A former police chief serving a life sentence for murder and rape, dubbed the &#8220;Devil in the Ozarks,&#8221; escaped from an Arkansas high-security prison on Sunday by disguising himself as a law enforcement officer.
Grant Hardin, 56, was serving a 30-year sentence for the 2017 murder of James Appleton, a Gateway water department employee, and an additional 50 years for the 1997 rape of an elementary school teacher, according to a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/arkansas-prison-escape-police-chief-grant-hardin-934e7fe6a45d3eafb18443f5b2bc5680">report</a> by the Associated Press.
He escaped Sunday from the North Central Unit, a high-security facility in Calico Rock where he had been incarcerated since 2017, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/27/us/grant-hardin-prison-escape-arkansas">according</a> to CNN.
Rand Champion, spokesperson for the Arkansas Department of Corrections, confirmed Hardin wore a &#8220;makeshift outfit designed to mimic law enforcement&#8221; during his escape, prison officials stated.
&#8220;That was not a standard inmate uniform, not a standard correctional uniform,&#8221; Champion said. &#8220;There&#8217;s nothing inside the prison that looks like that, so that&#8217;s one of the challenges we&#8217;re going through to find out what that was and how he was able to get that or manufacture it.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_925979" style="width: 534px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-925979" class="size-large wp-image-925979" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/499909563_1131975885632996_2765357824958232388_n-524x576.jpg" alt="" width="524" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/499909563_1131975885632996_2765357824958232388_n-524x576.jpg 524w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/499909563_1131975885632996_2765357824958232388_n-273x300.jpg 273w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/499909563_1131975885632996_2765357824958232388_n.jpg 662w" sizes="(max-width: 524px) 100vw, 524px" />Via the Arkansas Dept of Corrections on Facebook</div>
Hardin had a short tenure as police chief for the small Arkansas town of Gateway in 2016, just a few miles away from Walmart headquarters, and throughout his law enforcement career, he was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/26/us/arkansas-grant-hardin-prison-escape.html">plagued</a> with accusations of excessive force, bad performance, and eventually resigned as chief after he was caught falsifying a police report, according to The New York Times.
Authorities have deployed canines, drones, and helicopters to search the rugged Ozark Mountains terrain, with the search area expanding as time passes.
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Champion noted the region&#8217;s challenging topography, stating, &#8220;It&#8217;s called Calico Rock for a reason, because it&#8217;s very rocky,&#8221; adding that recent heavy rainfall has further complicated search efforts &#8212; although he added it could also hinder Hardin’s escape effort.
Izard County Sheriff Charley Melton urged residents to lock their homes and vehicles and call 911 if they notice anything suspicious.
Cheryl Tillman, sister of James Appleton, who Hardin murdered in 2017, expressed alarm about the escape since she and other family members were witnesses at Hardin&#8217;s trial, but she was not surprised upon hearing of Hardin’s escape.
&#8220;He&#8217;s just an evil man,&#8221; she said, per the AP. &#8220;He is no good for society.&#8221;
Craig Caine, a retired inspector with the U.S. Marshals with 30 years of experience handling escaped inmates, told the AP, &#8220;At some point in time, he&#8217;s going to run out of provisions.&#8221;
Though Caine isn&#8217;t involved in this manhunt, he noted that investigators are likely examining Hardin&#8217;s court documents and tracking individuals who might be assisting him. He added that it is extremely unlikely for Hardin to evade capture indefinitely in the isolated region, where he is likely to stand out in small, rural communities and be turned in by residents.
The ex-police chief&#8217;s notoriety in the region led to the production of a 2023 documentary titled &#8220;Devil in the Ozarks,&#8221; which chronicled his crimes.
Hardin&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/10-inmates-some-charged-with-murder-escape-from-louisiana-jail">escape</a> comes just weeks after ten inmates fled a New Orleans jail by crawling through a hole behind a toilet. Eight of those fugitives have since been recaptured as of Tuesday.

Grant Hardin

Arkansas Residents On Edge After Violent Ex-Police Chief Escapes Prison

Arkansas

Crime

Murder

Prison

Prison escape

Rape

U.S.

Sean “Diddy” Combs’ ex-girlfriend of 11 years, Cassie Ventura, made more allegations against the rapper during her second day on the witness stand on Wednesday.
The final line of questioning from the prosecution led to Ventura accusing Combs of raping her in 2018 when she was attempting to break up with him. She described a dinner in Malibu as a “closure conversation” which ended with Combs allegedly raping her after driving her back home to her apartment that night. Ventura said Combs was acting “romantic, “nice,” and “playful&#8221; before the incident.
&#8220;I just remember crying and saying &#8216;no,&#8217; but it was very fast,&#8221; she said from the witness stand. &#8220;I went inside, he came in and raped me on the living room floor,&#8221; Ventura recalled. &#8220;His eyes were black, he wasn’t himself, it was like somebody taking something from you.”
Ventura also said she had consensual sex with Combs one more time before cutting ties with him for good. When asked why this happened, she replied, “We had been together for over 10 years. You don’t just turn feelings off that way,” Variety <a href="https://variety.com/2025/music/news/cassie-diddy-settlement-alleges-rape-trial-1236398358/">reported</a>.
This was around the same time she began dating personal trainer Alex Fine, whom she married in 2019. The couple is currently expecting their third child.
At the end of her testimony, Ventura recalled suffering psychological repercussions following the incident. She testified that she began “spinning out” in February 2023. 
“I didn’t want to be alive anymore,” Ventura said, tearfully recalling an incident when she “tried to walk out the front door into traffic, and my husband would not let me.”
Ventura filed a civil lawsuit against Combs in 2023 accusing him of rape and physical abuse. While Combs claimed he wasn’t guilty of the charges, the lawsuit was settled just one day after it was filed for an undisclosed amount. During her Wednesday testimony, Ventura revealed that she received $20 million from Combs as part of the settlement.
Earlier in the week, Ventura went into <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/diddy-trial-combs-ex-girlfriend-cassie-ventura-shares-graphic-details-of-freak-offs">detail</a> about her experience at Combs’ drug-fueled sex parties known as “freak-offs,” which involved her engaging in intercourse with male prostitutes for hours or days at a time. She said, “sometimes Sean — he, himself, or an escort would urinate on me.”
“The freak-offs became a job,” she added, saying that participating made her feel “disgusting” and “humiliated.”
Next up, the defense is expected to cross-examine Ventura. As highlighted in opening statements, their objective will be to prove that Combs engaged in unorthodox yet consensual sexual exploits.
Combs pleaded not guilty to the charges. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.

