Tawana Brawley (born 1972?), known after her notoriety subsided as Maryam Muhammad, was an African-American 15-year-old who created a national stir when she claimed she was raped by six white men, some of them police officers, on November 28, 1987 in the town of Wappingers Falls, New York. None of her allegations were ever substantiated, and her attorneys and another advocate for her case were successfully sued for defamation of an alleged perpetrator.
The scenario began on that morning when Brawley was found lying in a garbage bag, her clothing torn and burned, it and her body smeared with feces. Various slurs and epithets were written on her body in charcoal. She had been missing for four days up to this time. The FBI was called in, and Brawley was questioned about what had happened. She claimed she was raped, but was unable to describe her assailants other than that they were white men. The first inconsistency in her story came shortly, when she claimed she hadn't been raped, but had been sexually abused. The negative results of a rape test may have caused her story to change. Further examinations revealed that she had received no real injuries, nor any signs of exposure.
The incident made headlines nationwide, and her cause was taken up Rev. Al Sharpton, and attorneys Alton H. Maddox and C. Vernon Mason. The three turned the incident into a media sensation, and began making outrageous statements, that, in light of the revealed untruth of the entire scenario, became all the more outrageous. They identified New York prosecutor Steven Pagones as one of the men involved, despite the lack of any evidence to this, and they likewise attempted to implicate higher officials in the State government.
Accusations flew in both directions; an ex-boyfriend of Brawley's told Newsday that Brawley had made the attack up, and admitted so to him. A grand jury was convened, and after seven months of examining police and medical records, the jury determined that Brawley's assault was a hoax.
The case still lingers over Sharpton, particularly following his entry into mainstream politics (his race for the 2004 Democratic Presidential nomination entailed his addressing the convention from its podium), not merely because he defended Brawley's story but for the unfounded accusations he leveled, and his "playing the race card" in her behalf.
The reason why Brawley faked the attack is not known for sure, since Brawley, who changed her name to Maryam Muhammad, maintains she did not invent the story, as do many supporters. The most likely explanation is that Brawley, who skipped school to visit her incarcerated boyfriend the day of her disappearance, feared severe punishment from her stepfather, so she took the drastic step of staging an elaborate abduction.
In 1998 Pagones was awarded $150 million in suit for a defamation of character that he brought against Sharpton, Maddox, and Mason.
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