Fox later told the media: "The students need to realize they live in a community, and people are going to talk back if they do something, or potentially do something, that is disrespectful to women." Protesters holding "DON'T BE A FAN OF RAPISTS" signs arrived at the lacrosse field prior to the scheduled Georgetown game. The game, as noted above, was canceled by Brodhead shortly before it was scheduled to begin.


252. Professor Fox, in addition to calling for the "DON'T BE A FAN OF RAPISTS" protest at the Georgetown game, also helped organize a "candlelight vigil" at 610 North Buchanan on the night of March 25. On the night of Saturday, March 25, over 250 people—including Duke faculty members, staff, and students—gathered outside the house at 610 North Buchanan.


253. Gathered in front of the house, the crowd chanted "shame," and "you can't run, you can't hide," and other hostile slogans. Members of the crowd told local media that every attendee of the March 13 party should be expelled from the university.

254. The same night, the protesters moved from 610 North Buchanan to a nearby duplex located at 1105 and 1103 Urban Avenue. This house, owned by Duke University, was occupied by lacrosse team members William Wolcott, K.J. Sauer, and Erik Henkelman. The protestors surrounded the front of the house and banged on the windows, screaming "Shame!" Wolcott called Larry Moneta, Duke's Vice President for Student Affairs, and asked for help. Moneta said there was nothing he could do.


255. At approximately 6:10 a.m. the next morning, Sunday, March 26, Duke personnel and students, gathered outside the lacrosse team's residences and engaged in a so-called "pot-banging" protest. They banged on pots and pans, trash bins, water jugs, and empty beer cans. The crowd wielded signs reading "CASTRATE!!", "You can't rape and run," and "It's Sunday morning, time to confess." Other signs stated: "Real men don't protect rapists," "Don't rape and run," "Give Them Equal Measure" and "Get a Conscience, Not a Lawyer." Sam Hummel, Duke University's Environmental Sustainability Coordinator, shouted into a megaphone: "The community consequences for this action, I guarantee, will range far beyond the legal consequences you will face." The crowd chanted: "Who's protecting rapists? They're protecting rapists! So who are the rapists? They must be the rapists!" The protest lasted at least two and a half hours.

Sam Hummel, Duke's Sustainability Director, chanting

475. The menacing slogans were compounded by “speakers” who addressed the crowd and the home of three of the lacrosse team captains through a bull horn. The Potbanger- Speakers variously asserted that a rape occurred and demanded a confession. The statements of Potbanger-Speakers, many of whom were University Professors, Administrators, and students, included, for example:

(1) “We are making this kind of noise because we are standing in solidarity with the women who have gone through this horrible atrocity.”

(2) “Wake up! Wake up! The Sun is up! It’s Sunday morning! Time to confess!”

(3) “We want the members of the Duke Lacrosse team to come clean.”

(4) “They haven’t been convicted, but 30-something kids are remaining silent.”

476. Several Durham Police and Duke Police Officers were standing a short distance away, watching the mob in front of 610 N. Buchanan, and did nothing to intervene. One officer appeared to be taking pictures.

256. Upon information and belief, Hummel played an instrumental role in the protests, helping to organize them by, among other things: sending one or more emails calling for a protest, creating and distributing a slanted and harassing "fact sheet," attending the protest and directing multiple signs (including "Get a Conscience, Not a Lawyer") at the lacrosse house and at television cameras, shouting into a megaphone during the protest, and setting up a speaker system for the protest. Hummel also posted harassing and inflammatory messages on the "Durham Responds" Yahoo Group. In one message, Hummel implored readers to attend an event "geared toward educating the larger Duke community about the sexual assault that occurred two weeks ago in a house just off East Campus that is rented by Duke students." In another message, Hummel referenced a protest in which he had recently participated, and then discussed "planning an on-going response to the March 13th sexual assault that addresses root cause issues such as racism, sexism, misogyny, alcohol culture, paternalism, economic exploitation, athlete impunity, and Duke's (lack of) accountability to the community." On information and belief, Hummel was also involved in creating and/or distributing the WANTED posters, described below.

Pictures of the Lacrosse Team were posted on campus.
Sam Hummel in backround

257. In addition to Hummel, the participation of Duke faculty members in both organizing and attending the protests was extensive. As noted above, on information and belief, professor Faulkner Fox was one of the organizers of the "DON'T BE A FAN OF RAPISTS" and "CASTRATE! !" protests. Likewise, Duke professor Tim Tyson publicly admitted in a National Public Radio interview to participating in the protests, as well as the "candlelight vigil." Duke professor Kim Curtis also participated in protests targeting the lacrosse players.

