James Blake was tackled by Officer James Frascatore outside of a Manhattan hotel in 2015. (Photo: Maddie Meyer via Getty Images)
The New York police officer who forcibly handled James Blake in a mistaken arrest is suing the former professional tennis player for defamation.
In the lawsuit, James Frascatore claims that Blake depicted him as an “out of control and corrupt officer” in the athlete’s book Ways of Grace, which details the incident.
In 2015, Blake was tackled and detained outside of a Manhattan hotel by cops who mistook him for a suspect in a credit card fraud ring. Once the officers realized that they wrongfully identified Blake, they let him go. The encounter left Blake with cuts and bruises.
“In my mind there’s probably a race factor involved, but no matter what, there’s no reason for anybody to do that to anybody,” Blake, who is black, told the New York Daily News at the time. “You’d think they could say, ‘Hey, we want to talk to you. We are looking into something.’ I was just standing there. I wasn’t running. It’s not even close [to being OK]. It’s blatantly unnecessary.”
In a recent interview, Frascatore ― who was suspended and later placed on desk duty after the incident, per ESPN ― told the New York Post that given the information he had, his decision to tackle Blake “was the right call.”
“I have a family to go home to. I’m on a crowded sidewalk, with a possibly armed suspect in the middle of 42nd Street,’’ said the officer, who is white. “You have to take control of the situation. I can’t just be pulling out my gun.”
Frascatore told the Post that Blake’s book, which was released in June, made him “very angry and upset while reading it.”
The lawsuit states that “Blake’s defamatory statements about Officer Frascatore were circulated to millions of readers and viewers in print, on-line, and through mobile and social media.”
In addition to Blake, the city of New York, the NYPD, the director of the department’s civilian complaint review board and HarperCollins, the book’s publishing house, are named as defendants. The lawsuit claims that the parties paint Frascatore as “a racist and a goon.” Frascatore also claims that a police watchdog group illegally leaked his disciplinary records from before the incident, showing his history of using excessive force.
The suit says that “this characterization could not be farther from the truth, this public perception has not only led to his family fleeing their home in fear as a result of public threats to their safety, it has ruined a good man’s career, name and reputation.”
Frascatore is seeking $75,000 in damages for emotional distress and slander.
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Cyberbullying
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Stock Answer To 'What Are You?'
"You don't need to go into full confessional mode, but have fun with it, if that helps. Or be perfectly honest," author Jonathan R. Miller said. Miller writes e-books with multi-ethnic characters and themes. You don't have to talk about all the nuances of your family tree every time you're asked about your background, he said. That can be exhausting. Find something that works for you personally.
Real Answer To 'What Are You?'
"I like the word 'mixed' because it's a messy word, and in my experience growing up mixed is exactly that," Miller said. He suggests that it's important to allow yourself to truly wrestle with questions of identity in environments you consider safe.
A Friend To Confide In
If you are struggling with your identity, you don't have to tell the whole world, but confide in a friend that you trust. Having someone to confide in is important. "If you can, find someone who you can talk to about your most honest, ever-evolving, often-messy answer to the question, 'What am I?'" Miller said.
If You Can't Speak, Write
"Maybe you don't have anyone trustworthy to talk to honestly about your experiences. Write about them. It helped me, sometimes, to get those out," Miller said. It may not make a lot of sense initially and it might feel uncomfortably personal, but write. Keep a journal, write short stories and rename the characters, try your hand at poetry -- whatever feels best.
Let Your Identity Be An Open Question
"You are likely being told at different times, more or less, to hurry up and get off the fence, pick a side and get on with it," Miller said. It's not necessarily a bad thing to be unsure of who you are, even if your peers seem to have their acts together, he said. Teenage years are discovery years. Miller also quoted author Rainer Maria Rilke: "'Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart. ... Live in the question.' That's good advice. Difficult to follow, but good."
Embrace The Chameleon
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Don't Be Afraid To Abandon The Labels Altogether
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Get Involved In Life
Find creative ways to occupy your time, Miller said. Join a group or do an activity (with others) where you are empowered to be who you are, instead of having to act how others think you need to be in order to fit in.
Be Proud Of Who You Are
Take pride in your ethnic (culture, color or religion) heritage. You have no control over your heritage, and you can't change that fact that this is who you are. So embrace it and learn as much as you can. "You may feel like it would be an insult to your heritage to embrace one aspect of yourself above the others, but trust me, it wouldn't be. This is important: it is not your job to uphold, with perfect equity and grace, all of the elements that went into your making," Miller said.
Have A Ready Defense Against The Identity Police
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