When Roger Goodell Interviewed Janay Palmer, He Allowed Her Abuser to Remain in the Room
On the day after the full video surfaced of Ray Rice knocking his fiance unconscious in the Revel Hotel elevator, personnel from the defunct resort say the NFL never contacted them about seeing that videotape. If true, such inaction would make the NFL’s front office appear to be negligent in its investigation of the domestic abuse case.
On Monday, TMZ released the video from inside the Revel elevator, which showed that Ray Rice had lied about the incident. At the time of the altercation, Rice and his fiance (now wife), Janay Palmer, told a different story to the police. In fact, when first made aware of the incident, both Ray Rice and Janay Palmer were arrested and charged.
Revel Casino Releases Statement on Case
A Revel Casino spokesman told ABC News that the casino had made the video available to the police. The NFL claims it asked the New Jersey State Police, which handles security for Atlantic City casinos, for any and all videotape they had on the case. The NFL statement went on to say, “We requested from law enforcement any and all information about the incident, including the video from inside the elevator. That video was not made available to us.”
When police investigators saw the full video, they dropped charges on Palmer and raised the charged on Rice from a misdemeanor to a felony, felony aggravated assault. Eventually, Ray Rice pleaded guilty to a lesser offense and entered a pretrial intervention program that would allow him to expunge his record, if he completed the program and stayed on good behavior for a year. In the interim, Rice married his fiance and she consistently maintained that the incident was not as bad as it seemed.
Ray Rice’s Public Relations Moves
After his court case was finished in May, the NFL assured the American football public that they had investigated the criminal case fully. When the two-game suspension of Rice was announced in late-July, the NFL wanted its fans to know they were serious about investigating the case, and so Peter King wrote, “There is one other thing I did not write or refer to, and that is the other videotape the NFL and some Ravens officials have seen, from the security camera inside the elevator at the time of the physical altercation between Rice and his fiancee.”
Peter King Said In July the NFL Had Seen Elevator Video
For over six weeks, no one from the NFL ever challenged that statement, which was published on a prominent sports website (Sports Illustrated). Only when the public saw the video on Monday did the NFL deny that they had ever seen the video from inside the elevator.
After the TMZ video became known, Peter King referenced his original story, saying the NFL now disputed what he had written on July 29. In those comments today, King wrote on his blog, “The source said league officials had to have seen it. This source has been impeccable, and I believed the information. So I wrote that the league had seen the tape. I should have called the NFL for a comment, a lapse in reporting on my part. The league says it has not seen the tape, and I cannot refute that with certainty. No one from the league has ever knocked down my report to me, and so I was surprised to see the claim today that league officials have not seen the tape.”
What the Tape Shows
The tape from inside the elevator is damning. After seeing it, the Baltimore Ravens (which had defended and supported Rice all this time) terminated his contract and waived him from their team. The NFL Commissioner also announced Rice’s 2-game suspension had been increased to “indefinite”. It is expected that Rice will be out of football for the remainder of the 2014 season. Many people speculate the 27-year old Ray Rice, who showed significant decline in 2013, may never play another down in the NFL.
In the videotape, Janay Palmer is shown taking a feeble swipe at Ray Rice’s head as she walked past him. In retaliation, he struck her with a left hook. This knocked her against the elevator wall. She collected herself and flew at him in rage. When she did, Rice struck her with a left cross, she bounced her head off the elevator wall a second time, and was knocked unconscious for at least 2 minutes. In the meantime, Ray Rice stood over his unconscious fiancee gloatingly, then dragged her seemingly lifeless body off the elevator. Also, he did not seem all too concerned about her well-being, before or after he got off the elevator.
Roger Goodell Mishandled the Case
Even before the new video came out, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell had taken significant heat from his handling of the Ray Rice situation. Public outrage was so great over the 2-game suspension that Goodell announced a comprehensive new policy for domestic abuse which mandated a 6-game suspension for a first offense and a lifetime ban for a second conviction.
The tough new policy seemed to help Goodell’s standing, but the TMZ video throws in doubt his judgment once again. For instance, domestic abuse experts have castigated the commissioner over his questioning of Ray Rice and Janay Palmer. Goodell brought the two into his office and asked her, while in front of Rice, whether he had abused her.
Goodell Interviewed Palmer in Front of Her Abuser
Domestic abuse counselors say that is the worst way to interview a victim of abuse, because the victim is not likely to give the truth in front of their abuser. One writer compared having Janay Palmer-Rice answer questions in front of her abusive husband to someone asking a hostage in front of their captives whether they had been treated nicely. Even accounting for Goodell’s lack of experience in handling abuse allegations, it shows a tremendous amount of insensitivity and common sense–if not contempt for the victims of wife beating.
Others have pointed out that the actions of the NFL and the Baltimore Ravens today are hypocritical. While the video shows in graphic detail what happened, the essential facts in this case were never disputed. From the time this first became known, it was clear that Ray Rice had used enough force to knock out his wife.