Duke professor Tim Tyson

Professor Tyson, a board member of the Insitute of Southern Studies, is a Visiting Professor of American Christianity and Southern Culture, Duke Divinity School and Senior Research Scholar at the Center for Documentary Studies. On April 2 2006 he wrote this column for the News-Observer.

..White college students a few generations back would sometimes hire a black man to let them tie his hands behind his back, and then the black man would try to fish coins and bills out of a barrel of flour. More recently, white fraternities would don blackface and hold "slave auctions" at parties. Such minstrel humor was very popular but racially degrading, damaging the community and the people involved.

This is also the case with rich white boys hiring black "exotic dancers."

The spirit of the lynch mob lived in that house on Buchanan Boulevard, regardless of the truth of the most serious charges. The ghastly spectacle takes its place in a history where African- American men were burned at the stake for "reckless eyeballing" -- that is, looking at a white woman -- and white men kept black concubines and mistresses and raped black women at will.

It matters, of course, what happened. But the dynamics of race, power and violence that have marred our history remain with us. When the men of one group have most of the power and privilege and see themselves as above the law, that will always be a recipe for abusive relationships with women from other groups, sometimes physically violent, more often spiritually violent... NewsObserver

258. On March 26, Brodhead had a telephone conversation with Durham Mayor Bill Bell. The next day, Bell complained publicly about the team's silence and urged Duke to cancel the whole season to "send a strong message to the community."

Duke Professor Houston Baker appeared to take the lead as the chief spokesman of the campus professors and those at John Hope Franklin Center, who would eventually create the "We're Listening " ad. He would appear in numerous radio, TV, and newspapers condemning the Lacrosse Team and the culture of racism.

In an report from the WRAL web site Professor Baker appears to be the first who starts the call demanding the disbanding of the Lacrosse Team.

...The English professor wrote an open letter criticizing the slow response of the administration. claiming that they have known for months and even years about the lacrosse team's bad reputation.

"It seems to me to wait until the 28th to have a major press conference by leaders of this university is appalling," said Dr. Houston Baker. "The slowness of response and the feeling among a lot of faculty that the men's lacrosse team has long been a unit of bad actors and it's been known by university leaders and still it's escalated into a national crisis and local disaster is frustrating."

Baker would like to see the current men's lacrosse team disbanded and the university put a blue ribbon committee in place to mandate how to handle these types of situations. Baker also wants a new lacrosse team formed -- one with certain standards and expectations set out by the university. In his letter, Baker referred to the lacrosse team as privileged white male athletes...WRAL TV

This drumbeat would continue for weeks and it certainly appears Duke President Brodhead succumbed to mob rule by cancelling the Lacrosse season and "threw" the players under the bus. The myth of the culture of white privilege had been created by just a few professors who used their graduate studies and professional activists to incite the community and the nation. It certainly wasn't about the truth.

“The arrogance and bravado that they were above the law or they could think this woman is below the respect of the human community really outrages a lot of people.” Duke Professor Faulkner Fox

259. In the face of these menacing protests, the players reasonably feared for their physical safety. Players Evans, Zash, Flannery, Wolcott, Sauer, and Henkelman were driven from their homes. On or around March 28, Player Bo Carrington was accosted and surrounded on campus by a jostling crowd of students who shouted "Tell the police what you know! Why are you protecting these rapists?" On Sunday, March 26, when pressed by defense counsel to provide more security or at least excused absences from class for the players, Moneta refused, stating "well, frankly, I don't believe them."

Epilogue

Two years have passed since this modern day witch hunt began. Duke University has never criticized the actions of its Faculty and employees despite knowing the 2006 Lacrosse Team was falsely accused. One wonders why Duke persists in denying the truth that on those horrible days in March 2006 their Faculty and employees engage in a hateful & racist attack on the Lacrosse Team?

Two years ago - The Hoax/Frame went public

On March 24 2006 the Duke Lacrosse Hoax/Frame exploded into the local media with the interview of Durham PD Cpl David Addison on local TV and in the News-Observer & Herald-Sun, both local newspapers. Today we are running a re-post of our Nov 13, 2006 Blog article which explained how the Hoax was promoted from a local story to a National media frenzy.

