{"id":8101,"date":"2017-10-22T15:37:53","date_gmt":"2017-10-22T15:37:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thinkprogress.org\/?p=1000191"},"modified":"2017-10-22T15:37:53","modified_gmt":"2017-10-22T15:37:53","slug":"nypd-cops-are-smearing-a-victim-accusing-them-of-rape-to-avoid-indictment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thinkprogress.org\/anna-chambers-nypd-cops-attack-credibility-38ec1d7f9c22\/","title":{"rendered":"NYPD cops are smearing a victim accusing them of rape to avoid indictment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two New York Police Department officers accused of raping a teenager while on duty are smearing the victim’s credibility over her social media posts and ideas of how a rape victim should behave, according to a letter obtained by the New York Post<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The teenager, who goes by the name “Anna Chambers” online and isn’t using her legal name in press, said she was raped by Brooklyn\u00a0narcotics detectives Richard Hall and Edward Martins on September 15. Chambers said she was driving with two of her friends, and after being pulled over by the detectives, her car was searched. The cops found a bag of drugs next to Chambers, and one on her friend’s person. Chambers says they then handcuffed her and drove her to a Chipotle parking lot in an unmarked van. She said that both cops both\u00a0forced their penises into her mouth, while she was still handcuffed<\/span>. One of the officers then raped her, she said, and they left\u00a0her on a street corner near the 60th Precinct. Her attorney says she then went to a hospital and was given a rape kit. DNA samples from the rape kit matched Hall and Martins, according to law enforcement officials<\/a> and the teenager\u2019s attorney<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The cops say it was all consensual and are now trying to attack Chambers’ credibility.\u00a0In a letter to the Brooklyn District Attorney\u2019s Office, the cops’ lawyers highlight some of Chambers’ social media posts, including “provocative” selfies and videos of her rapping and joking about the money that will soon be in her bank account, and ask if they are in line with how someone would behave if they were actually raped.\u00a0\u201cThis behavior is unprecedented for a depressed victim of a vicious rape,\u201d the letter reads.<\/p>\n

In sending the letter, the cops’ attorneys assume that people react to trauma in the same ways — they don’t<\/a> — and imply that someone who posts attractive selfies of herself online (and thus may have sex regularly) surely consented to rape with the two officers who detained her. The attorneys also overlook one of the biggest things about social media: people curate images of how they want to appear, and in this case, Chambers may simply want to appear in control through her posts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so hurt by this situation,\u201d Chambers told the Intercept<\/a>\u00a0over Twitter direct message.\u00a0\u201cShe\u2019s devastated, She doesn\u2019t leave home, she\u2019s extremely depressed, and has been victimized again by these cops saying it was consensual,\u201d added her attorney Michael David. \u201cThis was a kidnapping, and this was rape.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Officer with history of racism and harassment of women promoted to Miami Police captain<\/h3>\n

He is not an anomaly.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201cWithout commenting on this ongoing investigation, defense counsel\u2019s characterization of how a rape victim should behave is inaccurate, inappropriate and demeaning,” a\u00a0spokesman for the Brooklyn D.A.\u2019s office said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The New York Post, which first obtained a copy of the letter, has also been complicit in helping to smear the victim. In an initial story on the alleged rape last month, the newspaper chose to use a selfie of Chambers in a bikini, pouting for the camera. Other media organization have followed suit<\/a>. Chambers has tweeted<\/a> examples<\/a> of other stories that chose to use her selfies, seeming to make light of the case at hand.<\/p>\n

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This is nuts pic.twitter.com\/KpSDIR8Rsx<\/a><\/p>\n

— Anna Chambers (@annaaachambers) September 30, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n