Lunenburg, Massachusetts: Mother Suspected in Fake Racism Hoax?

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A supposed hate crime that made big news in Massachusetts now appears to have been a hoax — but still, perhaps, a crime:

The investigation into who spray painted a home with racist graffiti last month has turned toward the woman who lives there.
Police said on Wednesday that Andrea Brazier is now considered a “strong suspect” in the case.
Officers say they executed a search warrant on Tuesday and seized two cans of spray paint and ammunition from the home.
Brazier, who is white, and her husband Anthony Phillips, who is African American live at the home with their 13-year-old son, Isaac. Brazier initially cast suspicion on her son’s Lunenburg High School football teammates, saying he had been bullied in the past.
The school’s superintendent cancelled the football team’s final game on Thanksgiving after no one came forward to take responsibility. . . .

(Whoa! They canceled the high school football team’s last game because of a mere suspicion of racism?)

A police affidavit obtained on Wednesday indicated that Brazier had stopped cooperating with investigators and had changed her story several times. . . .
During an interview with police and an FBI agent, she told them that she wanted the investigation to be over and wanted the media to go away.

Ruh-roh. If she lied to the FBI, she could be in big trouble. But since when is it the FBI’s job to investigate racist graffiti? And if real racist graffiti is a federal offense, what is fake racist graffiti? The alleged hate crime was a big deal last month:

Days after the vandalism, several hundred residents gathered in the center of town for a candlelight vigil to show their support for Isaac Phillips, who played on Lunenburg’s freshman and junior varsity teams.

Da Tech Guy rounds up the local story that went national and asks, “Where does Lunenburg go to get its reputation back?”

 


52 comments

  3. I hope these pampered white high school football players have learned a lesson from this. Like the Duke lacrosse team, this will follow them for the rest of their lives.

    So maybe they’ll stop and reflect the next time they don’t spray paint racist graffiti. And the rest of us can consider this a teachable moment.

  10. Teach your football players the proper method of tagging in the event they’re needed to portray racists or classists?

  11. Why is the Federal Bureau of Investigation undertaking an inquiry into a case of criminal mischief? (a class E felony in New York)? Does someone fancy the spritzes of spray paint originated across state lines?

  12. This seems to be some variant of Munchausen syndrome by proxy. Maybe it’s Munchausen syndrome by proxy proxy. Some folks know no limits in their attempt to get attention.

  13. Some of those kids will never play again because they will do other things besides football. What is their recourse?

  17. The school’s superintendent cancelled the football team’s final game on Thanksgiving after no one came forward to take responsibility.

    How surprising that no one from the football team came forward to take responsibility, since none of them appear to have been responsible for it in the first place.

    Down South, this family would be run out of town.

  18. The schools in that part of Massachusetts don’t have what is known as school choice among public schools and the Lunenburg football team hasn’t been very good for a while. But the town next door, Leominster, has been a regional powerhouse for many years, this year included. After this incident the boy was able to transfer to, surprise, Leominster. From my understanding the boy is a very good football player and his stock would only rise by being on a great team. The only other way to go there would have been for his parents to sell their home and move, but why do that if you can perpetrate a racial hoax. With the gov’t and school officials in this loony state any idiot could see them over reacting immediately. It worked for a while but I don’t think his mother thought it would be deeply investigated as much as it was. It’s unfortunate that those in power rushed to judgement and ruined the school’s and players reputation.

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