From the "Wall of Silence" to Community Uproar to a National Story

In one of our earlier posts on the "Hoax within the Hoax," we described how the false accusation that the players were not cooperating spread from the Durham PD Crimestoppers' Cpl. David Addison, into the hands of the local media. We have pointed out that the captains all fully cooperated, providing hours of interviews without counsel and giving written statements. They also provided DNA samples and offered to take polygraph tests, which were refused by the Durham PD. [A Conspiracy of Truth]

Since we posted that article, it has been revealed in court that March 24 was the date that the Police Investigators were ordered to report to DA Nifong and to follow his orders from that point on. Therefore, on that day, DA Nifong became the Chief of the Investigation. This sheds new light on the activities of the police spokesperson Kammie Michael and Cpl. Addison and raises suspicions of the source of the misinformation they released.

March 24 – Friday

On March 24 curious news of the Duke Rape Hoax was released to the media. Cpl Addison appeared on WRAL-TV. He also gave interviews to both the Raleigh News & Observer and the Herald-Sun, spreading the accusations and the false claim of the "wall of solidarity" or "wall of silence." Many of his quotes, as reported, were false and inflammatory.

The lurid details of the assault were a shock to the community, especially to the residents of Trinity Park, where the captains lived at 610 N. Buchanan. A 27 year old Black mother of two and NCCU student was brutally beaten and raped vaginally, anally, and orally for 30 minutes by three white lacrosse players in their midst. The police were reporting the rape as an absolute fact. To make the accusation worse, it was claimed that 43 other players stood by and did nothing to stop it. The extraordinary act of Judge Stephens ordering the entire Duke lacrosse team to submit to 46 separate DNA tests, leaving out the one Black player, gave additional credence to these serious allegations.

The false idea that the team was hiding behind a wall of silence was honestly troubling to many in the community. It caused considerable damage to the team’s credibility. Residents just couldn't reconcile the fact that the players might have been falsely accused with what they were hearing about the brutal nature of the assault from the police. “The lacrosse team refused to cooperate,” so therefore, they must be hiding something, was the conclusion of many. At the same time, the media was bolstering the image of the “victim.” The police knew full well the accuser worked for an escort service, and that the responding officer thought the accuser was" passed out drunk." She had herself admitted her inebriation and her use of the muscle relaxant Flexeril (the night of the party) to the doctors at UNC. Unlike the police, at that time the public did not know of the dancers' conflicting stories, a recantation, or the accuser's long psychological history. Nor did the public know of the prior criminal records of both dancers, or the identity of the person who made the 911 calls. The public did not know, but the police certainly did. Recently we learned that at the same time the candlelight vigils were being held, the accuser was performing her regular stripper routine and signing in clients to the VIP room at the Platinum Club.

These allegations couldn't have come at a more opportune time for DA Nifong's struggling election campaign and the Durham activist community. Sexual Assault Awareness Week at Duke was planned for March 27th through March 31st. The Women’s Center annual week-long event, with its planned seminars and displays on campus, was ready to go on Monday morning. It was the perfect stage for this Hoax to spread. Those who legitimately organized the week on behalf of the Women’s Center wanted to address the issues of sexual assault, but a group of dedicated activists, well known in the local community, were about to take over and exaggerate this accusation into broader issues. Many would now use this as an opportunity to advance his or her own cause. We would also see the Duke 88, a group of professors mainly composed of faculty from the African-American Studies, Cultural Anthropology, English, and History Departments, who had their own overriding agendas ... align with the "professional" protesters. Suddenly this case had racial overtones and this accusation became a forum for their diverse complaints.

Durham and Duke’s Activist Community

With the proximity of the many universities in the Triangle area, Durham has become a center for activism. From protesting about the war in Iraq, women’s issues, racial diversity, environmental concerns, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Progressive Alliance Movement has become a force in local politics.

In the center of much of this activism is the Indy Weekly, an alternative newspaper, which associates itself with progressive causes in NC. Local activists use their list-servers and e-mail accounts to communicate back and forth regarding issues and upcoming protests. Indy staff members & Duke employees would later forward e-mails from the local activists into the Trinity Park Association List-server where sympathetic residents would post them.

On March 7th, some in Duke's professorial community were outraged at the the prospect of a lecture given by David Horowitz: author, conservative TV guest, and publisher of FrontPage Magazine. Most recently he had been promoting his book, The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America . One of the professors mentioned in that book was a Duke 88 co-signer, Miriam Cooke. Mr. Horowitz was warning about the growing campus culture of professors who promote agendas, and indoctrinate their students in fields of study that don’t stand up to scholarly standards. It was a packed lecture hall where Mr. Horwitz spoke.

