The NFL has been at the center of the national debate over racism over recent months, and now the organization has become relevant to the issue of racism in the U.S. for an entirely different reason than it first was.
Jacqueline Kent Cooke, the daughter of late Washington Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke, sparked what ended up as an incident described by The Daily Beast as an “insane New Year’s Eve street brawl.” While waiting in line to pick up her things at the coat check at a restaurant on New York City’s Upper East Side, the woman became impatient and snapped “Hurry up, Jew,” at the man in front of her.
That man was Matthew Haberkorn, a lawyer from California whose mother, wife and four daughters had dined with him that evening. His wife, Linda Thomas, pressed Cooke as to what she had said, and she’s reported to have repeated the same sentiment as before, saying: “Hurry up, Jew. I got places to be.”
Soon, Cooke’s boyfriend chimed in with his own anti-Semitic jab, saying “Happy Bat Mitzvah, girls” to Haberkorn’s daughters.
Haberkorn told the New York Daily News what happened outside the restaurant, saying:
‘I walked up to her and asked her why she said that. She took her purse, which was a mirrored glass purse, and smashed me with it.’
Cooke has been photographed with the item she bashed Haberkorn in the head with in the past.
On Wednesday, when approached by the publication, Cooke denied that the incident ever took place. She, however, turned herself into police and was led out of the 9th precinct station house in handcuffs.
The incident was caught on tape by one of Haberkorn’s daughters, in which a clearly severely intoxicated Cooke can be seen harassing Haberkorn outside the restaurant after he confronted her about her remarks. Cooke seems to try and tackle Haberkorn at one point in the video that you can see below.
Haberkorn provided an image to the New York Daily News of the injury he suffered when Cooke hit him with her glass purse, which you can see below.
Although Cooke is only connected to the NFL by association, NFL teams themselves have been at the center of a national debate about racism throughout recent months because of numerous players’ decision to take a knee during the national anthem as a way to demonstrate on behalf of African Americans.
The president criticized players who choose to do so as recently as this Thursday on Twitter, yet again falsely associating their actions with a disrespect of current and former members of the U.S. Armed Forces.
Months before that, Trump set off on his campaign against the NFL, saying that team officials should fire the “sons of bitches” who take a knee.
Racism is a very real issue in the United States, but the president, who, even if he wouldn’t address this particular incident, remains the leader of the country, has only worked to perpetuate the problem, not put an end to it.
Featured Image via Screenshot from the Video.
