Tawana Brawley
Cody, Kat and Sarah- Wappinger Falls is located in Dutchess County, New York, which is
approximately 76 miles Northwest from New York City along the Hudson River. Neighboring
towns of Wappinger Falls are Myers Corner to the Northeast, Middle Hope to the Southwest,
Hughsonville to the southwest, and Howland to the Northwest. At the time of the incident,
Tawana Brawley was living on Carmine Drive. She was found at her previous apartment
complex on Carnaby Drive, which is 3miles from Carmine Drive.
Wappingers Falls has an area of 2.955square kilometers and a population of 4,605
people. The town is made up of 90% Caucasian, 5% African American, 4% Asian or Pacific
Islander, and 4% Hispanic. Wappingers Falls is not a very diverse town. Minorities only
make up 13% of the town. The median household income is $59,722. The Median home value is
$157,600. 74% of the population are homeowners and 26% rent homes. Wappingers Falls is a
town that is not very diverse and it is mostly middle-class.
Tawana Brawley was a black, fifteen-year-old high school student when she was put in
the national spotlight. She lived in Wappinger Falls, NY on Carmine drive. She lived in an
apartment with her mother, Glenda Brawley, her half-brother Tyice, and her mother’s
boyfriend Ralph King. Tawana Brawley was found wrapped in a plastic garbage bag partly
unconscious at 17 Carnaby drive. Her body and clothes was smeared with feces. She had
racial slurs written on her stomach and face in charcoal. Some of her hair was cut off.
Some accounts say that her blouse was full of burn holes, and the crotch of her pants was
burned as well. Some accounts leave out important evidence that just adds to the idea that
she lie about the whole thing. Some accounts say that she was missing for four days, and
others say that a woman while cleaning saw Brawley get in a garbage bag and do this stuff
to herself. Brawley later claimed that she had been abducted and raped by six white law
enforcement officers. When she was found she was taken to a hospital where she said she
would only talk with a black police officer. She told him that she was raped a lot by a
white cop in the woods and at least three others. She told him that that officer who she
saw the badge of was about 32 years old and wore dark clothing. She also said that the car
being driven was dark as well but she couldn’t see who was driving it. She also said
that the white officer had referred to someone else as “son”. A few days after
Brawley was found, Harry Crist, Jr., a part time policeman who fit the description of
Brawley committed suicide. Alton H Maddox and Rev Al Sharpton advised Brawley on what
steps she should take in getting the guilty people in trouble. They told her what to tell
the media and how to act in public. It was their plan that made many people believe what
Brawley said was the truth. On October 6, 1988 the Grand Jury Report was released. The
Grand Jury said that there “was no medical or forensic evidence that a sexual assault
was commited on Tawana Brawley.” They also said “no plant material was found on
Ms. Brawley or her clothing” even though she said she was assaulted in the woods.
They also said that “items and instruments necessary to create the condition in which
Tawana Brawley appeared on Saturday, November 28, were present inside of or in the
immediate vicinity” of that apartment. As Brawley said in her speech before the trial
of her advisors she never lied about what happened to her and she stands by that to this
day.
Many people around the country had strong emotional reactions toward Tawana Brawley.
Some people supported her and some some supporting Brawley and some mad at her and wanting
her punished. Many important people and celebrities publicly told of their reaction to the
incident. One of the most notable people who reacted to the case was Spike Lee. At first,
he believed that she was telling the truth, but after he heard the decision of the grand
jury he changed his mind. He realized that what she said could have been false and stated,
“maybe what I thought happened didn’t happen.” He was one of the many
blacks that changed his minds about supporting her. Brawley also upset people in positions
of authority such as the police and detectives. She made their job hard and made them
scared that she might blame them for raping her. They knew she was lying the whole time
and they knew that she could accuse them at any moment. They have said that, “they
don’t give a damn about her”. On December 14, 1987, the Nation of Islam leader,
Louis Farrakhan, led a march of 1,000 people supporting Brawley. Bill Cosby put up a
$25,000 reward for information leading to the truth in the Brawley incident. On April 4,
1988 Al Sharpton and Pete Seeger and others setup a large protest in support of Brawley.
There was also a large march in the middle of Manhattan in support of Brawley. Mike Tyson
gave Brawley a Rolex watch showing his support of her, and showing that he believed
everything she was saying. Everyday that the grand jury investigated the case, there were
protesters outside the building led by Al Sharpton. The community of Wappingers Falls had
a strong reaction but it was not seen on the national stage because the community is so
small consisting of 4,605 people. The community must have been mad at the police officers
who would have committed such a crime. And then they must have felt extremely betrayed by
Brawley once it was decided that she lied the whole time.
The Tawana Brawley ordeal has taken a very long time. A trial surrounding the Brawley
incident took place four years ago which is 10 years after the alleged incident. The case
against the police officers never went to trial because in 1988 the grand jury decided
that nothing every happened to Brawley, that Brawley had lied about the whole thing. Ten
years later in 1997 Brawley’s former advisors Al Sharpton, Alton Maddox, and lawyer
C. Vernon Mason were sued by Steven Pagones. Pagones is one of the six men accused by
Brawley for raping her in 1987. He was a local prosecutor and fit the vague description he
sought damages for defamation. On July 13, 1998 after a eight month long trial a jury
found the advisors liable. The jury awarded Pagones $345,000 in damages. Sharpton paid
$65,000, Madox $95,000, and Mason $185,000. Brawley changed her name to Maryam Muhammad.
Brawley spoke on August 24, 1998 at a banquet in Fort Greene, Brooklyn saying that her
fight for justice is just beginning. She thanked her advisors Sharpton and Maddox for
standing by her. She had prior told supporters in Brooklyn, in December of 1997 that she
always told the truth about the attack.
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