In that audience was another Duke 88 co-signer, Professor Diane Nelson whose idea of a protest against Mr. Horowitz’s demanding higher standards for the professors, was to encourage students to strip to their waists. Fortunately the protest never came off as the tops stayed on.

On that same night, March 7, there was a Hip Hop Forum called “Mic Check: The Hip Hop Generation Has Something to Say” held in Von Canon C at Duke. Manju Rajendran served on a panel that also included Duke Professor Mark Anthony Neal (Duke 88) and Clyde Williams, former adviser to President Clinton, and the chief domestic policy adviser in the Clinton Foundation.

"Manju Rajendran is a 25-year old artist, activist, and biologist. She is on the Future 5000 team of the League of Young Voters, which means she is part of creating an incredible online directory of dope progressive youth organizations across the country. She has worked with Hip Hop Against Racist War, NC Lambda Youth Network, Youth Voice Radio, Movement Rising, National Child Rights Alliance, and more." CampusProgress.Org: Speakers

Campus Progress is the college outreach organization under the Center for American Progress, which is headed by President Clinton’s former Chief of Staff John Podesta. Manju is on a Speaker’s Bureau list of over 160 members that includes the likes of Duke 88 Professor Neal, Rev. Sharpton, and former President Bill Clinton.

Manju Rajendran is a skilled organizer from UNC with a proven track history of projects ranging from the anti-war movement to her “Hip Hop Against the Racist War” group, which she co-founded. Currently she is in South Carolina as the Communication Director for South Carolina Equality Coalition opposing the Constitutional amendment to make same sex marriages illegal.

Rann Bar-on is another Duke activist well known to President Brodhead. A Duke Graduate Student in Mathematics, Rann co-organized Palestine Solidarity Movement Conference at Duke, much to the angst of Alumni and Jewish groups. From being shot by a rubber bullet in a protest against the Israelis in the West Bank, being arrested in an anti-war protest in Fayetteville, to his hobby of taking photos, Rann seems to be always where the protests are. He was there that day at 610 protesting.

The intervention of experienced protesters was about to explode these allegations not only in the community, but across the nation.

March 25th – Saturday

As word of the allegations regarding the lacrosse team’s “wall of silence” spread throughout the neighborhood list servers, the community was called into action. The Herald Sun would describe the effect of its March 25th article in its March 26th paper.

“Several people making comments on the e-mail bulletin boards cited Saturday's Herald-Sun article, in which police said all members of the team had refused to cooperate in the investigation of the alleged attack.” Herald-Sun March 26, 2006

Early Saturday morning the first e-mail went out from a local resident in Trinity Park expressing shock and outrage at the lacrosse team and their wall of silence.

“Shame on them. Shame on the parents who raised them. Who are [sic] this so-called "men" who shout racist slurs and have no respect for women, authority, indeed, for anyone? Who do they think they are? My heart goes out to the woman who may have been assaulted...”

Another e-mail went out announcing that Duke Professor Faulkner Fox was organizing a silent protest at the Lacrosse game at 1 pm and a candle light vigil in front of 610 N. Buchanan. It has become a tradition to hold a candle light vigil when a rape was reported.

“Last night, more than 200 people showed up to the house at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd. with candles to protest the “wall of silence” from the Duke men’s lacrosse team. The gang rape alleged to have taken place at the rental house, one of two “lacrosse houses” across from Duke’s East Campus, has stunned the university’s students and the Durham "community.” Indy Week Blogs

Meanwhile, the accuser was stripping with no apparent injuries or harmful effects at the Platinum Club in Hillsborough, according to the club bouncer HP Thomas.

Earlier in the day, at about 4:30 pm Saturday, the activists began to talk about have a large "shout out" as they called it. After the Saturday night vigil they gathered and planned another protest at 610 on a Sunday Morning for "Cacerolazo," or a pots and pans protest.

