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VOLUME 98 - NUMBER 40
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2019
TELEPHONE 919-682-2913 PRICE 50 CENTS
What Happens Next In NC-
NAA CP A negations Drama?
REV. CURTIS GATEWOOD
Ex-NAACP leader
‘deeply sorry,’ but
denies sexual
assault
By Martha Waggoner
RALEIGH (AP) - A former North Carolina NAACP leader has
softened his denial of sexual misconduct accusations, saying that
while he never intentionally harassed anyone, he realized his actions
“may have been received as sexual.”
In a written statement to The Associated Press, the Rev. Curtis
Gatewood said he was “deeply sorry” for the way his actions were
perceived. While denying any kind of sexual assault or intentional
sexual harassment, Gatewood wrote in Tuesday’s (Oct. 1®MDNM~
®MDNM ®MDNM statement that he didn’t “deny the feelings of
my accusers.”
“While I know I had no sexual intentions toward my accusers,
the thought that either woman felt even slightly uncomfortable in the
workplace is unfortunate,” he said.
No criminal charges have been filed.
Two women have accused Gatewood of inappropriate behavior
or sexual harassment. The accusations have spurred questions about
whether a nationwide policy on sexual harassment is overdue for the
NAACP. They also come amid the (hash)MeToo movement, which
aims to hold accountable those involved in sexual misconduct and
those who cover it up.
Gatewood’s statement came after the second accuser, Courtney
Sebring, published her essay on the Medium website on Friday.
Sebring told the AP in a telephone interview Tuesday that she felt
compelled to come forward after former state NAACP employee
Jazmyne Childs held a news conference on Sept. 24 questioning why
the national NAACP did nothing after an outside investigation con
cluded that her accusations - first made in 2017- were credible.
“Jazmyne released her story, and I felt so heavy and burdened by
this secret,” said Sebring, 23. “I know that doing anything to keep
Gatewood’s secret makes me sick. And I feel stronger now that this
is out.”
Sebring said she was a 17-year-old summer intern in 2014 when
Gatewood’s stares and touches made her so uncomfortable that she
told her parents and asked the NAACP for help. Gatewood was sec
ond vice president at the time, a position he held until 2011, when he
became an NAACP staff member.
(Continued On Page 3)
Texas officer says
leading man by rope
would look ‘bad’
By Juan A. Lozano
OUSTON (AP) - Body camera footage shows a white
Texas police officer saying twice that leading a homeless
black man by a rope down city streets while he and his
partner were on horseback would look “bad.”
Two Galveston police officers arrested 43-year-old
Donald Neely in August, accusing him of criminal tres
pass.
Images showing the officers leading Neely caused pub
lic outrage, leading to a Texas Rangers investigation and
a Galveston County Sheriff’s Office review.
In the body camera footage released Oct. 2, Officer
Patrick Brosch asks his partner, Officer Amanda Smith,
whether she should go get their truck so they don’t have
to make Neely walk. Smith indicated no.
Brosch can be heard on the video saying, “This is gon
na look really bad.”
The Texas Rangers determined that the officers didn’t
break the law.
By Cash Michaels
CashWorks Media
According to those
who attended last week-
end’s 76th Annual NC
NAACP Convention in
Winston-Salem, it was
memorable, but for the
most part, for all of the
wrong reasons.
What normally and
annually is an exercise
for attendees in reaffirm
ing the basic principles
of the state’s oldest, and
foremost civil rights or
ganization, was instead,
according to some who
attended last weekend’s
three-day session, a tense
affair involving factions,
accusations, anger and
uncertainty.
So much so that Der
rick Johnson, the presi-
dent/CEO of the nation
al NAACP, personally
came down from his Bal
timore, Md. headquar
ters, to address the North
Carolina membership
Saturday, reminding all
that they were “family,”
not to speak with the me
dia, and that the enemies
of equality and racial
justice would like noth
ing better than to see the
NAACP - even in North
Carolina - be ripped
apart, and rendered in
effective as the crucial
2020 elections approach.
The cause for all ofthis
unbridled angst? Rever
berations from troubling
allegations of sexual ha
rassment against one of
the state NAACP’s for
mer top administrators,
Rev. Curtis Gatewood.
Music and dance was features at PhoenixFest 2019. See photos on page 9.
It was two weeks ago
that former state chapter
Youth Director Jazmyne
Childs, surrounded by
supporters, including
former NC NAACP Pres.
Rev. Dr. William Barber,
held a press conference,
publicly accusing Rev.
Gatewood of sexually
harassing her as her su
pervisor in 2017.
Gatewood emphati
cally denied her charges,
but during the course
of a five-month inves
tigation of Ms. Childs’
complaint, Gatewood re
signed. The investigation
revealed evidence that
Ms. Childs’ was telling
the truth, NAACP offi
cials say. However, de
spite repeated urgings by
Rev. Barber and the state
(Contined On Page 2)
NAACP National Pres./CEO Derrick Johnson (L) posing with NC NAACP Pres.
Rev. Dr. T. Anthony Spearman at the Saturday session of the NC NAACP Conven
tion. (Photo by Ivan Saul Cutler of the Greensboro NAACP.)
Juror: Botham Jean wouldn’t
have wanted ‘harsh vengeance’
DALLAS (AP) - Two members of the jury that convicted a white Dallas police officer of murder in the
fatal shooting of her black neighbor said the diverse panel tried to consider what the victim would have
wanted when they settled on a 10-year prison sentence.
Prosecutors had asked jurors to sentence Amber Guyger to 28 years, which was how old her neighbor
Botham Jean would have been if he was still alive. But one of the two jurors - a white man who wasn’t
named by ABC News - said the jury was moved by testimony from Jean’s family and friends, who de
scribed his deep faith and caring nature.
“We all agree that (the shooting) was a mistake, and I don’t think Bo would want to take harsh ven
geance,” the juror said, referring to Jean by his nickname. “I think he would want to forgive her.”
Guyger shot Jean inside his own apartment in September 2018 after working a long shift. She said she
mistook his fourth-floor unit for her own, which was directly below his.
After convicting Guyger of murder, the jury could have sentenced her to anywhere from two years to
life in prison. When the jury’s 10-year sentence was handed down Oct. 2, a crowd outside the courtroom
reacted angrily, believing it was too short.
The other juror who spoke to ABC News - a black woman - said her reaction when hearing prosecu
tors’ sentencing request was: “I can’t give her 28 years.”
“I know a lot of people are not happy about the 10 years,” she said. “But I felt like ... this case was no!
like any other case.”
She drew distinctions between the death of Jean and those of other unarmed black men who have been
killed by police in recent years.
“Those officers that killed unarmed black men, when they got out, they went back to living their lives,”
she said. “Amber Guyger, ever since she killed that man, she has not been the same. She showed remorse
and that she’s going to have to deal with that for the rest of her life.”
(Continued On Page 4)