Young white dancer with her two black instructors handcuffed by Houston Police. Racism?

[appleannie1]

A young 13 year old dancer, Landry Thompson, came to Houston from Oklahoma. She travelled with her two dance instructors over the weekend. The intent of their visit was to train all weekend with some of the best in dance industry.

When they left the studio Saturday night they stopped at a gas station very exhausted as they searched for their lodging. They were trying to locate their hotel on the GPS. Out of nowhere they were surrounded by the Houston police.

The Houston police dragged them out of the car and handcuffed them all.

“I was kind of freaked out and surprised by it,” said Landry Thompson.

“They just pulled us out of the car. Put our hands behind out backs like we were criminals,” said Landry’s dance instructor Emmanuel Hurd. “He asked me; who is the girl? She is my student. I said I have a notarized letter from her parents stating that I have full guardianship over her while we are here.”

Landry Thompson and the instructors said they pleaded with the police and told the police their story repeatedly. It did not matter to the Houston police. Landry Thompson said, “They still put handcuffs on me. And it really scared me. And they put me in the back of the cop car. I was terrified.” Landry Thompson was taken to Protective Services.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/02/1259558/-Young-white-dancer-with-her-two-black-instructors-handcuffed-by-Houston-Police-Racism?detail=facebook


I doubt very much that this would have occurred if the instructors were white. In fact, I doubt the police would have even given them a second look. It is total BS.

[rocktivity]

1. Ironic much?

“I was horrified. She was with the people I wanted her to be with. She was with people who were safe who I knew would take care of her,” said (h)er mother... “Yet they had taken her away from those people and now she was in a shelter, wherever she was with people I didn’t know.”

She goes through the trouble of making sure that she wouldn't be surrounded by strangers, yet that's exactly what happened.


rocktivity

[appleannie1]

3. As soon as they saw that certified document, they should have released all of them, but then, they

did not have any cause to detain any of them either. Nothing like police who put a young girl that had been perfectly safe in danger.

[SharonAnn]

6. True, but I would've never let my 13 yr. old daughter go anywhere overnight with

2 male adults. Either I or a family member would've gone with her or she wouldn't go.

[fbc]

7. Why?

You specified two male adults, and not just two adults.

Why does their gender matter? Perhaps you are assuming they are heterosexual?

[DRoseDARs]

8. *slow clap* What an utterly repugnant thing to say and so fitting with this article.

eom

[pnwmom]

13. It isn't repugnant. Any time chaperones are used,

they're of the same gender.

Do you really think a 13 year old girl should sleep in the same hotel room as an unrelated male? Or by herself?

[appleannie1]

16. Who said she did not have her own room? I had 7 kids. When we stayed in hotels some of the kids

had to sleep in rooms without an adult present. There are safety locks on hotel rooms and that is just one reason why.

[pnwmom]

18. Most hotels have policies against children staying alone in their rooms.

[appleannie1]

19. Up to a certain age. Usually 12. Just like buffet restaurants do not allow kids under 8 to help

themselves. As I said, with 7 kids we always had kids without adults in some rooms.

[pnwmom]

20. Up to 18, actually, the legal age for a contract.

Your situation was the exception, not the rule. We have traveled as a family and it was made very clear that an adult had to be in each room.

http://traveltips.usatoday.com/minimum-age-requirement-renting-hotel-rooms-61923.html

Young adults, particularly those 18 to 21 years old, sometimes run into difficulty with travel in the United States. Booking a hotel room may be particularly challenging, since many hotels set a minimum age requirement for guests. Laws vary significantly in other countries. Advance planning is critical to avoid disappointment at the check-in counter.

It is virtually impossible to rent a hotel room in the United States if you are under 18, the legal age of majority in all states. The two basic reasons for this are liability and contract enforcement. Contracts signed by minors are not legally enforceable, putting the hotel at risk if underage patrons do not pay. Also, hotels do not want to take legal responsibility for minors. If something should happen to a minor during the stay, the hotel could be held liable.