“Late Saturday Night an anonymous e-mail was sent out on the Indy Weekly List servers. (Listservs)"

"UPDATE -- WAKE UP CALL AGAINST RAPE (3/26/06)

by anonymous • Saturday March 25, 2006 at 10:55 PM

"In the early hours of March 14 at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd. two black women went to work as exotic dancers for a Duke Lacrosse Team party. The women were surrounded and had racial slurs flung at them by the aggressive men. The two dancers tried to leave but were coaxed to return. One of the women was pulled into a bathroom and raped, sodomized, and beaten by at least three white men for over half an hour. The accusations are first-degree rape, kidnapping, assault by strangulation and robbery, but the members of the Duke Lacrosse Team are maintaining a strict code of silence. Y'all, a sister- an NCCU student and a mom of two- has been brutally assaulted, and we need to get together and make a big noise! A group of concerned Durham residents are planning a Wake-Up Call against Sexual Assault on 9AM Sunday (*tomorrow!*) outside 610 Buchanan Blvd. This is a *peaceful* protest at the house where the rape occurred. Duke officials say the house is rented by three lacrosse team captains. We will not be trespassing onto the property- we will line up along the sidewalk without blocking it. Dress warmly, bring your whole family and bring pots and pans and things to bang them with! We are having a "Cacerolazo," or a pots & pans protest, because it is a tool women all over the world use to call out sexual assaulters. Show up on time! If the police inform us that neighbors feel we are disturbing the peace, we will quietly disperse. We are hitting the ground running on this one, so please call at least one person tonight and pass the word on your neighborhood listservers.”

(This was forwarded by an IndyWeekly Columnist onto the Trinity Park Listserver)

"We need to get together and make a big noise!" Durham residents Theo Luebke and Manju Rajendran wrote in an e-mail that spread to community members and student groups, such as the Women's Center." WomensNews.Org

March 26 - Sunday

The next morning the protest was held at 610 N. Buchanan, home to three of the Duke lacrosse captains and where the alleged incident occurred. It was led by Manju, who was portrayed in the media as a young woman courageously rallying against these “alleged rapists.”

"There is a sense that Duke students need to be protected from Durham, but rapes are happening off East Campus at the hands of Duke students," said Manju Rajendran, an organizer of the event. "We are here to break the silence around sexual assault and violence."

"Signs read 'You can't rape and run' and 'It's Sunday morning, time to confess.' The protesters left the signs on the front steps of the Buchanan Boulevard residence. The crowd yelled, 'Where are their parents?' and called for the lacrosse team's head coach Mike Pressler to be fired. Some wanted the University to force the group to testify." CSTV.com

The propaganda had begun in earnest. The organizers were morphing the allegations into broader issues and attempting to incite the community. There was no data to support that Duke students were raping women off campus. Yet this claim would be repeated during the week.

The 610 Buchanan protest was well planned and organized. The organizers had been thorough and arrive early to knock on doors and inform the neighborhood who hadn't seen the e-mail message. Media were notified, in fact Manju would later claim some members of the media contacted them first. Local TV crews were there to catch the outrage. Stilt walkers were carrying signs of “Give them equal measure,” marching along with members of the Cackalack Thunder Drum Corps, who provide drum beats in protest marches across North Carolina.

GCAONLINE.ORG

610 N. Buchanan Chants

Handouts were passed around and the crowd chanted in unison to the beat of the drummers.

"Who’s being Silent?
They’re being silent!

Whose protecting rapists?

They’re protecting rapist!

So, who are the rapists?

They must be the rapists!"

"Out of the house!

Out of the town!

We don’t want,

You around!"

The week of protests was off and running. It was great-intended theatre, mixed with warning to the Lacrosse captains living in the house, that there could be consequences far greater than any criminal proceedings. Most ominously, protesters carried this sign:

Video and Photos

A video was taken by a fellow protester and freely distributed across the Internet along with photos.

Video of the Protest: Part I Part II

Photos of the Protest:

Summary

The next morning March 27th, at 12:30 am, Ruth Sheehan's “Team’s Silence is Sickening” Column was posted online. It was quickly linked on the Trinity Park listserver.

“Members of the Duke men's lacrosse team:

You know.

We know you know.

Whatever happened in the bathroom at the stripper party gone terribly terribly bad, you know who was involved. Every one of you does. And one of you needs to come
forward and tell the police.”

Professor Fox would be interviewed on WRAL expressing the shock of the community.

“The arrogance and bravado that they were above the law or they could think this woman is below the respect of the human community really outrages a lot of people,” Fox said.

Manju received a call from MSNBC Rita Cosby's New York producer to appear on Rita's show March 28. She quickly called a meeting with other activists to go over “talking points” that she would use on TV. Her friends in the activist community were abuzz and quickly passed the word to tune in.

