Wednesday Patriots Notebook 6/21: News and Notes
(PHOTO: Paul Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports) 🕑 Read Time: 6 minutes
Posted Under: Patriots News
(PHOTO: Paul Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports) 🕑 Read Time: 6 minutes
New England Patriots > Patriots Blog
(PHOTO: Paul Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports) Some news and notes for this morning:
Patriots cornerback Jack Jones was arraigned on Tuesday and reportedly pleaded “not guilty” to multiple weapons charges after he was arrested last Friday for having two loaded firearms in his carry-on bag at Logan Airport.
Jones appeared at East Boston District Court Tuesday morning with defense lawyer Rosemary Scapicchio at his side. Jones didn’t speak, but the fiery lawyer did all the talking for him.
Scapicchio exited the courthouse to a gathering of reporters, and she came out swinging, blasting the narrative surrounding the Patriots cornerback since the news of his arrest came out. She didn’t hold back, slamming everyone who jumped to what she believes was a “disrespectful,’ racism-driven conclusion.
Instead of talking about the facts of the case, she immediately came out firing in a clear effort to address what was being talked about publicly about her client. She used the word “thug” over a dozen times during her press conference, criticizing the term she said many people immediately labeled Jones with after the news broke following his arrest.
“This is no different than any other criminal case,” said Scapicchio. “As far as Mr. Jones is concerned, it’s the social media and the media who have turned him into a ‘thug,’ who have labeled him a ‘thug,’ with no evidence whatsoever. This is not a situation where Mr. Jones ever wanted to be a ‘thug’ or thought of as a ‘thug.’ But because he’s a young black man, all of a sudden, he’s a ‘thug.’ That’s what’s happened here.”
“There’s no evidence of that whatsoever, and it’s disrespectful to Mr. Jones and everyone else, every other black man in America who’s young and black, to be called a ‘thug’ because he happens to be black in this situation.”
However, she went on to say that despite the assumptions people immediately jumped to, it created a social media backlash that she claims “almost got him fired.”
“This is the institutional racism that we deal with every day in the court system,” said Scapacchio. “There’s no indication whatsoever that he was in any way disrespectful. There’s no information at all that he was in any way, or did anything, to say he wanted to be a gang member or a ‘thug.'”
“He’s a young black man charged with a crime. Therefore, he must want to be a gang member. He must want to be a thug. That label that was attached to him through social media almost got him fired, and it was completely unfounded.”
Scapicchio went on to say that so far, Jones has shown nothing to indicate that other than what he’s been accused of, he hasn’t done anything to warrant any further criticism.
She points out that when Jones was arrested, he was respectful to authorities and cooperated, doing everything he’s needed to do since then to try and work through this process.
She then went on to say that how this plays out is now up to a jury that will simply deal with the facts of this case, and nothing more.
“Mr. Jones did exactly what anyone else in his situation would have done,” said Scapacchio. “He cooperated with the police. He was arrested. He promised to be here. He showed up here this morning. He was polite to the police. He did nothing that would suggest that he was in any way trying to act as a thug or wanna-be gang member. That’s made up from social media, and that needs to stop.”
“He’s a young black man charged with a crime, happens all the time. Let’s just deal with the actual facts, and the facts of this case are that they found two guns in a carry-on bag that they said was his. He had no intention of bringing any guns into Logan Airport that day. He had no intention of bringing any guns into an airport that day. And I expect that the evidence is going to show that he had no knowledge of what was going on.”
“It’s up to the commonwealth to prove beyond a reasonable doubt each and every element of this crime. It’s up to them to do that under these circumstances and every other circumstance in every criminal case. That’s what happens in a case like this. It’s the speculation that is getting him in trouble right now. It’s the speculation that it was something nefarious and something more than what actually the facts are in this case.”
“The facts are what they are, you have access to the police report, you saw how helpful he was with the police, you saw how respectful he was with the police, that’s not a thug, that’s not a gang member. And you need to address, in this country, the institutional racism that comes with every time a black man gets arrested. That’s not what this is. All Mr. Jones wants to do is play football. He doesn’t want to be a distraction at all. He wants to support his family and play football, that’s his goal here. But everyone turned him into this thug and this wanna-be gangster, with no evidence whatsoever. We’re suggesting you do your research before you start writing like that.”
Scapicchio did finally say that she and her client were ‘grateful’ to the Patriots for not reading into what was being talked about and being patient as they continued to gather information about Jones’ situation.
That goes against her “almost got him fired” suggestion, but either way, it sounds like the team remains in his corner as the process continues to play itself out.
“In this case, we’re grateful to the Patriots organization and to the leaders of the Patriots that they didn’t believe and read in and feed into what was happening on social media where people were saying he was a wanna-be thug and he was trying to get the guns past security. Nothing could be further from the truth. That’s not what happened in this case, and I suggest we wait to hear all of the evidence before people jump to a conclusion.”
“But why was it so easy for everyone to assume that he was a thug? Because he’s young and black? Why was it so easy for everyone to assume that he wanted to be a gang member? Because he’s young and black? That’s the problem with the institutional racism in the criminal justice system. It’s been a problem for a long time and it’s time we start discussing it and addressing it.”
She was then asked what she would say to Patriots fans, with the attorney simply saying they need to continue to support the second-year defensive back.
“The Patriots fans who support the Patriots, I suggest that they continue to support Mr. Jones,” she said. “He wants nothing more than to work, do his job, and earn a living, that’s all he wants.”
“This is an accusation. Last I checked in this country, he’s presumed innocent unless and until he’s proven guilty by a jury beyond a reasonable doubt.”
“This is an accusation, plain and simple. That’s all it is.”
NBC Sports Boston’s Tom Curran appeared on Gresh and Fauria on WEEI on Tuesday and talked about the embattled cornerback’s situation.
Curran talked at length about Jones’ situation, saying while he’s not sure how the team will ultimately handle things, he feels there has to be an explanation as to why Jones ended up in front of TSA with two guns in his bag.
“He is going to have a plausible explanation for why those guns were in his bag, and he showed up at security,” said Curran. “We can all understand, as much as we’ve said, ‘How stupid can you be?’, we all know, in our heart of hearts, he did not walk out of the door and say, ‘Yep, two guns they won’t find? Here I go.”
“So there’s going to be an explanation as to why they were there. Whether he forgot, somebody put them there, he took the wrong bag, there’s going to be an explanation. Whether that explanation is sufficient and plausible enough for the Patriots to say, ‘You know what? He’s been a really good employee, this is totally out of left field and not indicative of either a careless individual or someone who needs to have guns wherever he travels,’ will probably decide. Not whether or not he’s found guilty or innocent of having a plausible explanation.”
However, Curran also said that Jones got some support from a former teammate. Curran said that in a text exchange with retired safety, Devin McCourty, following the news, the former Patriots player and teammate stuck up for Jones.
“I texted a little bit with Devin McCourty yesterday, and he simply said, ‘he is a good kid,'” said Curran. “He’s just had a tough upbringing and sometimes it’s hard for guys to shake loose from the way things that they have seen growing up.”
“But he did pledge, ‘this is a good kid.’ He didn’t just say, ‘Oh, it was a matter of time.'”
The big question many have wondered centers around the reason why Jones was carrying the guns to start with. As Curran mentioned, there was a clear lack of judgment with Jones making the mistake of entering security with the weapons in his bag.
But the reasons behind it will likely be what’s important to the team, with the rest of the process having to simply play out when Jones does eventually have his time in court.
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