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Thursday, January 17, 2008
The backstory of a criminal in the media
Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
A few days ago, WCPO ran this item about a Westwood man arrested for making some false alarms to 9-1-1. WCPO has a video excerpt hosted, which shows a mug shot of the man, Marvin Montgomery. He is an African American male, and in the photo he does not look like a kind or gentle man. Instead, he looks like a black criminal. The image is one we have seen endlessly on the news—the mug shot of a black criminal. (Please watch the video before reading any more of this editorial!)
It just so happens that Marvin is my brother-in-law, so I have the strange privilege of knowing many more details about this particular case.
Firstly, I think it noteworthy that Marvin is under the Hamilton County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (MR/DD). My brother-in-law is developmentally disabled, and he has been documented this way for almost his entire life. He is high functioning, but he needs support in terms of his living situation, and other aspects of regular living.
His developmental disability causes him to be easily manipulated by others, particularly when other people hold positions of authority over him.
And so the story of the crime Marvin committed is very different from the perspective of my family.
Here is our story.
Someone who serves as an “authority” figure over Marvin has, from time to time, tried to manipulate him. This person had an enemy, about whom he always complained to Marvin, allegedly telling him all manner of things about this enemy—including that the guy is dangerous, is out to do something nefarious, is in possession of firearms, etc. WCPO broadcast, “Montgomery reported a fire and a man with a gun.”
One might wonder why this man would make a bunch of false reports to 9-1-1. From our family’s perspective, this relates to Marvin’s developmental disabilities and the stories he was told about the person who was the subject of his calls. We think the “authority figure” tried to harass this other person through Marvin-as-proxy. Naturally, this is just the family’s perspective. I do not know the identity of this “authority figure,” and I did not contact him for comment.
I’m not trying to suggest that my brother-in-law did not commit a crime. He did. And he deserves whatever punishment individuals under MR/DD should receive for making phone calls to 9-1-1.
My only point is to indicate that, I think, the texture of Marvin’s story is very different when you know some additional details. He comes across quite differently than in the WCPO news item featuring a mug-shot.
Naturally, I’m also curious why it is news that someone under MR/DD made some phone calls to 9-1-1. Must have been a slow news day at WCPO.
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17 Jan 2008 at 12:12 pm | #
.
We can relate to this. My mate has a son and daughter with development disabilities. As such, we help them and many of their friends, through Good Will Industries, to become self sufficient. We have secured them housing (their own apartment, etc.) with assistance to come in and help, etc.
Anyway, we just went through a similar situation with the extended family. A black male who engages in harassing phone calls. They just don’t seem to get it. The police certainly know the individuals capacity. They usually know the individualls well. This incident should have been kept in-house.
If you need a good, reasonable, attorney, we know one. Maybe even trade for advertising on the Beacon ?
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18 Jan 2008 at 12:09 am | #
First, I don’t think your brother in law looks menacing. I think he looks like a respectable, kind of handsome man compared to some mug shots.
As to WCPO running this story, or even the cops charging him, --- how absoltely ridiculous! What an incredible waste of taxpayer’s money. Could you imagine if this gentleman was white? This just wouldn’t have happened.
Is he in jail or taken to jail? I pray not.
As a member of the community that contributes to the payment of these incompetent people - I apologize. As a member of the human race - I’m just embarassed.
(Go on WCPO and tell your story - it’s a good one and valid)
19 Jan 2008 at 12:07 pm | #
Not only does he look respectable...he looks scared to death. Please tell me that things like these aren’t the reason that we need new jail space. Unfortunately when a crime is committed, a lot of underlying information is often overlooked. There is no reason to see beyond the crime in this country anymore. Everything is either black or it is white. The cops don’t have time to look at the grey. Shame on WCPO for running this. Guess nobody killed their family today and they had to run something.
21 Jan 2008 at 06:28 pm | #
Why does how he look in a picture even matter? He broke the law. He had a mugshot. The media reported it.
Damn that evil media. How dare they show a mugshot of a black male who committed a crime in order to perpetuate the myth that blacks are criminals.
22 Jan 2008 at 12:35 am | #
So if I, a white woman, made repeated “false” 911 calls, my mugshot would be plastered on the news? When was the last time you saw a white female’s mugshot on the news for a misdemeanor anyway?
27 Jan 2008 at 05:55 pm | #
My son is disabled! Yes he is under the supervision of MRDD and he did indeed break the law by making 9-1-1-calls. But the fact remains---he’s developmentally disabled. He is no hardened criminal. My family and I are hard working taxpayers within this community. We put Marvin in a group home so that he can function within the community and become a responsible citizen. Cincinnati Police know that the residents that live within the group home are all developmentally disabled, but, they still took Marvin out of his residence in handcuffs and put him into the justice center. He’s awaiting trial, without his medication, and he probably doesn’t have a clue as to what is happening.
We need to do a better job in how we handle the disabled within our community. His picture should have never been posted on channel nine. But we do realize that in Cincinnati, the media does an excellent job of posting the African American male picture as vicious criminals. ALL BLACK MEN ARE NOT CRIMINALS!!!!!!