The New York Times - 19.09.2019

A22 N THE NEW YORK TIMES NEW YORKTHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2019

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INTERNATIONAL

A picture caption with an article
on Wednesday about efforts by
the United States to find the
source of attacks on Saudi oil
facilities misstated the day of the
strikes. They occurred on Satur-

day, not Sunday.

NATIONAL An article on Wednesday about five candidates under considera- tion to serve as President Trump’s national security adviser mis- spelled the surname of a former director of national intelligence. He is Dan Coats, not Dan Coates. It also misstated the name of a foundation. It is the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, not the Foundation for Defense of Democracy.

An article on Sept. 9 about Maggy Hurchalla, an environmental activist in Florida who was suc- cessfully sued by a mining company, referred incorrectly to studies on a mine project. Several studies had been done, but not the full, peer-reviewed assessment Ms. Hurchalla was urging the county commissioners to conduct; it is not the case that there had been only a preliminary study done on the mine project.

An article on Wednesday about President Trump’s focus on Cali-

fornia’s homelessness problem misstated the proportion of people in the United States who live in California. The state is home to 12 percent of the country’s population, not one-twelfth, which is a little more than 8 percent.

BUSINESS An article on Wednesday about Amazon offering improved audio for 50 million songs referred incorrectly to FLAC files, which Amazon uses to stream music. FLAC files are a compressed, not

an uncompressed, format.

SCIENCE TIMES The Personal Health column on Tuesday about transient global amnesia misidentified Dr. Carolyn Brockington’s medical specialty. She is a vascular neurologist, not a vascular surgeon.

OBITUARIES An obituary on Tuesday about the reporter Paul Ingrassia misstated when he began working at Thom- son Reuters. It was 2011, not 2007.

Errors are corrected during the press run whenever possible, so some errors noted here may not have appeared in all editions.

Corrections

A woman who said she was
“Victim-1” in the federal indict-
ment against the financier Jeffrey
Epstein sued the executors of his
estate on Wednesday, saying he
had abused her for three years
starting when she was about 14
and struggling financially.
In the lawsuit, the woman, who
called herself Jane Doe, offered a
graphic account of the abuse she
said she had endured at the hands
of Mr. Epstein, the dire financial
straits that made her vulnerable
to his initial advances and de-
pendent on him after the abuse be-
gan, and details of how two of his
female employees had enabled his
behavior.
Mr. Epstein’s abuse, the woman
said in the suit, left her “forever
scarred.”
Mr. Epstein, 66, killed himself in
a Manhattan jail in August after

being indicted in New York on federal sex trafficking charges. Pros- ecutors had accused him of recruiting dozens of teenage girls over many years to engage in sex acts at his homes in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Fla., paying them hundreds of dollars in cash. Mr. Epstein’s will, valued at more than $577 million, was filed in the Virgin Islands, where he owned a private island. The executors of his estate, Darren K. In- dyke and Richard D. Kahn, were named as the defendants in the suit filed on Wednesday. A lawyer for Mr. Indyke, Marc Agnifilo, declined to comment. Mr. Kahn could not be reached for comment. The criminal charges in New York were similar to those at the heart of a widely criticized 2008 deal between Mr. Epstein and federal prosecutors in Florida under which he pleaded guilty to solicita- tion of a minor for prostitution but was spared a lengthy prison sen- tence.

Among the many victims described in the New York indictment, prosecutors went into some detail about three, who were iden- tified as Minor Victim-1, Minor Victim-2 and Minor Victim-3. Minor Victim-1, the indictment said, had been recruited by Ep- stein to engage in sex acts around 2002, had been repeatedly sexually abused by him over a period of years and had been encouraged to recruit other girls to engage in sex acts for money. The woman who said she was Victim-1 said in her lawsuit that her circumstances made her an easy target for Mr. Epstein. She said she had a “difficult childhood,” was always worried about money and wanted to do what she could to help a sister with a serious medical condition. She was about 14, she said, when an older teenage girl from her neighborhood told her “about an opportunity to earn money and offered to introduce her to a wealthy man.”

