The
Houston Chronicle, sometimes known as the
Comical, has outdone itself again. Now I don't argue a suit against the Sheriff's Office is legit news, but the
reporter seems to let his bias show.
Suit: Detained woman forced to listen to Rush Limbaugh
Talk about your Monday from hell. Not only did Bridgett Nickerson-Boyd's car break down on her way to work, but when she pulled over to the side of the freeway, a sheriff's deputy named Mark Goad pulled behind her, wrote her a ticket for driving on the shoulder, decided he did not like her attitude and arrested her, followed her to the hospital when her suddenly racing heart prompted a call to paramedics, then arrested her again after she was treated by doctors and took her to jail.
The reporter, Mike Tolson, does not identify how he knew the deputy arrested this woman because of her attitude. I guess whenever a black woman is arrested it must be because the cop is pissed off by the attitude shown by the suspect, oh, excuse me, innocent victim. Generally traffic violations are handled by citations, but if someone does not have identification (and the cop cannot find the driver ID on a mobile computer) they must be booked. We also don't know if she had warrants or other issues. But I guess being inquisitive is not a good trait for a reporter these days.
To make matters worse, Boyd claims in a lawsuit that she was forced to listen to Rush Limbaugh "make derogatory comments about black people" all the way to the jail.
Because of the incident, which occurred on Oct. 4, 2010, Boyd filed a federal lawsuit Monday against Goad and Harris County alleging defamation, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Again, what did Limbaugh say? Again, stupid question.
"Deputy Goad was aware that Boyd had not committed a crime and her arrest was without probable cause," according to the lawsuit filed in Houston.
The magistrate who saw her while jailed apparently agreed and dismissed all charges...
No Mr Tolson, you have no idea why the judge did this. You imply in you first paragraph she was booked for one reason, driving on the shoulder (in case you don't know it, there is no charge for attitude or pissing off cops). In the last paragraph you say "all charges", i.e. multiple charges. What were the charges Mr Tolson? Are is asking simple questions like that too much to expect from a
journalist.
bravo
ReplyDeleteThank you....I'm playing here at 8 and 10 all week! ;)
ReplyDeleteArrested because your car breaks down is ok with cops? No wonder people don't like cops.
ReplyDeleteJay
ReplyDeleteI read the entire article and no where did it say she was arrested for breaking down. It did say she was given a ticket for driving on the shoulder and arrested because he didn't like her attitude. I've searched the penal code and code of ordinance and don't find a local or state charge for attitude violation.
Seeing you have missed it, my point was this was a pathetic article where the reporter just took at face value anything said by Ms Boyd and he appeared to not have made any attempt to speak with the deputy for his side. That being said, the deputy would probably decline comment because of the pending lawsuit. However, in the interest of a pathetic attempt to be fair Mr Tolson should have at least tried to speak with the deputy.