A former “Good Morning America” meteorologist in New York City, Heidi Jones, pleaded guilty today to fabricating a story about being raped in the city’s Central Park, then assaulted on a different occasion by the same Hispanic male in his 40s. She cited stress at work and home as her reason for “trying to get attention” with the made-up story.
Jones had claimed to authorities that she’d been attacked by the man first while jogging in the park and that bystanders had scared him off. She later claimed that the same man approached her again in front of her Upper Eastside apartment building, threatening her for going to police regarding the initial attack.
The false claim led to Jones receiving police protection by the NYPD for several weeks, but during that time detectives began to realize there were holes in her story. She later confessed that she “did make this up” and was subsequently arrested.
Jones’ attention-getting scheme cost the department valuable man hours – which she will repay in the form of 350 of community service and 3 years’ probation, but more importantly, it cost a minority group further undeserved scrutiny. This time it wasn’t a black man, but it’s safe to say that in such instances, all minorities take a hit when falsely accused of violent crimes.
Blacks have long dealt with false reports of rapes and other felonious offenses that have perpetuated the stigma that we are uncontrollable savages prone to such acts.
Here’s as non-exhaustive list of more high profile false accusations:
— The Scottsboro Boys were nine black teenage boys accused of rape in Alabama in 1931. The case includes a frameup, all-white jury, rushed trials, an attempted lynching, angry mob, and miscarriage of justice.
— Nun, Mary Turcotte, 26, told police that a hulking 6’4″, 250 pound black man, raped her. He allegedly had knocked her out and dragged her through the streets leaving her in a snow bank with her panties down and her breasts exposed.
— Pennsylvania mother, Bonnie Sweeten, claimed she and her daughter were abducted by a black man. She drained several bank accounts, took a co-worker’s driver’s license, faked a 911 call about being stuffed in a car trunk, and boarded a flight with her 9-year-old daughter to Disney World.
— Susan Smith told in Union, S.C., about a black man stealing her two children and drowning them by sinking her car in a lake. She was later convicted of murdering her own children.
— Bethany Sorro received a lot of media attention after claiming that a Black woman threw acid on her face. After holes began popping up in her story, she admitted that the story was a hoax.
— Pizza deliveryman Brian Wells came to a bank in Erie, Pa. with a bomb locked around his neck. He told police that group of Black men had taken him hostage and put the bomb there. After receiving close to $9,000, the pizza man was blown to bits by the bomb. Police would later find out that Wells was in on the plot with a few of his white friends.
— Charles Stuart shot himself and killed his pregnant wife for insurance money and blamed it on a Black man. After the police arrested several Black men on suspicion of being involved in the incident, Stuart’s brother admitted that he was involved his brother’s wife’s killing. Charles Stuart later committed suicide.
— Ashley Todd, a young Republican of Pennsylvania carved a backwards B on her face and blamed it on a Black Barack Obama supporter. Police investigated her story and found out it was false.
Why some Caucasians feel compelled to falsely implicate minorities as scapegoats in crimes when they are looking for attention or otherwise remains a disgusting mystery. The issue was somewhat addressed many years ago (1960) by author Harper Lee in the book, To Kill A Mockingbird, which blamed expression of some twisted fascination as motivation. Whatever the case, today, in this diverse and race-relations-progressive society, Heidi Jones’ are still out there spreading their selfish lies and tarnishing minority images.