Cassie and Diddy

Diddy Trial: Cassie Ventura Says Combs Raped Her After They Had Broken Up

Diddy Trial: Cassie Testifies Combs Raped Her In 2018 When She Tried To Leave Him

Courts

Entertainment

New York City

Sean 'Diddy' Combs

Sex Crimes

Actor Russell Brand has been granted conditional bail and released by a London judge after his first court appearing over th charges of rape and sexual assault.
The 49-year-old arrived at Westminster Magistrates&#8217; Court on Friday morning. Brand was asked to state his name and address, and to provide addresses for both his U.K. and United States residences, per <a href="https://variety.com/2025/tv/global/russell-brand-london-court-rape-charge-hearing-1236383897/">Variety</a>. He responded “yes” when asked if he understood the consequences of failing to appear before the court. 
Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring scheduled his next court appearance for London&#8217;s Central Criminal Court on May 30.
The actor was initially charged with various crimes by London&#8217;s Metropolitan Police on April 4. Four women allege Brand sexually assaulted them between 1999 and 2005.
The accusations stem from four alleged incidents; one in 1999 in which a woman said she was raped in the Bournemouth area, one in 2001 in which a woman claimed she was indecently assaulted in the Westminster area of London, one in 2004 when a woman said she was orally raped and sexually assaulted in the Westminster area of London, and one between 2004 and 2005, in which a woman claimed she was sexually assaulted in the Westminster area of London.
Brand released a <a href="https://x.com/rustyrockets/status/1908184087304548484">statement</a> on April 4 addressing the charges and thanking fans for their “incredible and overwhelming messages of support.”
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My response. <a href="https://t.co/wJMGxlwBh0">pic.twitter.com/wJMGxlwBh0</a>
&mdash; Russell Brand (@rustyrockets) <a href="https://twitter.com/rustyrockets/status/1908184087304548484?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 4, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“I’ve always told you guys that when I was young and single before I had my wife and family… I was a fool,” he said in a video shared on social media. “Man, I was a fool before I lived in the light of the Lord. I was a drug addict, sex addict, and an imbecile. What I never was was a rapist.”
“I’ve never engaged in non-consensual activity,” he stated. “I pray that you can see that by looking in my eyes.”
He thanked fans again and said he was “grateful” for the opportunity to “defend these charges in court.”

Russell Brand

Russell Brand Granted Bail In First Court Hearing Over Rape And Assault Charges

Russell Brand Granted Bail In London Court Hearing Over Rape Charges

Court

London

United Kingdom

World

“Star Wars” fans are reeling from the unexpected rape scene in the new season of the popular series “Andor,” which just released the first three episodes of season two this week on Disney+.
So far, the “Star Wars” franchise has stayed away from sexual content beyond insinuations, but in episode three, that all changed. During the scene in question, an Imperial officer tries to rape the Rebel fugitive Bix Caleen (Adria Arjona) when she’s hiding out in a farming settlement to avoid Imperial troops who are rounding up “undocumented” citizens, per <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/andor-star-wars-season-2-bix-rape-interview-1236191397/">The Hollywood Reporter</a>.
Bix wins out in the life or death battle that ensues, then clarifies what just occurred when she screams, “He tried to rape me!”
“Andor” creator Tony Gilroy explained why he felt it was important to include the scene, saying it helped convey the realities of war.
“I get one shot to tell everything I know — or can discover, or that I’ve learned — about revolution, about battles, with as many incidents and as many colors as I can get in there, without having [the story] tip over,” Gilroy told the outlet. 
“I mean, let’s be honest, man: The history of civilization, there’s a huge arterial component of it that’s rape,” he added. “All of us who are here — we are all the product of rape. I mean armies and power throughout history [have committed rape]. So to not touch on it, in some way … It just was organic and it felt right, coming about as a power trip for this guy. I was really trying to make a path for Bix that would ultimately lead to clarity — but a difficult path to get back to clarity.”
Gilroy also noted that the studio didn’t give him pushback about including the topic. “No one ever ever said anything about it, ever,” the “Andor” creator said. “But I mean, we have limits on what we can do. We are very aware of what we can do sexually and violence wise. Those limits are made very clear.”
Arjona said she felt empowered during the scene. “The fact that I get to speak [the word rape] out [loud] — I felt so much power in that,” she told <a href="https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/andor-adria-arjona-bix-attempted-rape-1236375525/">V</a><a href="https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/andor-adria-arjona-bix-attempted-rape-1236375525/">ariety</a>. “I felt it throughout the day. I felt it when I finished filming, and I went home.”
Fans had mixed reactions to the episode. 
“SA in SW feels unnecessary. You can portray power dynamics and making the audience hate the empire in other ways without taking it to such a disgusting place,” one X user <a href="https://x.com/realswtheory/status/1914896363051212849">wrote</a>. “Vader wouldn&#8217;t tolerate that sh** nor does the Empire condone it. It has no place in Star Wars. Period. Unnecessary.”
“[S]ome of you really do need to grow up because this is exactly what the empire would do, despite it making you uncomfortable. thats the POINT? an imperial officer using his unchecked power to attempt to rape someone he deems illegal is exactly what the empire condones,” another person <a href="https://x.com/kattywumpas_/status/1915027886953681353">argued</a>.