RAJENDRAN: Well, I feel like this rape is an outrage, the racist attack is an outrage. But I feel like this is much bigger than Duke and Durham. I feel like we, as a nation, are wrestling with a long legacy of institutionalized racism and a whole culture of sexual violence. We‘re trying to undo a long legacy here, with centuries of oppression.” MSNBC

It was now “institutionalized racism and a whole culture of sexual violence” from an assault that never happened. The protests would grow larger. The “wall of silence” hoax would be repeated over and over. Rann Bar-On would protest against the Duke Administration and call for mandatory diversity programs so the racism at Duke could be confronted. Rajendran and Bar-On would be both seen at other protests and quoted by reporters. Bar-on would be using his IndyWeekly press credentials to obtain access into Brodhead’s press conference and report back what was happening. A small cadre was hard at work—some were Duke employees, some Duke Grad Students, some were just local activists—but they all had one goal: to make as much noise as possible and turn up the volume.

The Hoax had become an event for personal activism. As one student would remark on Duke News Sense:

“It seems as if some protesters of the situation surrounding the Duke lacrosse team are concerned primarily with obtaining "concessions" from the Duke administration and advancing a radical social agenda.”

The Mainstream Media would start pouring in, as more organized protests continued all week long. DA Nifong, empowered by the media attention, went on to make some of his most outrageous comments. Not only did he make prejudicial comments concerning the alleged rape, Nifong even went on to mislead several reporters by hinting of potential evidence that never materialized in discovery.

A perfect example of DA Nifong fanning the flames was captured on CNN Live Today on March 29:

"It just seems like a shame that they are not willing to violate this seeming sacred sense of loyalty to team for loyalty to community," Nifong said on CNN on March 29. "My guess is that some of this stone wall of silence that we have seen may tend to crumble once charges begin to come out."

A misleading "Fact" Sheet, which was posted to the internet by Duke University Environmental Sustainability Coordinator, Sam Hummel, was drawn up by some protestors and subsequently distributed on the listservers. Among other items, the fact sheet falsely stated that the lacrosse team had refused to meet with the police. In addition, a Wanted Poster of the lacrosse team, with curiously similar wording to Hummel's Fact Sheet and featuring head shots of most of the players, was passed out anonymously offering Cpl. Addison’s phone number as a contact.

Duke's campus was flooded with satellite trucks, and cable news anchors. Very soon, reporters from the New York Times, Sports Illustrated, and ESPN would be rushing to retell the false story of the lacrosse team’s “Wall of Silence.” Anonymous sources would be quoted by ESPN about the alleged victim’s injuries at Duke Hospital. The community would hear a radio pundit say, “If they were my sons I would take out a switch and they would be telling the truth.” Next, Duke professors would take advantage of this atrocity by voicing their resentment about the over-funded athletic program.

Professors from the Duke 88 would especially be busy speaking in the media proclaiming the institutionalized racism in America and the mistreatment of Black women in society by White males. The implications were clear; the lacrosse players were condemned as racists. The Duke 88 would release their “We’re Listening” proclamation, which quoted an IndyWeekly article about racism at Duke. These professors wrote articles and held workshops. Some of their grad students would also be quoted in newspapers and on national television proclaiming the culture of racism at Duke and telling anecdotal storied that, albeit unverified, helped drive home their point.

Professer Lisker, Director of the Duke's Women's Center would joined in repeating buzz words, like a "town-gown" and "the perfect storm."

"There are so many kinds of anger," Donna Lisker, director of the Duke Women's Center, said of the stormy campus reaction that has included demonstrations. "There is anger about sexual violence. There is a racial component and a town-gown component. One of my colleagues called it the perfect storm." Baltimore Sun

It was no longer about whether an assault actually took place, as much as it had become an opportunity. It was a chance to be on National TV and speak their “talking points; as activists , local reporters, students, and Professors joined in. It was ratings for the Networks, and a possible Pulitzer Prize for a lucky reporter. The truth of the accusations apparently no longer mattered for many, as if presumption of innocence did not apply to the lacrosse players. Very little fact checking was done as reporters repeated falsehoods and copied other reporter's stories. The obligatory lip service to constitutional rights was sometimes mentioned, but it was just words, as former prosecutors like Wendy Murphy and Nancy Grace went for the throat. It was the start of a vicious campaign against the lacrosse team, driven by personal agendas and fueled by lies.

The Duke Lacrosse team had been the target of a campaign to turn the community against them. It worked! The residents of 610 had to leave their house and live elsewhere under fear of personal safety. Their season was canceled and their coach was fired. Interim DA Nifong, buoyed by local and National Media publicity, won the primary campaign he was losing just weeks before.

Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty were suspended from Duke and are still, as of today, prohibited by Duke from continuing their education. The legal costs are enormous and the stress unimaginable. The Hoax continues on today with Duke’s refusal to confront the truth of those in their midst who spread these lies and President Brodhead’s denial of the grave injustice done to his three students. It continues with the election of DA Nifong by a minority of Durham voters. Despite the overwhelming amount of exculpatory evidence DA Nifong seems bent on sacrificing these three innocent young men in a trial for his political benefit.

And at the bottom of it was a lie, a false accusation, which was repeated and repeated, over and over again and made bigger. Lies were added on, like the "Wall of Silence," the culture of sexual violence, and the institutionalized racism at Duke. They even created the myth of the perfect storm to hide their actions.

Epilogue

On April 11, 2007 North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper announced that the charges against the three players were dismissed. Further he stated that they were totally innocent and after an extensive review no evidence existed that there was any assault.

DPD Investigator Ben Himan would later admit in Nifong's State Bar disbarment hearing that he believed Crystal Gail Mangum made up the story.

Tomorrow we take another look at Duke's employees and Faculty

Truthtelling in Durham

There will be a National Day of "Truthtelling" in Durham, North Carolina, this Saturday. No, I am not making this up. When I first read this, I thought perhaps the Feds would be descending en masse, surrounding City Hall and the Courthouse, and letting no one leave until the extent of the corruption and criminal wrong-doing in both places was fully exposed. Apparently, that is not the case ... or not yet anyway. The National Day of Truthtelling, according to a quick look at some of the sponsoring participants on their website, appears to be just another feel-good/flex-flaccid-muscle day for the usual suspects: your friendly neighborhood Marxists, your Professional Victims, a few women who never got over not being invited to Prom, and some guys whose Mommys make them bang pots instead of play ball. Yes, there are even a few once admirable organizations in the list, but they have sadly defined themselves by the company they choose to keep and by their sorry actions in the Nifong-Mangum Hoax. Looks like the parade route will take the participants past the Lacrosse house where, if they make enough of a nuisance of themselves, they may actually succeed in getting Ms. Mangum her day in court ... albeit as a defendant. In the spirit of truthtelling, perhaps we need Crystal Mangum criminally charged and finally exposed to put these Pot-banging minds at rest...

I wonder a bit about the public relations strategy of the folks planning this event though. What member of Mensa suggested Durham, North Carolina, as the home base for any event with "Truthtelling" in its title? With Durham's current national notoriety, it might have been prudent to move the locale to someplace with a better reputation for veracity and accuracy. Perhaps Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, the home of the sometimes credible Phil the groundhog, would have been an upgrade. Right now, "Durham" and "Truth" seem to be mutually exclusive entities. In Punxsutawney, at least once in awhile, the groundhog can be believed.

For the past year, the whole nation has watched as Durham's Homeland Credibility Threat Advisory spiked into Red Alert. At some point, a color coded warning should have been attached to any statements emanating from any of the local "leaders". The Durham power structure seems to be replete with two types of individuals - the deluded liar and the deliberate liar. I don't mean to imply that all the cast of characters we have observed fit into one of these two categories ... No, not at all. Some, by their silence and inaction, are merely enablers of liars. But all of the above are pretty scary, considering the power they did and DO hold. And, folks, they're all STILL THERE, on the job in Durham, North Carolina to this day.

Be that as it may, the National Day of Truthtelling will soon come to pass in Durham. Oh, the heady anticipation! Beyond the requisite march, banners and bluster, one wonders what else we may be so fortunate to observe? Will that great local Truthteller, Sgt. Mark Gottlieb, be on hand, perhaps running a "Pin One of Crystal's TALES on the Lacrosse player" illegal lineup for charity and recreation? Perhaps Linwood Wilson, the Capo-regime of Witness Intimidation will be entertaining the crowd with some righteous gospel music? Can we expect to see Crystal Mangum crowned Truthtelling Festival Queen surrounded by her runner-up court of Bob Ashley and Samiha Khanna? Will City Manager Patrick "She only told one story!" Baker be there to cast his credibility at the feet of his favorite demented local sex worker as her float passes City Hall? Will Judge Orlando Hudson, the latest Hero of the Cause, be carried jubilantly on the shoulders of the crowd? And will that Capo di tutti Capi, the Godfather of all greedy, corrupt morally debased legal Mafioso. D.A. Michael Nifong stand on the Courthouse steps to salute the other "Truthtellers" as they pass in review?

One can only imagine.

