Interfaith Clergy Panel Will Address Prejudice Sunday
Former Lutheran Pastor Kenneth Davis and his daughter were the subjects of threats.
Several people have asked if the woman who threatened former Lutheran Pastor Kenneth Davis and his daughter Cassadi at the Palisades Ralphs store has ever been identified and charged.
LAPD Officer John Redican told Circling the News that the woman was identified and the case was turned over to the L.A. District Attorney. CTN contacted Detective Perez and District Attorney Veronica de la Cruz-Robles, but neither has returned CTN’s request for more information.
(Editor’s note: As a reminder, this is part of the story that was reported on Circling the News after a sickening example of blatant racism happened in the Ralphs parking lot on April 18 to Pastor Kenneth Davis and his daughter Cassadi.)
Cassadi wrote:
I walked towards the carts, I heard someone talking behind me. I turned around and saw a white middle-aged woman with dark sandy blonde hair.
Initially, she appeared to be talking to herself, so I continued to mind my own business and get a cart.
As I turned around the woman came close to my face and said, “you fucking nigger!”
I was shocked, but tried not to react, and walked into the store by the fruit section.
Once inside, I called my dad and explained what had happened.
The woman walked into the store and walked towards me. I knew I needed to get away from her. I hid in the candy aisle while I was still on the phone with my dad.
I was scared, shaking and crying, not knowing what this racist woman was going to do next.
I saw the woman walking out of the store, so I told my dad, “she’s leaving.”
I stood by the entrance of the store, still shaking and crying, unable to move.
The Pastor wrote: After the Thursday evening service was over, I left the church heading east on Sunset towards our home in the Alphabet Streets. As I approached the Monument intersection, my cell phone rang, and I heard my daughter Cassadi on the other end crying.
I asked what going on and she said her sister Camryn had gone inside Ralphs to use the restroom and while she (Cassadi) was standing outside getting a shopping cart, a middle-aged while female came very close to her face and began verbally attacking her by saying, “You fucking nigger–I hate you niggers!” I asked if she was safe and told her I was on my way.
As fate, luck, the universe, God would have it, Cassadi’s call came at the precise time I was driving past Ralphs.
Still on the phone with Cassadi and hearing her crying and the fear in her voice, I immediately made a U-turn by the Station 69 fire station and turned into Ralphs’ parking lot. I met my daughter at the front door of the store and asked where the woman was.
Cassadi pointed her out next to a white Passat.
Cassadi wrote: I watched as my dad went up to the lady to ask her what she had said to me.
I could hear the woman as she said to my dad, ‘I hate you fucking niggers.’ She continued to say the same phrase over and over again.
Davis continued: Without thinking and probably not wise, I approached the vehicle and tapped on her widows that were rolled up and asked, “What did you say to my daughter?” She turned on the engine, put the vehicle in reverse all the while continuing to hurl insults and explicatives. She repeatedly shouted, “You fucking niggers, I hate you!”
She then backed up and appeared to be leaving the parking lot exit close to Corpus Christi Catholic Church. To my surprise, she stopped the car, left the engine running, got out of the car and began to walk towards me. Concerned that she might have a weapon, I continued to watch her hands.
She came within 10 feet of where I was standing and again said, “You fucking niggers, I hate you!’ The she added the phrase, “I’m going to get my gun and come back and kill you niggers!” At which point she returned to her vehicle and turned left onto Sunset heading toward the Palisades village.
Cassadi added that she saw the woman get back in the car and heard her shout, “If I see you again in this area, I’m going to shoot you all.”
Addressing Prejudice in Pacific Palisades
As part of the healing process, this Sunday, September 15, from 4 to 5 p.m., a special community discussion–“From Fear to Faith”– will be hosted by the Pacific Palisades Interfaith Clergy.
The event will be held at the Community United Methodist Church, 801 Via de la Paz, and all are welcome to attend. Light refreshments will be served following the discussion.
A group discussion will feature three panelists–Monsignor Liam Kidney (Corpus Christi), Brother Satyanada (Self-Realization Fellowship) and Rabbi Amy Bernstein (Kehillat Israel), moderated by Reverend Grace Park (Palisades Presbyterian). The focus will be about individual and collective responsibility to address prejudice in this community.
The event is sponsored by the following religious affiliations: Corpus Christi Catholic, Palisades Lutheran, St. Matthew’s Episcopal, Community United Methodist, Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine, The Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints, Pacific Palisades Presbyterian and Kehiliat Israel Reconstructionist Congregation.
Thank you for the update. I know you will continue to let us know if/when the DA prosecutes the case. Thank you also for publicizing the Sunday panel.
Welfare & Institutions Code 5150 says a person who exhibits mental issues can be committed if 1. They are a danger to self; 2/ Danger to others; 3/ Unable to care for themselves. This section is a quasi Civil in nature and that person can be kept for 48 hours in a psychiatric facility for up to those 48 hours for evaluation. After that time, the person is entitled to a court determination of their fitness and can be held for up to an maximum of 6 months. With modern medicine, they are usually turned loose within hours.
As far as keeping a person in jail, there is no room at the Inn. (Thank you Governor Brown). Next, in order to charge someone with the crimes that are being considered by the District Attorney, you have to prove that the Suspect had the specific intent to carry out the crime.
Ah, now you have a problem. How do you prove a specific intent crime against a crazy person, who doesn’t qualify under 5150 and still runs around doing what she is alleged to have done?
I suppose a better question is: can this person qualify to buy to firearm? Why not, someone gave her a drivers license.
There is an old saying “You can’t convict a crazy person just because she or he is crazy.”
Maybe, it is time to change 5150 and make it legal to lock up the crazies. But there again, where do you put them?
I spent 52 years in law enforcement. I witnessed the revolving door in our criminal justice system. I also witnessed some of the most bizarre mental cases that you could imagine.
I tried to explain what was happening to frightened victims and I couldn’t come up with an answer that would satisfy them or myself.
Those that volunteer from our community to work with the homeless are starting to understand the enormity of the problem. Alcohol, drugs, abused folks, mental illness,
disabled people, physically damaged and dying people. If nothing else, our volunteers will take away the lingering memory of rotting body parts or the automatic impulse at getting ready to fight or flee.
My hat is off to those people. I hope they are doing more than feeling good about helping one person and then going on with their lives, with the belief that they have done their civic duty.
It is, however, time to change how we handle the mentally ill. Any suggestions?