Adria Arjona

‘Andor’ Creator Discusses Rape Scene In ‘Star Wars’ Series: ‘We’re All The Product Of Rape’

'Andor' Creator Discusses  Rape Scene In 'Star Wars' Series: 'We're All The Product Of Rape'

Disney

Star Wars

Television

British podcaster Russell Brand, 49, has been charged by the principal public agency for conducting criminal prosecutions in England with rape and sexual assault for alleged acts committed between 1999 and 2005.
The British Metropolitan Police Service announced they had been authorized by the Crown Prosecution Service to charge Brand in connection with the offenses of one count of rape, one count of indecent assault, one count of oral rape, and two counts of sexual assault.
“Detectives began investigating in September 2023 after receiving a number of allegations, which followed reporting by Channel 4’s Dispatches and The Sunday Times,” the Metropolitan Police <a href="https://news.met.police.uk/news/russell-brand-charged-by-the-metropolitan-police-service-495944" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stated</a>.
The accusations stem from four alleged incidents; one in 1999 in which a woman said she was raped in the Bournemouth area, one in 2001 in which a woman claimed she was indecently assaulted in the Westminster area of London, one in  2004 when a woman said she was orally raped and sexually assaulted in the Westminster area of London, and one between 2004 and 2005, in which a woman claimed she was sexually assaulted in the Westminster area of London.
Brand will appear at Westminster Magistrates&#8217; Court on May 2.
“The women who have made reports continue to receive support from specially trained officers,” Metropolitan Police Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy said. &#8220;The Met&#8217;s investigation remains open and detectives ask anyone who has been affected by this case, or anyone who has any information, to come forward and speak with police.&#8221;
“Five women — four who remained anonymous and one who [was] 16 years old [at the time of the alleged assault in 2006] — previously came forward to accuse Brand in a joint <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/russell-brand-investigation-sunday-times-video-watch-latest-news-x33ss0kmk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">investigation</a> by The Sunday Times, <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/russell-brand-rape-sexual-assault-abuse-allegations-investigation-v5hxdlmb6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Times</a> and Channel 4 current affairs show Dispatches in September 2023,” People Magazine <a href="https://people.com/russell-brand-charged-rape-sexual-assault-police-7971304" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
In September 2023, Brand issued a <a href="https://variety.com/2023/tv/global/russell-brand-sexual-assault-allegations-metoo-denies-1235725357/">statement</a> on YouTube in which he said:
<blockquote>
I’ve received two extremely disturbing letters, or a letter and an email, one from a mainstream media TV company, one from a newspaper, listing a litany of extremely egregious and aggressive attacks, as well as some stupid stuff, like my community festival should be stopped, I shouldn’t be able to attack mainstream narratives on this channel. But amidst this litany of astonishing, rather baroque attacks are some very serious allegations that I absolutely refute.
These allegations pertain to the time I was working in the mainstream, when I was in the newspapers all the time, when I was in the movies. As I’ve written about extensively in my books, I was very, very promiscuous. Now, during that time of my promiscuity, the relationships I had were absolutely, always consensual.
I was always transparent about that then — almost too transparent. And I’m being transparent about it now as well. And to see that transparency metastasized into something criminal, that I absolutely deny, makes me question: Is there another agenda at play? Particularly when we’ve seen coordinated media attacks before like with Joe Rogan, when he dared to take a medicine that the mainstream media didn’t approve of and we saw a spate of headlines from media outlets across the world using the same language.
</blockquote>

Russell Brand Charged With Rape And Sexual Assault

Jay-Z is suing the woman who filed a lawsuit accusing him of raping her in 2000 after an MTV Video Music Awards after-party.
The 55-year-old recording artist filed a suit against &#8220;Jane Doe&#8221; and her lawyer, Tony Buzbee, just weeks after the case was dropped without an explanation. Now Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, claims in a suit filed in Alabama that the original rape claims were “false,” “malicious,” and “strategically and tactically calculated and time to inflict maximum pain and suffering,” per <a href="https://variety.com/2025/music/news/jay-z-sues-former-accuser-lawyer-sexual-assault-allegations-1236326747/">Variety</a>. 
Buzbee is the same attorney who has been filing multiple lawsuits against Sean “Diddy” Combs. Diddy is currently in a federal jail awaiting trial for alleged sex trafficking and other crimes.
Carter alleges that Doe filed the lawsuit “to obtain a payday.” The new filing notes that Buzbee sent him an “extortionate” demand letter prior to him being named as a defendant in the joint lawsuit against him and Diddy.
Jay-Z’s attorneys allege that Doe told Buzbee the rapper “did not sexually assault [her],” but say Buzbee “pushed [her] towards going forward with the false story against Mr. Carter” to extort money. 
The suit further states that Carter does not plan to reveal Doe’s identity but says he “does not commence this action lightly” and is attempting to “hold Doe accountable for her willful defamation per se and her malicious prosecution of knowingly false allegations,” the outlet added.
Buzbee issued a statement on the filing, saying the Alabama filing “has no legal merit.”
“Shawn Carter’s investigators have repeatedly harassed, threatened and harangued this poor woman for weeks trying to intimidate her and make her recant her story. She hasn’t, and won’t. Instead she has stated repeatedly she stands by her claims,” the lawyer said. 
He went on to call the proceedings “another attempt to intimidate and bully this poor woman.”
Carter has maintained his innocence since Doe’s lawsuit was first filed. “You have made a terrible error in judgment thinking that all ‘celebrities’ are the same,” the rapper <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jay-z-issues-denial-to-rape-claim-we-dont-play-these-games">said</a> in part in December. &#8220;I’m not from your moral world. I’m a young man who made it out of the project of Brooklyn. We don’t play these types of games.”
Carter also expressed distress over his family being affected by the allegations, including his children.

