Controversy sparked about investigation after Bikers Against Predators come to High Point
That is the question being asked of the High Point Police Department.
It comes after a video online shows a group from Indiana, known as Bikers Against Predators, confronting a man in High Point for allegedly talking with what he thought was an 11-year-old girl online, but it was really a decoy from the organization.
The nearly one-and-a-half-hour video was filmed on Facebook Live on Saturday afternoon. It now has over half a million views. Bikers Against Predators are upset that police did not take the man's phone, arrest him or even get the evidence they had.
'We don't need recognition for the case or anything like that. We just want to make sure that a guy like this that is truly a danger to that community is going to be at least investigated,' said Robert Bloom with Bikers Against Predators.
High Point Police Chief Curtis Cheeks said in a statement that the department is investigating and did collect evidence.
'I think it is a little too late,' Bloom said.
He said they have more evidence police have not taken. The statement from High Point police went on to say: 'It is our duty to handle all investigations lawfully and appropriately. Once a potential crime is reported, our officers must evaluate several factors, including available evidence, to determine whether charges are appropriate or if further investigation is needed.'
'It is very difficult for us to use any of the evidence that they have that they uncover. They just don't understand best practices on how to conduct these investigations,' Found of the Invictus Project Ray Dawson said.
There are more than one dozen people dedicated solely to finding online predators and holding them accountable through the Invictus Task Force.
'Just because you are speaking to a subject that is wanting to engage you sexually online who you believe to be a minor does not mean that law enforcement is not tracking that same individual,' Dawson said.
Dawson said these groups are problematic for law enforcement even though he knows their intentions are only to help.
'They really need to leave that investigative component to law enforcement. If they make contact with somebody online that is soliciting them, they can notify law enforcement before they take any action,' Dawson said.
High Point police said there are no arrests at this time and the ongoing investigation is being handled by the special victims unit, specifically a detective affiliated with the North Carolina Internet Crimes Against Children.
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New York Post
2 days ago
- New York Post
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Los Angeles Times
7 days ago
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Hong Kong police offer rewards for tips leading to the arrest of 19 overseas activists
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Black America Web
18-07-2025
- Black America Web
Black Woman Sues University Of Michigan For ‘Racist' Firing
Source: Nic Antaya / Getty A Black woman who was the former head of the University of Michigan's diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) office is suing the school, alleging she was discriminated against when the school fired her for antisemitic remarks she said she never made. According to the Detroit Free Press, Rachel Dawson attended an academic conference in March 2024 when she was approached by two women asking her how the school was planning to address antisemitism. The women allege Dawson, who then ran University of Michigan's Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives, responded by saying 'The university is controlled by wealthy Jews' and 'We don't work with Jews.' Dawson has a different recollection of the events and denies ever making remarks of the sort. From Detroit Free Press: Dawson said she remembered talking with the two women who accused her, but her recollection of the conversation was far different. She said that when the two women heard she was from U-M, they approached her to discuss rumors of antisemitism on campus. Dawson said she told them that the school was doing its best to combat antisemitism and all forms of discrimination. She noted that the school had recently opened the Raoul Wallenberg Institute to promote tolerance and that Jewish students had access to support groups like Hillel . Dawson's suit said the women became hostile, began berating her and even followed her out of the room when she tried to end the conversation. Days later, back at U-M, Dawson said she learned that the women had contacted the Anti-Defamation League, which filed a complaint about her with then-President Santa Ono. 'I am aware of several non-Black employees of the university who have been the subject of similar complaints about their behavior, and none have been terminated,' Dawson wrote in a statement to the school before her disciplinary hearing. 'The allegations against me illustrate how racial and gender biases can shape the interpretation of events and statements, especially for Black women in positions of authority.' Call me racist, but I'm much more inclined to believe that a group of white women got offended that a Black woman didn't say exactly what they wanted to hear, instead of a Black woman, in a position of power, willfully throwing that out the window to say something heinously antisemitic in a professional setting. Just saying, we didn't coin the term 'Karen' because entitled white women don't exist. Moving on, Dawson alleges the University of Michigan didn't follow its usual disciplinary steps when it comes to investigating incidents like these. The school hired an outside law firm, Covington & Burling LLP, to investigate instead of doing it in-house. Covington & Burling also represented the ADL in this case, which Dawson's lawyers allege to be a conflict of interest. The law firm's report acknowledged that Dawson and the women had differing accounts of the incident but found 'the weight of the available evidence supports the conclusion that Ms. Dawson made the statements attributed to her in the ADL Michigan letter.' Tabbye Chavous, Dawson's supervisor, was skeptical of how the investigation was being conducted and the findings in the final report. Chavous wrote a letter to the University of Michigan's then-President Santa Ono saying that 'Based on all information available to me, I would respectfully disagree with the conclusion drawn from the report.' 'It is obvious that this is not consistent with our normal processes for investigating alleged similar conduct of employees in a similar position as Ms. Dawson at an off-campus conference,' Chavous wrote. 'Why is the process for this situation and employee seemingly different from similar kinds of allegations and issues with others and how they are dealt with normally?' After the investigation, Chavous issued Dawson a warning and ordered her to complete anti-bias training. Usually, this would be where the story ends, but not in the case of Dawson. When word of the disciplinary action reached the University of Michigan's Board of Regents, Regent Mark Bernstein wrote, 'that the only acceptable outcome would be for Ms. Dawson to be 'terminated immediately.'' By December 2024, Dawson was fired from her position. Being prejudiced against someone for their race, religion, gender, or sexuality is the weakest thing a person can do. Yet it's interesting that whenever a white man is accused of racism, all he's expected to do is take an anti-bias class, make an apology, and the consequences are waved away. What Dawson is accused of is objectively awful, yet one can't help but see the double standard in how she's being treated compared to the multitudes of white men who have actually been recorded saying equally if not more heinous things and are still given chance after chance to redeem themselves. The University of Michigan has stood by its decision to fire Dawson. 'Rachel Dawson was appropriately terminated from her employment at the University of Michigan,' school spokeswoman Kay Jarvis told the Free Press in an email. 'We will vigorously defend this matter.' Dawson filed her lawsuit in federal court and intends to file a state court discrimination claim as well. Dawson's suit asks the court to declare the University of Michigan violated her civil rights and to award her an undisclosed amount in damages. SEE ALSO: UVA President Resigns Over Trump's Anti-DEI Investigation UNC Asheville Dean Of Students Fired For Pro-DEI Comments SEE ALSO Black Woman Sues University Of Michigan For 'Racist' Firing was originally published on