In any event, there is something about the concept of a Truth-telling Day that is downright infectious! In that spirit, we pose the following questions, and ask that these noted Truthtelling participants (you just KNOW they're going to be there!) show their own true colors. Truthtelling marchers and preachers, show your own personal veracity, and honor their glorious cause by giving, for once and all, ... straight, direct answers to the following questions. You may E-mail us here at LS with your honest replies. We await your noble display of your own PERSONAL integrity.

Proposed List of Questions for Truth-Telling Workshop:

To: Serena Sebring

From the very start you actively promoted on the Trinity Park List-server & on Durham-Responds that these players were guilty of something. Your e-mails into the Trinity-Park were some of the very first. Considering your close relationship with the Duke 88, were your actions coordinated with them? How did Duke University Professor Faulkner Fox contact you about the proposed candlelight vigil? Will you admit to and apologize for misleading a national TV audience and condemning innocent men when telling Nancy Grace there was "clear evidence of some sort of an assault having happened."?

To: Sam Hummel

We noticed a picture of you walking away from the Vigilante Poster on a trash can and thought you might enlighten us on your participation. Did you create or reproduce the Vigilante Poster? If you didn't, who did? Do you know who distributed it throughout campus? Are you responsible for the false "fact sheet" distributed at the protests? Will you admit that nearly all of the "facts" on the "fact sheet" were untruths?

To:Manju Rajendran

Considering you were the Leader of the 610 protest, intended, in your words, to confront and "shame" innocent men, don't you think you owe a special apology for the sexual harassment & physical threat caused by the huge "CASTRATE" banner carried outside the Buchanan house? Who made that sign? With whom did you meet on March 25 at 4:30 pm to plan the protest at 610? Who were the local media members contacting you prior to the protest without your notice to them?

By the way, Jason Bissey says you woke him up with the pot banging. Try to show a little consideration to others along with your zeal.

To: Theo Luebke

As the son of of Paul Luebke, North Carolina House member, do you have any personal regrets for your rush to judgment considering your father's long and impressive career of fighting for Human Rights? Do you have the decency to issue a statement and say you were wrong? Or do you believe you have some personal dispensation to walk through life, attempting to destroy the lives of others, and never look back? What does Dad say?

To: Dasan Ahanu aka Chris Massenburg, Duke Women's Center Sexual Assault Support Services Assistant Coordinator

As a Duke employee and staff member of the Women’s Center, do you have any regrets for your participation in the protest at 610 now that the three young men have been found innocent? Don't you think the cause of women who actually have been raped has been hurt by your support for the False Accuser? Will you repudiate the ridiculous fairytale that "women never lie about rape" as a first step in restoring your organizations credibility?

To: Sam Hummel, Manju Rajendran, Dasan Ahanu, Serena Sebring, and Theo Luebke

As Leaders of the protest movement against the lacrosse team, both on and off campus, why haven’t you issued an apology for your protests against the Innocent Duke Lacrosse Players? Unless you have the integrity to do so, your own integrity is seriously in question. Don't demand "truth" of others, when you don't deal in it yourself! Why are you marching for Truth, when you can't handle the truth yourself?

Finally, a joint question to the group - Did any of you work with the Duke 88 in organizing these protests, especially Duke Professors Houston and Charlotte Baker, Mark Anthony Neal, Wahneema Lubiano, and Thavolia Glymph?

Can we expect any truth, or moral courage or contrition from our organized Truthtellers? Will they accept any responsibility for their OWN mistakes while banging pots to point out the "mistakes" of others? As they march by, I suggest we look closely for the mite in their collective eye. It allows them to self-congratulate themselves without any moral purview or personal responsibility to their OWN actions and mistakes. Without the integrity to admit grievous error, these marches are little more than vanity strolls...ALL ABOUT FEELING GOOD AND IMPORTANT ABOUT THEMSELVES, "sound and fury, signifying nothing."

We see the real measure of a man's integrity, not when he's right, but when he's wrong.

If these noble souls truly care about others, Sam Hummel, Manju Rajendran, Dasan Ahanu, Serena Sebring, and Theo Luebke will be carrying a banner together Saturday saying:

TO THE INNOCENT DUKE LACROSSE TEAM: WE APOLOGIZE!

And Heaven knows, maybe they will.

If there's one thing we've learned, in Durham these days, anything is possible.

And, that's the truth.

Joan Foster
with Baldo

Where you heading Sam?

Former Duke University Environmental Sustainability Coordinator Sam Hummel
and the Vigilante Poster.