Jay-Z

Jay-Z Sues Former Accuser, Her Lawyer After Rape Lawsuit Suddenly Dropped

Lawsuit

The national scandal in Great Britain, where for years “predominantly Pakistani&#8221; men reportedly groomed and raped young British girls only to have the government seemingly turn a blind eye, has come to a boil, with many people, including billionaire Elon Musk, publicly calling for the resignation of Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
The Labour Party has blocked an investigation into Starmer, who served as head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). Jess Phillips, Labour’s safeguarding minister, insisted it was &#8216;<a href="https://archive.is/o/vGgYG/https:/www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/06/20/sex-offender-assaulted-14-year-old-oldham-council-renewed-taxi/">&#8220;for Oldham council alone&#8221;</a> to decide whether to launch an investigation into alleged exploitation between 2011 and 2014,” The Telegraph <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/01/02/elon-musk-jess-phillips-oldham-council-grooming-inquiry/">reported</a>.
“In the UK, serious crimes such as rape require the Crown Prosecution Service&#8217;s approval for the police to charge suspects,” Musk wrote on X. “Who was the head of the CPS when rape gangs were allowed to exploit young girls without facing justice?  Keir Starmer, 2008 -2013. Who is the boss of Jess Phillips right now? Keir Stamer. (sic) The real reason she&#8217;s refusing to investigate the rape gangs is that it would obviously lead to the blaming of Keir Stamer (head of the CPS at the time).”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Who is the boss of Jess Phillips right now? Keir Stamer.
The real reason she&#8217;s refusing to investigate the rape gangs is that it would obviously lead to the blaming of Keir Stamer (head of the CPS at the time).
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1874688117858549775?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 2, 2025</a></blockquote>
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They oppose an inquiry, because it will show that those in power were complicit in the cover-up <a href="https://t.co/uLdWVRcEIg">https://t.co/uLdWVRcEIg</a>
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1874630607835398643?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 2, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Starmer is done. Just a question of how long it takes at this point.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1875194194219991228?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2025</a></blockquote>
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These appalling rape gang cases of girls as young as 11 shame our country. Not only do the perpetrators need to be punished. So do the authorities who turned a blind eye in the name of not inflaming &#8220;racial tensions&#8221;. <a href="https://t.co/D0xG4BaoV3">https://t.co/D0xG4BaoV3</a>
— Liz Truss (@trussliz) <a href="https://twitter.com/trussliz/status/1874478696259817522?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 1, 2025</a></blockquote>
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The dam appears to have broken on this most shameful chapter in Britain’s history: where children were sacrificed by politicians to “avoid inflaming racial tension”.<a href="https://twitter.com/Con_Tomlinson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Con_Tomlinson</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/CourageMedia___?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CourageMedia___</a><a href="https://t.co/PoTnEbFTeO">https://t.co/PoTnEbFTeO</a> <a href="https://t.co/SqNqCjry21">pic.twitter.com/SqNqCjry21</a>
— Ayaan Hirsi Ali (@Ayaan) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ayaan/status/1875153947804959198?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2025</a></blockquote>
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British writer Matt Goodwin <a href="https://www.mattgoodwin.org/p/what-i-told-oxford">wrote</a> in November 2023: “For readers who might not know about the ‘grooming scandal,’ we are talking about tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of children being systematically raped and abused by organised gangs of men while people in power, the very people charged with protecting these children, turned a blind eye.”
In Alexis Jay’s <a href="https://www.rotherham.gov.uk/downloads/file/279/independent-inquiry-into-child-sexual-exploitation-in-rotherham">independent report</a> from 2014, which was commissioned by the Rotherham Metropolitan Border Council, she noted:
<blockquote>
It is hard to describe the appalling nature of the abuse that child victims suffered. They were raped by multiple perpetrators, trafficked to other towns and cities in the north of England, abducted, beaten, and intimidated. There were examples of children who had been doused in petrol and threatened with being set alight, threatened with guns, made to witness brutally violent rapes and threatened they would be next if they told anyone. Girls as young as 11 were raped by large numbers of male perpetrators.
</blockquote>
Journalist Ed West added <a href="https://www.edwest.co.uk/p/the-tragedy-of-telfords-girls">this</a> of what reportedly occurred in Telford:
<blockquote>Here, in a town of 140,000 or so people, some 1,000 young girls were systematically raped and sexually abused by gangs of men over a number of years — and this figure has been described as ‘tame’ by a witness to a recent inquiry. The perpetrators were mostly Pakistani men, the victims were overwhelmingly poor, white and English. The girls, as young as 11 or 12, were given drink and drugs, gang raped and passed around, and threatened if they told the police. Countless such testimonies were confirmed by the authorities, and investigations here reported quite extreme and unprintable forms of sexual abuse. In this town seven men went to jail, although five were given relatively short sentences and are most likely out again. The strangest thing about this story is that this was happening in dozens of cities across England over the course of two decades before it became a national story. As many as 10,000 girls were raped in this way, and countless people in positions of authority, in children’s services and police, knew about it.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Her study:<a href="https://t.co/HiRJaw1SuM">https://t.co/HiRJaw1SuM</a> <a href="https://t.co/qL8b5RbOye">pic.twitter.com/qL8b5RbOye</a>
— i/o (@eyeslasho) <a href="https://twitter.com/eyeslasho/status/1874679499117478374?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 2, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Some of the purported details of the scandal are absolutely harrowing:
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The grooming gangs trial summary transcripts are utterly grotesque. It’s incredible we haven’t had mass civil unrest. Media reporting guidelines helped bottle it up. Some of these people are going to walk free soon. <a href="https://t.co/nz2O0OKPwS">https://t.co/nz2O0OKPwS</a> <a href="https://t.co/e3TtyWkYsv">pic.twitter.com/e3TtyWkYsv</a>
— max tempers (@maxtempers) <a href="https://twitter.com/maxtempers/status/1873835392627302765?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 30, 2024</a></blockquote>
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This is the same media that hid the fact that a quarter million little girls were – still are – being systematically raped by migrant gangs in Britain.
They are beneath contempt. Despicable human beings. <a href="https://t.co/B6ZQjqRj0m">https://t.co/B6ZQjqRj0m</a>
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1874864996397846961?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 2, 2025</a></blockquote>
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By the way, grooming gang leaders were allowed to stay in the UK when it was decided that deporting them would breach their human rights. <a href="https://t.co/pJ1WhffiG8">https://t.co/pJ1WhffiG8</a> <a href="https://t.co/YGJ8XkIEga">pic.twitter.com/YGJ8XkIEga</a>
— Sam Ashworth-Hayes (@SAshworthHayes) <a href="https://twitter.com/SAshworthHayes/status/1874103195422896449?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 31, 2024</a></blockquote>
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It is really important that more people are becoming aware of the mass rape gangs which were (and still are) allowed to operate in the UK.
The first time we interviewed a survivor I tried my best to get the mainstream media to talk more about it to no avail.
If you want to…
— Konstantin Kisin (@KonstantinKisin) <a href="https://twitter.com/KonstantinKisin/status/1874730183820796023?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 2, 2025</a></blockquote>
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ADMIN POST.
Over 6 years ago now, Lord Pearson questioned the CONservatives over the upwards of 250,000 British children gang raped by predominantly Pakistani men across every major city of the UK, this century alone!
Murmurs and snarls from the others in the house ring out.… <a href="https://t.co/n1ckZsTZwc">pic.twitter.com/n1ckZsTZwc</a>
— Tommy Robinson 🇬🇧 (@TRobinsonNewEra) <a href="https://twitter.com/TRobinsonNewEra/status/1875177597321015699?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 3, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah Visits UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer

Great Britain Explodes Over Mass Rape Of British Girls. Musk Leads Charge To Oust Starmer.

