I just watched it again and then again. It actually made me feel a bit queasy watching the video twice and writing about this entire topic is difficult as its a minefield.
But I thought about trying to understand on a very basic level what made me feel so uncomfortable about listening to the video, so here goes.
I have such mixed thoughts on why the State felt compelled to make this particular statement at this exact moment? And why now after months of silence from the State on the JD Case? Why not make a statement about the victim or even speak about the investigation? But no, that isn't what the State believed to be most important when it came to speak with the public after 2 months of virtual silence. Nope. The State felt it was important to speak to the public about 'disrespect' and 'pinning this crime on a person of color' as it relates to the JD case.
What purpose does the Foley statement serve? Is the statement about "disrespect" based on evidence found in the case or was the purpose of the statement to cynically prejudice potential jurors by fanning the flames of racism?
Race baiting in the Cambridge Dictionary is defined as, "the act of intentionally encouraging racism or anger about issue/s relating to race, often to get a political advantage". I hope this statement from Foley was not gratuitous race baiting and has some basis in fact using evidence found in the case investigation. But its honestly hard not to think otherwise. Really hope this is not race baiting, as Hartford and the State of CT don't need this ever IMO and certainly not now on this case.
I would like to give Foley the benefit of the doubt here but on the surface it appears that he tied a few facts together (why that neighborhood, no known ties, all minority neighborhood - all true, but are they connected or related to each other and how are they relevant to FD/MT? IDK but I hope Foley knows in great detail!) that we don't know if they are at all related to what FD and MT might have been thinking about, and drawn the conclusion that the disposal of evidence in Hartford was 'disrespectful'.
Foley is standing behind his statement 100% so we will have to see whether this trip down Albany by FD and MT was driven by factors that are truly 'disrespectful' and that this crime by FD and MT "was designed to pin it on a person of color"?
I just wish that this Foley comment and any associated evidence to support it had been presented in a court of law where I believe it appropriately belongs rather than at a press conference with zero context and the old school 'trust me I'm LE' bravado which IMO is patronizing to any thoughtful person listening that cares about all people.
I have no idea if anything being said by Foley in his statement was true as he gave a conclusion without supporting facts IMO. I just hope as a public spokesperson that he has facts to back up his statement relating to 'disrespect' and 'pinning this crime on a person of color' that these facts will be put forward in court at some point.
I would hope that LE was responsible in their statement about the event and that before calling it "disrespectful" that they had evidence from FD and/or MT to support that statement. Otherwise it seems to be fanning the flames of racial hatred and anger unnecessarily as the statements from Foley might simply not be based on fact.
IDK what to think but it made me personally very uncomfortable that Foley was asking me as somebody listening to him to trust him on this as he gave me no reason to as he provided zero in the way of information or context to make me at all comfortable trusting him.
This has been a strange WS case IMO as LE commentary has been minimal and I think we have only heard from the State Police 1 or 2 times through this entire case so far. Many on WS questioned why the trip down Albany happened and why might FD and MT picked Albany Avenue as a location to dispense with evidence in the JD case. Could the choice have been related to the racial makeup and been planned cynically by FD? Sure, many on WS believe this to be the case and its a personal opinion. I guess I hope the State Spokesperson to a higher standard than just his opinion and I hope his statements have alot of evidence to support them.
We have had none of the typical press conferences etc. that we routinely see in similar cases. So, we have no relationship with Foley (or even NCPD Chief K. for that matter) as we don't know him and he hasn't been with us all as we make our way through the public information on the case because Justice for Jennifer is important to us in some way. We really have had no relationship with any member of the State's Team even though we saw them working very hard under very difficult conditions to do their jobs.
Yet we now see a State Police Spokesperson asking us to believe with no stated proof, that the trip down Albany was "disrespectful" and "designed to pin this crime on a person of color".
Maybe Foley is correct but I will wait for the evidence to be presented in court to support his statements before believing that the trip down Albany Ave was racially motivated.
MOO