That man, the suit said, turned out to be Mr. Epstein. The woman said that her family was going through an especially rough stretch at the time. Her mother and sister were sharing a bedroom and renting the family’s second bedroom to boarders. She was staying with friends and look- ing for odd jobs, the suit said. The lawsuit described the woman’s initial trip, accompanied by the girl who recruited her, to Mr. Epstein’s mansion on East 71st Street, which she recalled as re- sembling the castle in “ ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ one of her favorite Disney movies at the time.” “Minutes later, Epstein entered the room wearing only a robe,” the suit said. “He introduced himself as ‘Jeffrey,’ and asked Doe her name. Epstein also asked Doe her age, and she responded truthfully. Epstein then removed his robe and laid face down on the massage table.” That first massage quickly

turned sexual, as was typical for Mr. Epstein, according to prosecutors. When it was over, the suit said, he “put on a robe and re- trieved three hundred-dollar bills from his robe pocket, which he handed to Doe.” The woman said in the suit that she returned to Mr. Epstein’s home “countless times” until she was 17, with the visits becoming more frequent and the abuse becoming more severe. The woman also said that she had been sexually assaulted by one of Mr. Epstein’s employees. And she singled out two of his as- sistants, Sarah Kellen and Lesley Groff, as having enabled his abuse. Ms. Kellen and Ms. Groff are under scrutiny for any role they might have played in recruiting girls for Mr. Epstein or managing the logistics of his encounters. Federal prosecutors in New York have said they are continuing their investigation into whether anyone else should be charged as

a co-conspirator in the sex trafficking case. “During scheduling phone calls,” the suit said, “Kellen and Groff often asked Doe to bring other girls with her to Epstein’s home. At times, Kellen and Groff directed Doe to bring with her specific girls who Epstein had assaulted before, requesting them by name.” Although the woman said that Mr. Epstein sometimes paid her directly after abusing her, the woman also said that Ms. Kellen or Ms. Groff would pay her whenever she brought other girls to Mr. Epstein. In a statement, Michael Bach- ner, a lawyer for Ms. Groff, said of his client: “At no time during Les- ley’s employment with Epstein did she ever engage in any mis- conduct.” Lawyers who have represented Ms. Kellen in other litigation did not respond to requests for comment.

Woman Who Says She Was Scarred as ‘Victim-1’ Sues Epstein’s Estate

By ED SHANAHAN

Matthew Goldstein contributed
reporting.

For the entirety of his brief, me-
teoric career, the rapper known as
Tekashi 69 (or 6ix9ine) fashioned
himself as a recalcitrant hellion,
intent on instigating conflict for its
own sake. He baited law enforce-
ment on social media with guns
and money. He live-streamed him-
self in bed with other rappers’ girl-
friends.
But on Wednesday, in a federal
courtroom in Manhattan, the
6ix9ine persona vanished. In its
place was considerate, cordial
Daniel Hernandez, the Dr. Jekyll
to 6ix9ine’s Mr. Hyde. He was
there for a purpose his alter ego
probably never foresaw: to testify
against his former crew, the Nine
Trey Gangsta Bloods.
On trial are two of Mr. Hernan-
dez’s former confidantes, includ-
ing Anthony Ellison, an alleged
high-ranking member of the Nine
Trey gang who once served as Mr.
Hernandez’s bodyguard.
Mr. Hernandez’s turn as a star
witness for the federal govern-
ment is a stunning twist in his ca-
reer. For hours on Wednesday, the
Instagram star sat on the witness
stand and eagerly detailed the in-
ner workings of the notoriously in-
sular Nine Trey gang.
The contrast between the bois-
terous rapper seen on social me-
dia and the man on the stand was
stark. Mr. Hernandez was re-
laxed, sometimes leaning against
the judge’s dais as he walked the
jury through gang life.
He embraced Nine Trey in 2017,
he said, after the gang helped pro-
pel his multiplatinum breakout
single, “GUMMO.” The music vid-
eo for that track — which featured
members of Nine Trey — went vi-
ral instantly.
“I knew the formula was to re-
peat it,” Mr. Hernandez said. “The
gang image, like promote it.”
He sketched out Nine Trey’s hi-
erarchy in detail in court, listing
its leadership by name. He paused
frequently to translate street
slang for the jury and described
several of the gang’s attacks at
length, including one instance in
which they stalked and assaulted
another rapper, Trippie Redd.
At one point, Mr. Hernandez
listed the gang affiliations of other
rappers.
Several times, Mr. Hernandez
imitated voices of Nine Trey mem-
bers and acted out conversations
he had previously had with them.
He launched into unprompted
asides so specific — his choice of

