A lie nearly destroyed a small business in CT
Rumor, gossip and a malicious lie nearly destroyed a Waterbury building and all but crushed the lives of people who were living the American dream.
Is a protest legitimate if it is based on a lie? If it develops into mob action, damaging property and lives?
We see street protests around the nation just about every day. How many of these are based on facts and how many based on false assumptions? How many originate even before the facts are known?
We have all seen accounts of protests following a police shooting of a citizen. Too often, protests begin even without the facts. Certainly, unjustified shooting deserves a community response. But not every police shooting is unjustified.
In Waterbury, a mob took control of an otherwise peaceful assembly — a street protest based on false accusations against the proprietor of the Big Apple Motel, his family and his agents.
The lie: a young Black girl had been kidnapped, taken to the Big Apple Motel and harmed for days. It didn’t happen. The girl was not harmed and not kidnapped, as was posted on the internet a week before the rioters commenced a savage confrontation, disregarding the truth. The girl accused no one.
Every community should provide a forum where citizens can ask questions and voice concerns immediately after an incident — and quickly learn the truth before taking to the streets in protest. Leaders from every sector should register their condemnation of lawlessness and racism. Would the Waterbury protest have turned into a destructive mob if the hotel owners were not Muslim-American? Racism takes many forms.
What lessons are provided here and what can we do to turn it into a teaching moment?
First, we must acknowledge that what was done to decent citizens also has been done to us. This incident should serve as an example for all of us — get the facts before you wave a sign. Learn the truth before you march.
The horde brandished signs, “F… the Waterbury police,” and “Sex trafficking here” and “Burn down the Big Apple.” They wrote on the windows, then shattered them. They invaded the lobby and destroyed a television and furniture. They spit on, cursed and terrorized staff. They clambered to the roof to smash and tear down the neon signs.
The owners of the Big Apple Motel are Pakistani Muslim immigrants who came to America to pursue the American dream. Despite the attacks on their property, reputations and character, their belief in the essential goodness of their neighbors and the American people remains undiminished.
After they became proud owners of the Big Apple Motel 428 W. Main St., the business thrived. Contrary to erroneous reports circulated by the rioters, the hotel has not been a den of iniquity. In fact, the proprietors tried to reduce crime in the neighborhood, essentially becoming a set of eyes and ears for law enforcement. Crimes were committed in the neighborhood — not in the motel. Motel personnel called police to report criminal activity. Perhaps that is why police reports note many calls came from the motel.
The motel owner and his family are committed to turning this tragedy into triumph. They have been temporarily hobbled, but they remain possessed of undiminished pride in their status as hard-working middle-class Americans.
We all are obliged to stand for them and with them, to come forward resolutely to oppose those who created chaos with malicious intent.
Attorney Timothy C. Moynahan is CEO of Moynahan Partners, a development consultancy. He heads the Moynahan Law Firm, Waterbury, and can be reached at 203-597-6364. He represents the owner of Big Apple Motel.