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Somehow, Detroit just can't get past the Kwame Kilpatrick soap opera.
For the past several years, there has always been a running street-level rumor in Detroit about a wild stripper party at the mayoral mansion where then-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick received a lap dance, but to his surprised chagrin, the then-First Lady, his wife Carlita, walks in and catches the antics in full swing, and commences to issue a beatdown to said stripper.
But it was the beginning of a murder and legal drama worthy of an MSNBC crime show.
Over the years, dozens of different types of rumors have swirled as to what happened. They included allegations of cover-ups, corruption, denial, and strong-arming that wound up defining the tenure of the disgraced Detroit mayor, who is now serving time in federal custody for violating his parole.
But nobody ever knew if the 2002 brawl really ever took place, or if it was one of the many indiscernible things being said about the mayor at the time. What is known is that the stripper in question, Tamara "Strawberry" Greene, is dead -- murdered in a drive-by shooting months after she was linked to the rumored party -- adding to the speculation about what, if anything, really happened.
Now, a second stripper has come out to describe what she says happened in her deposition which is part of a lawsuit from Greene's family accusing Detroit and Kilpatrick of covering up details in the woman's death, the Detroit News reported. The dancer, Tamika Ruffin,testified she was offered $1,000 to perform at the marijuana and cocaine-fueled party, which was attended by Kilpatrick, his friends and about 10 police officers.
She says the ex-First Lady busted into the party and a fist fight between her and Greene ensued, which ended in the stripper taking a table leg to the dome. Later on, Ruffin said the former mayor's wife persisted in threatening her by cellphone. A few months later, she turns up dead. However, the city has always maintained she was killed in a drug shooting and the Michigan Attorney General has determined it is just urban legend.
Meanwhile, Kilpatrick's lawyer says Ruffin's story doesn't add up, that her dates are mixed up and that she probably couldn't tell the story straight if she tried because of a major head injury sustained in a car accident.
Okay, listen we're not here to spin this story any further than it has already gone. And we're not saying whether or not it's true. But sexual cover-ups like this one, the one involving ex-New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer when he got caught soliciting an escort service, the one involving Congressional intern Chandra Levy and Rep. Gary Condit, and the most famous of all, between President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky all make great fodder for late night comedians and bloggers.
But they do not make sustaining foundations, especially for legal cases that have already torn up a city that is trying to recover from a disgraced mayor being taken from office, a poor economy and educational system and probably the worst publicity a city could get: No. 3 on the list of Most Dangerous American Cities.
More of this story is being played up in the local Detroit press than either side of the lawsuit should be comfortable with. Not that it isn't news, particularly in light of everything that has transpired over the past three years, but it should be prevented from becoming the media circus that the mayor's downfall had become.
Detroit simply can't afford one more black eye.
Comments: (10)
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By: vdog on 11/22/2010 6:25PM
This is what happens when you take PRIDE in electing the FIRST HIP-HOP MAYOR. Remember that?
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By: nomoxcuses on 11/22/2010 8:28PM
lol-that's funny!
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By: Beatrice on 11/22/2010 9:03PM
I used to be a stripper once and strippers are people too. Holla!!!!
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By: clarke on 11/23/2010 9:56AM
NO, IT' JUST STUPID. THERE IS ONLY ONE REASON I FEEL SORRY FOR KWAME. THAT IS BECAUSE HE FELL FOR THE SAME THING THAT A LOT OF POLITICIANS AND MEN IN HIGH POSITIONS FALL FOR. HE HAD THE WRONG PEOPLE AROUND HIM AND HE LISTENED TO THE BUTTKISSERS TELLING HIM HE WAS "THE MAN" AND BLOWING UP HIS EGO WHEN WHAT THEY REALLY WERE DOING WAS TRYING TO GET ALL THEY COULD FOR THEMSELVES AND SET HIM UP FOR THE FALL. KWAME WAS NEVER WHAT HE WAS TRYING TO PORTRAY HIMSELF AS, HE WASN'T "FROM THE HOOD", HIS MOTHER WAS A CONGRESS WOMAN, HIS DAD A BUSINESSMAN(WITH HIS OWN QUESTIONABLE DEALINGS), HE WASN'T FROM THE STREETS, HE WENT TO COLLEGE, STUDIED LAW. BUT HE CAME BACK TO DETROIT AND TRIED TO HANG WITH(AND GIVE JOBS TO) HIS FORMER HIGH SCHOOL BUDDIES AS THE MAYOR OF THE CITY, A BUNCH OF CROOKS, WHITECOLLAR CRIMINALS, AND CONMEN WHO STOLE EVERTHING THEY WOULD GET THEIR HANDS ON THAT WASN'T TIED DOWN. ADD IN A THINKS SHE ABOVE THE LAW AND EVERYDAMNBODY ELSE WIFE, HIS FORMER HIGH SCHOOL SWEATHEART WORKING FOR HIM. A CITY WITH A LONG HISTORY OF CORRUPTION, AND THOSE SMILING IN YO FACE, WHILE STABBING YOU IN THE BACK "FRIENDS" AND THE MAN WASN'T STRONG ENOUGH TO RESIST ALL(OR ANY)OF THE TEMPTATIONS THAT CAME HIS WAY. BUT ALL IN ALL HE WASN'T THE WORST MAYOR THE CITY EVER HAD. BUT HE NEVER HAD A CHANCE WITH ALL THAT WAS AGAINST HIM. HE NEEDED GOD FOR REAL. PEACE.