Elon Musk

Great Britain

Keir Starmer

Muslims

A Michigan woman whose 19-year-old daughter was raped, then kidnapped and murdered by the rapist after the girl warned that he would do so to prevent her from testifying against him, <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2024/12/26/rachel-timmerman-murder-president-joe-biden-commutation-death-penalty-marvin-gabrion-life-in-prison/77238691007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">excoriated</a> President Biden for commuting the murderer’s death sentence.
In 1997, Rachel Timmerman warned police and prosecutors that Marvin Gabrion would kill her; her mother and other members of her community also warned of the danger. But before justice could intervene, Gabrion kidnapped the 19-year-old girl and murdered her. Her body was discovered in the Manistee National Forest with her mouth and eyes taped, and chains padlocked around her body. In addition, Rachel’s 11-month-old daughter, Shannon, was never found. Gabrion received a death sentence in 2002 and consistently appealed the decision for 22 years.
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Marvin Gabrion brutally murdered and raped 19-year-old Rachel Timmerman in Michigan, covered her eyes and mouth with duct tape and chained her body to cinderblocks before throwing her into a lake. Her 18-month-old daughter, also disappeared. 
Biden just commuted this monster. <a href="https://t.co/dS05byanJ3">pic.twitter.com/dS05byanJ3</a>
&mdash; Lisa McClain (@LisaForCongress) <a href="https://twitter.com/LisaForCongress/status/1871284855566467266?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 23, 2024</a></blockquote>
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When she heard that Biden was commuting Gabrion’s death sentence, Timmerman&#8217;s mother, Velda Robinson, told The Detroit News, “Those that don’t believe in the death penalty I believe, honestly, that they have never been traumatized by somebody so vile, that they couldn’t comprehend where I’m coming from. They really shouldn’t judge me for wanting it.”
“People need to know that when you do something so heinous, you ain’t going to get away with it,” she continued. “How does Biden justify whose crime is worse than the others? (The jury) made this decision and he just slapped the whole judicial system down.”
One of the other recipients of Biden’s commutations, Brandon Council, murdered 59-year-old Donna Major and 36-year-old Katie Skeen in an armed robbery on August 21, 2017, at Crescom Bank in Conway, South Carolina. Major’s family reacted to the commutation of Council’s sentence on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/i-watched-my-mother-be-murdered-family-reacts-to-biden-commuting-killers-death-sentence" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox News</a>.
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&quot;Desperate, hurt, vulnerable. Katie Skeen and Donna Major died staring down the barrel of that man&#39;s gun. He shot them five times. Five times he put bullet after bullet into their injured, dying bodies,&quot; U.S. Attorney Everett McMillan told the jury. <a href="https://t.co/uq6WyeUHoS">pic.twitter.com/uq6WyeUHoS</a>
&mdash; Daniel Greenfield &#8211; &quot;Hang Together or Separately&quot; (@Sultanknish) <a href="https://twitter.com/Sultanknish/status/1871624835497144780?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 24, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Asked how she felt after she received the news, Major’s daughter Heather stated, “Anger. Absolute anger. We were told from our prosecution team on Sunday afternoon. I was actually gathered with my in-laws for our family Christmas; my sister was gathered with her in-laws, and we got the call. And I was angry. I’m still angry. I am upset that this is even happening, that one man can make this decision without even talking to the victims; without any regard for what we’ve been through, what we’re going through. I’m completely hurt, frustrated, and angry.”
When Major’s husband Danny was asked whether his wife had been shown any mercy, he replied:
<blockquote>
She was shown no mercy at all. This man walked into the bank, never said two words to her, shot her three times in total, went and shot her co-worker, Katie Skeen, as well, who was totally defenseless and unaware of any things happening. It&#8217;s just beyond me; I can’t even believe that this is actually happening, commuting of sentences like this of 37 victims. All but three, which was certainly a political scheme &#8230; Joe Biden was also told by the Pope that he should stop these executions. That what the Pope has to do with anything in this country, I don’t know, but Joe Biden certainly has no convictions. He’s a senile old man. He couldn&#8217;t tie his shoes, I wouldn’t think, if you could see him in person. It’s absolutely disgusting.
</blockquote>
After Biden announced the commutation of 37 out of 40 criminals on federal death row, he left three men there: Robert Bowers, who murdered 11 people at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018; Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who bombed the 2013 Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring dozens of others, and Dylann Roof, who murdered nine black churchgoers in South Carolina in 2015. Arkansas GOP senator Tom Cotton blasted Biden on X, writing:
<blockquote>
Once again, Democrats side with depraved criminals over their victims, public order, and common decency. Democrats can’t even defend Biden’s outrageous decision as some kind of principled, across-the-board opposition to the death penalty since he didn’t commute the three most politically toxic cases. Democrats are the party of politically convenient justice.
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Once again, Democrats side with depraved criminals over their victims, public order, and common decency. Democrats can’t even defend Biden’s outrageous decision as some kind of principled, across-the-board opposition to the death penalty since he didn’t commute the three most…
&mdash; Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenTomCotton/status/1871161007805989141?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 23, 2024</a></blockquote>
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President Biden During Primetime Speech Outside Philadelphia’s Independence National Historical Park

Woman Whose Daughter Was Raped, Murdered Rips Biden For Commuting Killer’s Death Sentence