[DRoseDARs]

21. Minor booking a room by herself /= minor sleeping in a room by herself.

You're comparing apple pie to orange juice (hilarious turn of phrase from a climate thread a few days ago). Hotels are free to make their own policies; they don't necessarily all have the same policies.

Edit: DU can't do the "does not equal" sign properly.

[pnwmom]

23. No, but most hotels don't want children sleeping in rooms by themselves

for reasons of liability.

[DRoseDARs]

22. pnwmom, love you, but now you're being repugnant: Male adult = child rapist is what you're saying.

As pointed out, you're assuming based on nothing in the article, that they were in the same room as the girl. Who are you to tell this girl's parents who they are allowed and not allowed to trust with their child? There's a deeper pit you've stepped in here too: If these 2 men are gay, are you equating gay = pedophile? Of course I don't think that of you, but that is the corner you've inadvertently painted yourself in with your snap judgment of these parents and who they've entrusted their child to.

How about we just focus on the undeniable racism displayed by the cops and stop tut-tutting the victims?

[pnwmom]

24. I'm not assuming they're gay, and I'm not assuming they're pedophiles.

Obviously, if they were gay they would not be a particular risk for this girl. (Why would you think I think they're gay?) But you can't tell who's a pedophile by looking at them. So I don't think any child should be going on an overnight trip alone with unrelated adults.

None of the schools my kids attended would have sent two men on an overnight trip with one 13 year old girl. When my kids went on overnight trips, there were always chaperones of both sexes and multiple children.

All that being said, I don't fault the police for checking on them, since the 13 year old was sleeping in a car with an adult at night. But I DO fault the police for not listening when they were told about the notarized letter. They should have asked to see it and that should have been the end of it.

[DRoseDARs]

25. "If these 2 men are gay" IF is the operative word there. I wasn't putting words in your mouth.

Wasn't my intention, but be honest here: Two male dance instructors escorting a young dancer to dancing lessons with world-class dancers? Pings my gaydar and my gaydar is rather shit (and naturally no longer under warranty).

Anyway, this is all moot. Unless you intend to talk with the girl's parents, there isn't really any point to chasing each others' tail here because neither of us have any details beyond this article. I enjoy your posts too much to let this thread detract from that.

[JustAnotherGen]

2. Bump

[Baitball Blogger]

4. Got lawsuit?

[Blue_Tires]

5. The officers involved in this should be made to explain themselves...

[DallasNE]

9. Once Again It Shows That There Is No Civilian Control Over Police Departments

Rogue cops are not held accountable so police abuse is commonplace. As I have said many times, the recruiting process is not select the right type of personality for police work which means that it will take decades to correct this problem. It is obscene that child protective services were brought into this. Why would they even agree to be involved given the letter of guardianship. Where does the Mayor stand on this? So much for the GOP talking point that racism ended with Rosa Parks. While she was a hero that helped end segregation in America it simply meant new tactics to support racism would surface and this is a prime example of how it plays out today.

[Gothmog]

10. This is wrong

I hope that the Mayor gets involved

[Shrike47]

11. I assume the police thought they were dealing with pimps trafficking a juvenile.

That happens more than we would like to think.

[DallasNE]

15. If That Was The Case

The police would have quickly segregated the 13-year old from the dancers and then compared stories to look for differences. It sounds like there would have been none so that should have been the end of the story. At minimum this was a case of racial profiling that then evolved into full-fledged racism. The cops thought they knew better than the mom and they should not go there.

[Blue Owl]

12. Houston we have a problem

[Historic NY]

14. Hello Houston we have a problem....

and its going to keep costing money in legal settlement until they straighten themselves out...its actually like they kidnapped her from her guardians.

[appleannie1]

17. Do you think it would have occurred if the girl was black and the males white? I

would bet they would be going wink, wink, snicker, wink.

[Gothmog]

26. Update: this was racism

http://egbertowillies.com/2013/12/02/houston-police-oklahoma-dancers/

[MADem]

27. Houston taxpayers are gonna fork over some money....

That's a rich, stinking lawsuit, right there.