The "Palmdale 4"-An Update

Last week I posted an article about the arrest of three black high school students and their mother at Knight High School in Palmdale, California after one of the youths had to be restrained by a campus security guard. The incident has become a cause celeb among the LA black activist community and Al Sharpton.

In the past few days, a number of new developments have come to light:

According to Sheriff's investigation it appears that the girl involved, Pleahje Mervin, began the confrontation when she threw a cake onto the ground (instead of dropping it as originally reported. - See article by Ann Simmons, LA Times, 10-13-07).

The investigation also has indicated that Mervin was placed in a restraining hold, at which time, she flopped herself down on a table. Mervin has claimed that the guard pinned her on the table (Simmons, 10-13-07).

There was an allegation that the guard called Mervin a "nappy-head", an accusation which apparently has also been debunked, according to reports on the John and Ken talk show on 10-15-07.

Ann Simmons, in her LA Times article of 10-13-07, stated that Lancaster Community Hospital authorities declined to comment about their treatment of Mervin. Yet, the doctor involved (speaking with the permission of Mervin's mother) earlier told ABC reporter, Leo Stallworth as well as KFI Radio officials that there were no injuries to Mervin. It now appears that Mervin's mother has lifted permission of medical authorities to comment on Mervin's condition. Therefore, the LA Times, unable to catch up on the story, is not reporting that there were no injuries as claimed by Mervin, her mother, Al Sharpton and numerous other activists.

In connection with that article, KFI has been notified by one of their listeners that she had e-mailed Simmons asking why the Times would continue to state that hospital officials would not comment, and therefore, would not report the apparent fact as reported by ABC News and KFI that the doctor had denied any injuries to the girl (when he had parental permission to speak.) The listener stated that she received a response from Simmons thanking her for her interest;that the hospital had declined to comment, and that the Times would continue to pursue the facts of the story (I am paraphrasing). Well, if accurate, that sounds like the responses I get when I write to a politician.

Meanwhile, according to an ABC News article written 10-12-07, Najee Ali, the principal activist in this story, has reportedly called the black Republican mayor of nearby Lancaster, Henry Hearns, an "Uncle Tom" over the failure of Hearns to speak out in the matter. Great.

So, as the story continues to unfold, a couple of questions are in order:

To Ms Simmons of the LA Times: Are you legally constrained from reporting the previous statements of the doctor that there were no injuries? Do you concede that your readers are not getting an important piece of the story?

To Al Sharpton: Do you still plan to protest in Palmdale in November? Are you prepared to retract your statements made in LA that Mervin's arm was broken, and that the guard was culpable of unnecessary force? (No, I don't really think that Sharpton reads my blog.)

Will Ali, Sharpton et al issue an apology to the guard and everybody else they have slandered? Don't bet on it. In my view, this is a classic case of how racial hucksters like Al Sharpton and Najee Ali are actively hurting race relations in our society.