Commutation

Joe Biden

Michigan

A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/california" target="_blank" rel="noopener">California</a> judge has ordered that inmate Tremaine Carroll must be referred to by &#8220;she/her&#8221; pronouns because he has declared himself to be a woman and &#8220;deserves dignity.&#8221;
Carroll is on trial for allegedly impregnating one female inmate and raping two others after he claimed to be a woman — which, according to California law, requires him to be housed in a women&#8217;s prison despite having no psychological or medical evaluations to back up his claim — and a Madera County judge has now ordered everyone, including his alleged victims, to accommodate his pronoun choice.
WATCH:
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INSANITY: California judge rules a man who allegedly raped women in prison must be referred to as ‘she/her’ during trial because he &#39;deserves dignity&#39; <a href="https://t.co/lISInd1xc4">pic.twitter.com/lISInd1xc4</a>
&mdash; Breaking911 (@Breaking911) <a href="https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1871290505797292539?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 23, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Madera District Attorney Sally Moreno charged Carroll with rape, which he allegedly committed while he was incarcerated at Central California Women&#8217;s Facility in Chowchilla — where he was placed based solely on his self-identification as a woman.
&#8220;After his first cellmate became pregnant and was moved to Los Angeles, two other cellmates of his had complained that he had raped them, so we have filed rape charges against this inmate,&#8221; Moreno said.
She went on to explain that Carroll&#8217;s self-identification was not just an insult to his alleged victims, but it also complicated the case against him regarding the alleged rapes: &#8220;This is a particular issue in this case because it&#8217;s confusing to the jury. In California, rape is a crime that has to be accomplished by a man.&#8221;
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Moreno is not the only one raising red flags over this case either.
&#8220;It&#8217;s just absolutely insane that a victim would have to get on the stand and police their pronoun usage when trying to recite one of the scariest times of their lives,&#8221; Supervising Deputy District Attorney Eric Dutemple explained that it was an added measure of cruelty to Carroll&#8217;s alleged victims to force them to accommodate his pronoun preferences while testifying in a case where Carroll had used his identity to gain access to them.

US-NEWS-CALIF-PRISONGUARD-LAWSUITS-FR

California Judge Says Rapist Deserves ‘Dignity,’ Must Be Called By Preferred Pronouns

California Judge Says Rapist Deserves 'Dignity,' Must Be Called By Preferred Pronouns

California

Gender Pronouns

Transgender

Violent Crime

President-elect Donald Trump weighed in on Saturday morning to the news that the woman who accused three Duke Lacrosse players of rape in 2006 has now recanted her story.
&#8220;Woman admits to totally fabricating accusations in the horrible Duke Lacrosse Case,&#8221; Trump posted on social media. &#8220;She destroyed the lives of these young men.&#8221;
Crystal Mangum, now 46, made the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/woman-who-falsely-accused-duke-lacrosse-players-finally-admits-she-lied">admission</a> during an interview with Katerena DePasquale at the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women, where Mangum is serving time for killing her boyfriend in 2011.
“I testified falsely against them by saying that they raped me when they didn’t, and that was wrong, and I betrayed the trust of a lot of other people who believed in me,” Mangum said. “I made up a story that wasn’t true because I wanted validation from people and not from God.”
Mangum added that she hoped the falsely accused students – David Evans, Collin Finnerty, and Reade Seligmann – could forgive her.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
More than 18 years after the Duke lacrosse allegations, Crystal Mangum admits that she made it all up. 
&#8220;I testified falsely against [the lacrosse players] by saying that they raped me when they didn&#8217;t&#8230;I made up a story that wasn&#8217;t true&#8230;I hope that they can forgive me.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/3yMjbQTQXH">pic.twitter.com/3yMjbQTQXH</a>
— KC Johnson (@kcjohnson9) <a href="https://twitter.com/kcjohnson9/status/1867355689259049024?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2024</a></blockquote>
Mangum cannot be prosecuted for perjury, Duke student newspaper The Chronicle reported, because the statute of limitations on such a charge is only two years in North Carolina.
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Mangum is already in jail for the 2011 murder of her then-boyfriend Reginald Daye. Mangum claimed she was afraid for her life and charged with second-degree murder. She was found guilty in 2013 and sentenced to 14-17 years in prison, with a projected release date of February 27, 2026.
In 2006, Mangum was hired as a stripper for a party thrown by members of the Duke men’s lacrosse team. After the party, Mangum got into an altercation with another woman hired as a stripper that night, and police were called. Mangum was going to be involuntarily committed to a drug and mental health center and, fearing she would lose her child, falsely claimed she had been raped by Duke students.
At the same time, then-Durham County, North Carolina, District Attorney Mike Nifong, who was up for re-election, decided to use Mangum’s allegations to win his re-election despite apparent issues with her claims from the beginning. Nifong even conspired with the director of the DNA lab to withhold DNA evidence that cleared the Duke players of rape and continued to pursue the case, falsely telling the media he had the evidence.
Nifong also pressured Mangum into picking Duke players from a lineup. She picked three randomly – Evans, Finnerty, and Seligmann – and they were charged. Seligmann was able to prove he was not even at the party at the time the rape was alleged to have occurred, providing ATM records and surveillance, as well as cell phone evidence and an affidavit from the taxi driver who drove him that night. His campus card was also swiped at his dorm during the time he was allegedly assaulting Mangum.
Mangum’s story also repeatedly changed throughout the proceedings. On December 22, 2006, Nifong finally dropped the charges after Mangum changed her story yet again. Six days later, the North Carolina bar filed ethics charges against Nifong over how he handled the case, and he was disbarred. He also spent one day in jail for his actions.
In early 2007, North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and the state Attorney General’s office declared the three students innocent – a rare move for anyone accused of rape.
Even after her allegations were proven false, Mangum maintained for years that she was a victim, even writing and promoting a book telling her alleged side of the story.
Ashe Schow contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump