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By: Amy on 11/26/2010 3:40PM
He is a grown man, he is responsible for his actions. Typical thug mentality... Strippers, Bodyguards, Drugs, Nutty Wife...smh
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By: clarke on 11/27/2010 10:10AM
FIRST Amy, WHAT MAYOR DOESN'T HAVE BODYGUARDS? SECOND A LOT OF MEN HAVE "NUTTY" WIVES, AND THAT'S YOUR DESCRIPTION. I CALLED HER A "THINKS SHE'S BETTER THAN, ABOVE THE LAW" IN OTHER WORDS A BOUGIE, WANNABE, SOCIAL CLIMBER, LIKE THOSE ATLANTA HOUSE WIFE CHICKS THAT BLACK WOMEN LOVE SO MUCH. THIRD I DIDN'T HEAR NOTHING ABOUT ANY DRUGS. AND FOURTH A LOT OF MEN WITH AND WITHOUT "NUTTY" WIVES LOOK AT(AND DO OTHER THINGS WITH) STRIPPERS. LIKE HE'S THE FIRST, GIVE ME A DAMN BREAK. TO YOU AND THE NEWS MEDIA, THE MAN IS SITTING IN JAIL GET THE F**K OVER IT AND MOVE THE HELL ON.
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By: Amy on 11/26/2010 3:41PM
Beatrice, strippers are "ho's"....
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By: KW on 11/26/2010 6:24PM
Clark,
Enough said. (rumor has it that stripper moved all the way to Atlanta to get away from those people and she was still run/gun down just weeks after she got there.)
I actually heard that Kilpatrick did some good for the city. I remember back when my cousin's mother-in-law said that Kilpatrick had the snow removed from the streets in 7 mile and 8 mile after every huge snowstorm hit. A situation which took other administrations time to get done immediately.
There is an Ancient Chinese proverb, your life today ... is the summation of all good and bad decisions you have made. Kilpatrick failed to make good decisions for himself, his family, and the City of Detroit!
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By: clarke on 11/27/2010 10:48AM
HEY KW, THE WAY I HEARD IT IT WASN'T SO MUCH HER PERSONALLY WITH THE DRUGS AND GUNS IT WAS HER OLD MAN. HE WAS A KNOWN DRUG DEALER IN THE D. IN THE SHOOTING WHEN SHE WAS KILLED IN THE CAR, IT WAS MOST LIKLY A HIT ON HIM AND SHE GOT CAUGHT IN THE HAIL OF GUNFIRE SHE DIED AND HE SURVIVED, SUSPIOUSLY ENOUGH, NOW I DON'T KNOW THIS TO BE FACT, BUT WORD ON THE STREET WAS AND ITS EASY ENOUGH TO CHECK OUT FOR THOSE THAT INTERESTED, MS GREENE HAPPENED TO BE DRIVING THE CAR THAT DAY, WITH THOSE SUPER DARK TINTED WINDOWS THE PEOPLE SHOOTING COULDN'T SEE INSIDE BUT THEY KNEW HIS CAR. NOW IF MOST OF THE SHOOTS WERE CENTERED ON THE DRIVER(WHICH THEY WOULD HAVE THOUGHT WAS HIM)IT WOULD STAND TO REASON THAT HE NOT HER WAS THE INTENDED TARGET. IF THIS IS TRUE, WHY WAS SHE DRIVING THAT DAY, WELL NIGHT ACTUALLY. HMMMMM DID HE KNOW SOMETHING WAS ABOUT TO GO DOWN, HAND HER THE KEYS AND SAY "HERE BABY, I'M GONNA LET YOU DRIVE TONIGHT"?
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By: clarke on 11/27/2010 11:04AM
AND YES AS I SAID KW HE MADE SOME VERY BAD DECISIONS AND HE'S PAYING FOR THEM. WHEN IS THE MEDIA GOING TO LET IT GO. AND HE WASN'T THE ONLY ONE. KNOW I DON'T KNOW WHAT HE DID AND DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT WHAT PEOPLE IN HIS ADIMINSTRATION WRE DOING, AS I SAID BEFORE STEALING EVERYTHING THAT WASN'T NAILED DOWN, BUT HE TOOK THE FALL, AS HE SHOULD HAVE FOR WHAT HAPPEN WHETHER HE WAS DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE OR NOT. HE'S DOIN HIS TIME, WHY DO WE HAVE TO KEEP HEARING ABOUT IT? I MEAN DAMN THE MAN AINT BERNIE MADOFF, WE DON'T HEAR ABOUT HIS ASS EVERY DAMN MONTH. GIVE IT A REST. AS FAR AS WE KNOW THE MAN DIDN'T KILL ANYBODY. THE D WILL SURVIVE.
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