Comment from Mandela Sheaffer '13 on dropped charges

The following statement was provided to The Daily Princetonian by Mandela Sheaffer '13.

Thanks for considering my request to publish this letter to you in its entirety. As you probably know, all charges against me have been dismissed and I received a personal apology from the BGSU chief of police by telephone. I prefer to keep my communications written for now so that I don't say something off the cuff that could be taken in the wrong way.

The problem with telling "my side of the story" is that it tends to keep speculation alive. Discussions of this kind often invite name-calling and evoke defensiveness rather than solve anything. Also, "my side" is such an innocent story, it would be laughable if it weren't such a shame: It involves a pink flamingo, a balloon and an otherwise completely "chill" evening. I'd be happy to tell it, but it's kind of long and ridiculous and eventually painful. I don't want to put myself in a position of sounding like I'm defending myself when there was never anything to defend.

For whatever it's worth, I will offer a short version: I was on my friend's porch facing a thoroughfare with literally hundreds of carousing, yelling students and I was greeting passerby's who were laughing at my balloon and my pink flamingo. When the police pulled up with their lights blazing, I quietly turned, went in the door and closed it, called my friend and said, "Hey, there are police outside the door. Now they're knocking. Call and see what's going on." The police called her before she could call them and told her, "Are you aware of the situation? There's a black male inside your house," to which she replied, "He is my welcome guest." They told her to have me come out and acknowledge the officers, which I agreed to do in good faith assuming that would be the end of it. As soon as I opened the door, I was yanked out by the arm, handcuffed, arrested, booked, jailed, etc.

All I ever wanted was a dismissal, an apology and to get on with my life. It took a lot of advocacy on the part of family and friends to achieve that outcome. Without that, it might have been a predicament with my word and my friends' word against the word of one or more police officers.

I would never have accepted any of the charges, but it was good that nobody else would either. It was an extremely stressful experience and very disruptive to my life. The fact that it has been resolved is a great relief to me, but I'm aware that many, many people aren't able to get this kind of outcome and just have to absorb the injustice.

The chief herself said she realizes that police misuse of power does happen and that it is her job to see that it wasn't going on in her jurisdiction. She apologized to me by phone on Friday and offered ongoing support should the need ever arise for a personal reference or a letter of explanation as a result of stories floating "out there."

I just want to thank everyone again, particularly Princeton friends, professors and deans for their active support during this stressful week.

I hope this brief letter will go a long way to resolve questions that might have arisen. The situation was significantly upsetting to me, my family and friends. Right now my goal is to get my focus back on my studies and practice. I appreciate you following my story to its conclusion.

Sincerely,

Mandela Sheaffer '13

Editor's note: This version reflects an updated statement provided by Sheaffer, with changes in the third-to-last paragraph regarding the chief's comments.