Trump Speaks Out After Woman Admits She Made Up Duke Rape Claims

Duke University

One of the astonishing things about the news industry is that many stories with an outsized national impact turn out to have been completely falsified upon further review. One of its incentive structures is often “firstist with the mostist”; in other words, get to the story fast and report it incredibly quickly. But then, the reporting ends up being false. In retrospect, this does significant damage. This is true in regard to reporting about COVID or Black Lives Matter.
One of the signal examples of this is now being exposed for all the world to see.
18 years ago, in 2006, the Duke lacrosse rape case incited a wide variety of movements that would come into full flower over the course of the subsequent 10 years, particularly during the Obama era. The Duke lacrosse case was an inciting incident for Black Lives Matter and for the #MeToo movement.
In this case, a stripper accused a series of rich white lacrosse players at Duke University of having sexually assaulted her. It became one of the biggest cases in American criminal justice history, specifically because of its ripple effects.
Crystal Mangum, the stripper at the center of that case, has admitted she lied back in 2006. Until now, she has never publicly admitted she fabricated the rape allegation.
Three men, David Evans, Collin Finnerty, and Reade Seligmann, were arrested and put on trial before the case was dismissed. Mangum’s original allegation was that she had been performing at a team party off campus in March of 2006, had been sexually assaulted, and raped by a series of white Duke lacrosse players.
She was, indeed, at this party, but, apparently, she engaged in none of her &#8220;career activity,&#8221; shall we say, because she was high on drugs or intoxicated with alcohol. She ended up leaving early, and then these accusations were filed.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-2104-member-exclusive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h3>
There were many holes in her story. First, there is no DNA on her. Second, she could not identify any of the Duke lacrosse players, except for one, who ended up not having even been there.
Yet, the problems with her allegations did not stop everyone — including the elite media and those on university campuses — from jumping to conclusions.
Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqt9OX-oAtU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in 2006, “I am not going to allow Durham’s view in the mind of the world to be a bunch of lacrosse players from Duke raping a black girl in Durham.”
Nifong obviously had other political motivations, possibly to run for a higher office at some point. In a March 2006 interview with CBS News, he <a href="https://www.ncbar.gov/orders/06dhc35.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stated</a>, “The circumstances of the rape indicated a deep racial motivation for some of the things that were done. It makes a crime that is by its nature one of the most offensive and invasive even more so.” According to Nifong, this wasn&#8217;t just a rape. It was, in fact, a racist rape.
The former Duke University president, Richard Brodhead, took immediate action against the team following only the allegations. He accepted the resignation of the men&#8217;s lacrosse coach, canceled the remainder of their season, and suspended the accused three players from school after they were indicted for rape, according to <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/12/12/us-news/former-stripper-murder-convict-crystal-mangum-confesses-to-lying-about-being-raped-by-duke-lacrosse-players-in-2006/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New York Post</a>. This was “despite having asked the public not to prejudge the criminal case.”
David Evans, one of the players, stridently <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niLROfcOfBc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">denied the allegations</a>, saying, “I am absolutely innocent of all the charges that have been brought against me today, that Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty are innocent of all the charges that were brought against them. These allegations are lies.” Eventually, the case was dismissed.
<div id="attachment_844111" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-844111" class="wp-image-844111 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-57618732.jpg" alt="DURHAM, NC - MAY 15: Duke lacrosse player David Evans (C), 23-years-old, proclaims his innocence as he addresses the media outside the Durham County Detention Center after being indicted on sexual assault charges on May 15, 2006 in Durham, North Carolina. Evans is the third player to be indicted for sexual assault of a woman hired as a private dancer to a party attended by lacrosse team members March 13. (Photo by Sara D. Davis/Getty Images)" width="1024" height="557" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-57618732.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-57618732-300x163.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-57618732-768x418.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />DURHAM, NC &#8211; MAY 15, 2006: Duke lacrosse player David Evans (C), 23-years-old, proclaims his innocence. (Photo by Sara D. Davis/Getty Images)</div>
Yet that did not stop The New York Times from running around 100 pieces about the Duke lacrosse allegations. A tremendous number of Duke faculty actually paid for an ad that was put in the Duke Chronicle devoted to this particular case. Numerous departments and professors at the university signed onto this paid advertisement. What did <a href="https://today.duke.edu/showcase/mmedia/pdf/socialdisasterad.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the statement</a> say?
<blockquote>We are listening to our students. We’re also listening to the Durham community, to Duke staff, and to each other. Regardless of the results of the police investigation, what is apparent everyday now is the anger and fear of many students who know themselves to be objects of racism and sexism; who see illuminated in this moment’s extraordinary spotlight what they live with everyday. They know that it isn’t just Duke, it isn’t everybody, and it isn’t just individuals making this disaster. But it is a disaster nonetheless. These students are shouting and whispering about what happened to this young woman and to themselves.</blockquote>
The ad then provided anonymous student statements about the issue. The seedbed for the Black Lives Matter movement here is obvious. And it turns out all of this was based on lies. It was all lies — beginning to end.
Eventually, the North Carolina attorney general, Roy Cooper, announced that the charges had, in fact, been dropped. (Cooper would go on to become the governor of North Carolina.) He <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHtDbZ5i-w8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a>:
<blockquote>Our attorneys and SBI agents have interviewed numerous people who were at the party, DNA and other experts, the Durham County district attorney, Durham police officers, defense attorneys, and the accusing witness on several occasions. We have reviewed statements given over the year, photographs, records, and other evidence. The result of our review and investigation shows clearly that there is insufficient evidence to proceed on any of the charges. Today, we are filing notices of dismissal for all charges against Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty, and David Evans. The result is that these cases are over, and no more criminal proceedings will occur.</blockquote>
Nifong ended up being disbarred for making false statements and hiding evidence from the defense. The president of Duke University later came out and offered <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NkgddRymFA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an apology</a>.
But here&#8217;s the issue: What was the fallout from this case? Was the fallout a lesson learned about people making false allegations? Of course not. Was the fallout about the rush to judgment by the media deeply desperate for a race case that they could magnify? Of course not; there have been dozens since.
The actual fallout in terms of policy was that in 2011, the Obama administration changed Title IX regulations so that you basically could not defend yourself against sexual harassment or sexual assault allegation on campus.
CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/07/politics/betsy-devos-education-department-title-ix/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reports</a> that the administration,
<blockquote>&#8230;outlined guidelines for schools on how to handle sexual assault allegations in a memo referred to as a ‘dear colleague’ letter. The letter reminded schools of their legal obligation to address sexual violence amid concerns that schools were not taking the issue seriously enough, and called on schools to step up investigations of reports. It also provided guidelines for investigations and hearings.</blockquote>
And it gave the accused no due process. It made it so that a person did not actually have a right to face down someone who was accusing them. That was the actual legal implication drawn from the false allegations of the Duke lacrosse case.
This repeated itself later with similar allegations that were made about the University of Virginia frat members in 2014 accused by Rolling Stone of engaging in a gang rape, which turned out to be completely false as well. But that didn&#8217;t stop the momentum of the #MeToo movement.
False allegations are, unfortunately, the lifeblood of movements that require gas when there is no gas in the tank.
Yesterday, Mangum, the accuser in the Duke lacrosse case — who is serving time for murder right now — finally admitted (nearly 20 years later) that her accusations were all made up. She said in <a href="https://www.letstalkwithkat.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an interview</a>: 
<blockquote>I testified falsely against them by saying that they raped me when they didn&#8217;t. And that was wrong. And I betrayed the trust of a lot of other people who believed in me and made up a story that wasn&#8217;t true because I wanted validation from people and not from God. And that was wrong. And I hope that they can forgive me.</blockquote>
It was false, and everyone knew it was false at the time. Yet it led to another string of these sorts of cases ranging from: the University of Virginia false rape allegations; the false allegations regarding Michael Brown&#8217;s death in Ferguson, Missouri, which led to riots in 2014; the case of George Floyd, which is in fact a false case; and the Daniel Penny case.
It stretches forward because the media need these opportunities. They spin up these opportunities. They rely on these opportunities in order to “have the discussion.” They&#8217;re constantly looking for a news hook to have discussions on the issues that they find most interesting regardless of whether the underlying data is there or not.
The media are perfectly willing to jump into certain conversations. However, there are other conversations that the media are absolutely not willing to broach.
Was there a widespread investigation into false rape allegations, which was the actual story with regard to the Duke lacrosse case? Absolutely not. Was there a full-scale media blitz on the question of rape hoaxes, which is what happened in Duke lacrosse? Absolutely not. The way the mainstream media work, their way of deciding whether something is a national story or not, is not based on the truth or falsity of the statements or the good or bad action of the people in question.
They have a preset narrative, and then they look for a hook for that narrative. That is how spinning up a movement out of nothing becomes possible. And it is how polarizing the American body politic occurs.
For four decades, the national media have pursued a preset narrative agenda. Then, they look for a news hook for that agenda that allows them to spin it up into a national story.
That is why Americans are sick and tired of the national legacy media.
* * *
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Lacrosse

