The Rape Trial Everyone in America Should Be Watching

[La Lioness Priyanka]

On Monday, Nov. 2, the Daniel Holtzclaw trial commenced in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Charged with 36 offenses including sexual battery, forcible oral sodomy, stalking, and rape, ex-officer Holtzclaw allegedly targeted 13 women during his three-year tenure with the Oklahoma City Police Department. His victims reportedly ranged in age from 17 to late 50s, but the unifying thread of his accusers is race. Holtzclaw targeted African-American women. Details of a lengthy record of criminal sexual misconduct while on patrol surfaced after an extensive investigation by the Oklahoma City Police Department. The investigation commenced in June 2014 as a result of a 57-year-old black grandmother immediately coming forward to report his sexually violent behavior....

Despite the horrific nature of the allegations, and increased national attention and debate about issues of racially motivated police misconduct, the investigation of and subsequent trial for Holtzclaw remains largely under- and unreported in many major news outlets. In a historical moment in which campaigns to end sexual violence and to address racism at all levels of the criminal justice system thrive, a case involving an alleged serial rapist of black women has garnered far too little national outrage. Holtzclaw, a man accused of heinous crimes of sexual violation against both an underage girl and a grandmother, is not a household name.

http://www.cosmopolitan.com/politics/a49050/daniel-holtzclaw-trial-oklahoma/

[La Lioness Priyanka]

1. ...

We cannot afford to continue replicating a dangerous history in which our nation refuses to believe black women can be victims or survivors of sexual violence, especially at the hands of those sworn to protect and serve. The women who came forward deserve our attention and our support.​

[mythology]

4. As difficult as it is for a woman to come forward under any circumstances

It must be that much harder when it's a cop. These women are brave and strong for coming forward. Hopefully the justice system works.

[arcane1]

26. Indeed! A black woman vs a white male cop is the greatest disadvantage I can think of.

And they are unfortunately one of the last people who are taken seriously.

[Kelvin Mace]

2. I would hazard a guess that this type of crime

is about as common as police violence in general. Just WAY more underreported. I am guessing that should this trial get a lot of publicity, you will have a LOT of women coming out to report similar acts by LEOs.

A more cynical person than I might suspect that Black and Latina women are targeted because they are the most easily threatened and the least likely to be believed by the lily-white media, thus the absence of media coverage.

[valerief]

7. THIS ^^^

[1StrongBlackMan]

12. I suspect you are correct, in your cynicism; but, ...

increase this:

Black and Latina women are targeted because they are the most easily threatened and the least likely to be believed by the lily-white media, thus the absence of media coverage.

By a factor of 100, if that Black or Latina woman is poor.

[prayin4rain]

15. That's what I was thinking, too. People like this target the most vulnerable

-poor minorities. I'm amazed by the courage of these women and I hope they get justice.

[LiberalArkie]

14. He will probably get off, but I would imagine that are a lot of men both black & white & latino

that would like to take care of his problem of his sexual indiscretions and make sure it he is never capable of doing it again.

[Mnemosyne]

19. My ggfather believed that a stump, a nail, a fire in the stump and a butter knife would solve it. nt

[leftstreet]

3. DURec

In stark contrast to the accusers, the defense attorney described Holtzclaw as an "all-American good guy."

Ugh



DURec

[iwillalwayswonderwhy]

6. Yep, that's par for the course

My attacker was a married with family deacon at our church. I had a reputation as a 15 year old teenager as "loose". This man, in his 40's, and I both knew no one would ever believe me, cause he was such a "good guy".

[MrMickeysMom]

9. That's so awful...

I am not in the same category as you, but only remember an almost situation when I was aged 10 and thinking if anyone found out he had touched me, they wouldn't believe me.

Wrong then.... Wrong now.

[hifiguy]

20. Love your flyswatter graphic!

[MrMickeysMom]

23. I stole it, hifi...

Some brilliant DUer, so pass it on, dude!

[SunSeeker]

5. K & R for exposure. nt

[Half-Century Man]

8. Rape is a crime of dominance that uses sex as the weapon.

The police have morphed from peace keeper to occupying army; a force to dominate the streets.
The people currently feeling the vast brunt of that occupation is African Americans.
It is if the police were being programed to view rape as merely an extension of their current duties.

The police are no longer a force to be reckoned with. They have become a force in need of a reckoning.

[erronis]

16. Well stated. Let's hope someone with the big stick and the balls (both figurative)

will carry out this reckoning. After all, don't the abrahamic-based religions say this? Well, depends on your reading of the holy screeds.

This type of aggression against anyone should merit immediate forfeiture of all rights and a couple of body parts.

[geek tragedy]

10. a spree of gender and race-based hate crimes nt

[Generic Other]

11. Why am I so cynical about the outcome of this trial?

It seems like a slam dunk. Thank you La Lioness for posting this on DU. We need to keep a light shined on this stinking creep. He deserves an extra-long sentence to send a message that this kind of behavior is not tolerated by those who are hired to serve and protect. He violated the victims' civil rights, assaulted them in a crude and disgusting manner, and no doubt stole their sense of security and belief in the rule of law. A hate crime as well as a sexual assault. I would give him a life sentence if I could do so. I hope the jury doesn't let him off with a slap on the wrist. If they do, the reaction will no doubt make Ferguson look like an ice cream social. And I will have no sympathy for those who defend the jury system if this does happen.

[ismnotwasm]

13. America apparently can't handle race a AND gender at the same time

Rape is entertainment ala "Law and Order SVU" --victim blaming is all the rage.

Thank you for posting though

[MrScorpio]

17. I hope that this scumbag burns...

But this is America, I'm not so sure that he will. It should be a slam dunk.

Thanks very much for your post.

[hifiguy]

18. This seems to be an exception to the usual rule.

Serial predators such as rapists and murderers almost always prey on victims of their own groups - whites on whites and blacks on blacks. Not unheard-of but quite unusual.

[kelliekat44]

21. Wow!! The double standard in this society is epic! Hadn't heard about this, Making it viral on FB..

[Solly Mack]

22. K&R

[niyad]

24. I just keep wondering how many other women did not dare to come forward.

may he receive everything he deserves.

[tblue37]

28. Actually, none of them dare to, except the one 57-year-old woman whom he targeted because

she was driving through his usual hunting grounds on the way home after playing dominoes with friends. She is a middle class woman with no record and had nothing at all in her car that he could leverage to enforce her silence, the way he did with his other victims. He targeted women with a record of prostitution and/or drug use, so they would be even more afraid to report him than just their minority status would make them feel. He slipped up by mistaking that one woman for someone who would be afraid to report him. He figured that because she is black and was in the neighborhood he targeted, she must also be a prostitute or drug user or dealer.

But this woman did report him, and once that happened, the other cops, recognizing that they had heard such a story at least once before, began to examine his warrant searches and his car's GPS data. Then, when the GPS data corroborated the two stories they knew of, they began to correlate it with other clues and other data to locate women whom he might also have attacked. They found several that way. Those women had not come forward on their own, but when they were asked about whether they had been abused by a cop, they burst into tears and told their stories, which were also completely corroborated by the evidence the cops had compiled.

[Starry Messenger]

25. k&r

[riderinthestorm]

27. Thank you for this post!