An American Lion

Dominique Sharpton and the Reverend Al Sharpton

How do you approach a story like this without inciting a race riot? How do you comment on this without opening yourself to charges of racism?

The Rev. Al Sharpton’s daughter told a police officer in a profanity-laden rant that she cut him off in traffic because she was in a rush to get to a theater, prosecutors said Monday.

“You were driving too slow. I have a play to go to,” Dominique Sharpton told an officer who pulled her over Oct. 30, prosecutors told a Manhattan judge.

Dominique Sharpton and the civil rights activist’s ex-wife, Kathy, face charges including resisting arrest after the Harlem traffic stop.

Well, here’s what is alleged to have happened:

Police said Dominique Sharpton veered out of her lane, ran a red light and forced another car to swerve out of her way. After being ticketed, she and her mother cursed at the officers, ignored orders to return to their cars and resisted being handcuffed, according to a criminal complaint. Kathy Sharpton pushed an officer with her hands, police said in the complaint.

Hardy said he would ask the court to dismiss the charges, all misdemeanors or violations, calling them “frivolous” and saying there were no grounds for the arrest.

“Since when did a verbal objection become criminal in America?” Hardy said.

The top charges are punishable by up to a year in jail.

Dominique Sharpton, 23, and her 53-year-old mother didn’t enter a plea Monday. They declined to comment afterward, as did a spokeswoman for Al Sharpton. He didn’t attend.

Is there video of this encounter? If so, that must accompany the account given by police. The account given my Mrs. Sharpton and her daughter must also be balanced against what the police account says. The police lie on occasion. So do citizens detained or arrested by the police. What the tools in place sometimes do is reveal whose account is more accurate. Video and audio recordings will be crucial in this case.

Now, if you’re used to seeing people inject race into everything, this won’t surprise you:

Here are the Reverend Al’s Tweets:

Or drinking at all. Well this is what we deal with everyday. We will never accept unfairness. On my way to the studio to be on the roundtabl 7:25 AM Nov 1st from TwitterBerry

How two unarmed women with no record, could be taken in cuffs from a traffic dispute with NO personal or property damage involved. No drugs 7:24 AM Nov 1st from TwitterBerry

Told to stay out of it. Dominique is grown and certainly can handle herself. Kathy showed the concern any mother would show. I cannot imagin 7:18 AM Nov 1st from TwitterBerry

Friend and top supporter and of course dominique is our oldest child. I met with them and the attorney after the rally yesterday and was 7:16 AM Nov 1st from TwitterBerry

 

Were cuffed and then released after challenging police on a traffic incident. Even though Kathy and I are not together, she remains my best 7:15 AM Nov 1st from TwitterBerry

 

I am in DC on my way to ABC to do This Week w/ Stephanopoulos. I am getting calls that NY papers are reporting that Kathy and Dominique

Why was he told to stay out of it on November 1? Why does race have to be a part of this at all?, Look, two women resisted arrest, allegedly, and two women were taken into custody by the police. Let the evidence be entered, let the incident be played out in court, and let it be about actions, not race, and let it be about the rule of law.