The Race Rape Hoax That Started It All Collapses

Ben Shapiro

campus

College

false accusations

Legacy Media

New York Times

North Carolina

Opinion

Sexual Assault

The woman who falsely accused three Duke lacrosse players of rape in 2006 has finally admitted that she lied.
Crystal Mangum, now 46, made the admission during <a href="https://www.letstalkwithkat.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an interview</a> with Katerena DePasquale at the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women, where Mangum is serving time for killing her boyfriend in 2011.
“I testified falsely against them by saying that they raped me when they didn&#8217;t, and that was wrong, and I betrayed the trust of a lot of other people who believed in me,” Mangum said. “I made up a story that wasn&#8217;t true because I wanted validation from people and not from God.”
Mangum added that she hoped the falsely accused students &#8211; David Evans, Collin Finnerty, and Reade Seligmann – could forgive her.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
More than 18 years after the Duke lacrosse allegations, Crystal Mangum admits that she made it all up. 
&#8220;I testified falsely against [the lacrosse players] by saying that they raped me when they didn&#8217;t&#8230;I made up a story that wasn&#8217;t true&#8230;I hope that they can forgive me.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/3yMjbQTQXH">pic.twitter.com/3yMjbQTQXH</a>
— KC Johnson (@kcjohnson9) <a href="https://twitter.com/kcjohnson9/status/1867355689259049024?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Mangum cannot be prosecuted for perjury, Duke student newspaper The Chronicle <a href="https://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2024/12/duke-mens-lacrosse-scandal-2006-crystal-mangum-admits-fabrication-rape-18-years-later-apologizes-kat-depasquale-evans-finnerty-seligmann-brodhead-pressler-nifong" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>, because the statute of limitations on such a charge is only two years in North Carolina.
Mangum is already in jail for the 2011 murder of her then-boyfriend Reginald Daye. Mangum claimed she was afraid for her life and charged with second-degree murder. She was found guilty in 2013 and sentenced to 14-17 years in prison, with a projected release date of February 27, 2026.
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In 2006, Mangum was hired as a stripper for a party thrown by members of the Duke men’s lacrosse team. After the party, Mangum got into an altercation with another woman hired as a stripper that night, and police were called. Mangum was going to be involuntarily committed to a drug and mental health center and, fearing she would lose her child, falsely claimed she had been raped by Duke students.
At the same time, then-Durham County, North Carolina, District Attorney Mike Nifong, who was up for re-election, decided to use Mangum’s allegations to win his re-election despite apparent issues with her claims from the beginning. Nifong even conspired with the director of the DNA lab to withhold DNA evidence that cleared the Duke players of rape and continued to pursue the case, falsely telling the media he had the evidence.
Nifong also pressured Mangum into picking Duke players from a lineup. She picked three randomly – Evans, Finnerty, and Seligmann – and they were charged. Seligmann was able to prove he was not even at the party at the time the rape was alleged to have occurred, providing ATM records and surveillance, as well as cell phone evidence and an affidavit from the taxi driver who drove him that night. His campus card was also swiped at his dorm during the time he was allegedly assaulting Mangum.
Mangum’s story also repeatedly changed throughout the proceedings. On December 22, 2006, Nifong finally dropped the charges after Mangum changed her story yet again. Six days later, the North Carolina bar filed ethics charges against Nifong over how he handled the case, and he was disbarred. He also spent one day in jail for his actions.
In early 2007, North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and the state Attorney General’s office declared the three students innocent – a rare move for anyone accused of rape.
Even after her allegations were proven false, Mangum maintained for years that she was a victim, even writing and promoting a book telling her alleged side of the story.

Crystal Mangum

Woman Who Falsely Accused Duke Lacrosse Players Finally Admits She Lied

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