jacket during one particular gang episode, for example — that prosecutors had to refocus him. His resolve appeared to falter briefly when he recounted his alleged kidnapping last July by Mr. Ellison, an incident that Mr. Her- nandez said stemmed from in- fighting within Nine Trey over who in the gang’s hierarchy would control his music career. “I had mad thoughts running through my head,” he said Wednesday, his voice growing qui- et as he described being held hostage inside a vehicle in Brook- lyn. The incident, which was widely publicized at the time, was the be- ginning of Mr. Hernandez’s un- coupling with Nine Trey. “I was tired of being extorted,” he said on Wednesday. Four months later, Mr. Hernan- dez publicly renounced his former manager, Kifano Jordan, Mr. Elli- son and the Nine Trey gang. A few days later, law enforcement officials arrested them and a host of others suspected of being Nine Trey members. Within 24 hours, Mr. Hernandez had cut a deal with prosecutors. Wednesday’s trial is one part of a sweeping racketeering and fire- arms case that prosecutors brought against the Nine Trey gang last November. Mr. Hernandez’s testimony has provided a rare window into the intersection of street gangs and rap, two notoriously guarded worlds that have all but explicitly disowned Mr. Hernandez in the midst of his reinvention. On Wednesday, the rapper Meek Mill tweeted that Mr. Her- nandez was an “Internet gangsta.” The rapper Snoop Dogg called him a “rat.” Whether Mr. Hernandez can salvage any of 6ix9ine, the rebel- lious character he built, remains unclear. Prosecutors have said previously that he may need to enter the witness protection program. His lawyer has argued that the 6ix9ine character was an act, and that his embrace of gang life was only meant to bolster his career. In court this week, Mr. Hernan- dez was asked to decode what seemed to be threatening lyrics from “GUMMO” aimed at Trippie Redd, a rival. “It’s a song towards, like, some- body who I didn’t get along with,” he said. “I don’t know. I thought it was cool at the time.”

No Longer a Brash Rapper,

Daniel Hernandez Tells All

By ALI WATKINS

Tekashi 69, or 6ix9ine, performing in Oslo in 2018.

GONZALES PHOTO/UNIVERSAL IMAGES GROUP VIA GETTY IMAGE

At a closed meeting, the City Council president in Trenton, New Jersey’s capital, used an anti-Se- mitic slur to describe the negotia- tion tactics of a Jewish city attorney. “They were able to wait her out and jew her down,” the president, Kathy McBride, said, according to a recording. The comment, made at a session on Sept. 5, came to light on Friday and drew condemnation from state and local officials. On Tuesday, after not addressing the situation for days, Ms. McBride publicly apologized at the start of the Council meeting. “In my position, you cannot make anyone feel insulted, or you cannot be insensitive to any ethnic backgrounds, so I am apologizing to the community at large,” she said. But that did not quell the controversy. On Wednesday, it spread to Washington, with all 12 members of New Jersey’s House of Repre- sentatives delegation calling for public apologies or resignations from two Trenton lawmakers who had come to Ms. McBride’s defense. “Anti-Semitism is on the rise around the world and right here in New Jersey,” the lawmakers said in a joint statement. “We must never accept bigotry or hatred in any form.” The city attorney, Peter Cohen, who was not at the meeting where the slur was used, said he was somewhat bewildered by the at- tention that Ms. McBride’s remarks about him had generated. He said he did not believe Ms. McBride harbored anti-Semitic views. Still, he called her comments “disappointing,” saying they in- voked a negative stereotype that was troubling in light of increas- ingly incendiary rhetoric used

against racial, ethnic and religious groups. The uproar over Ms. McBride’s remarks comes amid a global resurgence of anti-Semitic attitudes. Experts have tracked a rising number of crimes against Jews worldwide, including violent and deadly attacks. New Jersey, a state with a sig- nificant Jewish population, had the third-highest number of anti- Semitic incidents in the country in 2018, according to the Anti-Defa- mation League. Several incidents recently where public officials used anti- Semitic rhetoric have also caused concern in Jewish communities. Last week, a councilman in Pater- son, N.J., also used the phrase “jew us down” at a meeting. In Au- gust, the president of a local N.A.A.C.P. chapter was fired from his government job over anti-Se- mitic and anti-Latino comments he made on Facebook. “It’s showing that maybe people are more comfortable using lan- guage they didn’t feel comfortable using previously,” said Evan R. Bernstein, the Anti-Defamation League’s regional director for New York and New Jersey. In Trenton, a city of about 84,000, the controversy was as much about Ms. McBride’s remark as it was about the two Council members, Robin Vaughn and George Muschal, who seemed to play down the comments. In the meeting on Sept. 5, lawmakers were discussing a lawsuit brought by a resident who had been seriously injured after trip- ping on a city sidewalk. The resident was set to receive about $22,000 in the settlement. Both Ms. Vaughn and another councilman, Santiago Rodriguez, told The New York Times that Ms. McBride believed the injured woman deserved more money. The meeting was held in execu-

tive session and was closed to the public. The city denied The Times’s public-records request for a recording, saying it was protected by attorney-client privi- lege. But on Monday, The Trento- nian posted a recording it had ob- tained. “I’m sad for her,” Ms. McBride is heard saying. “They were able to wait her out and jew her down for $22,000 with pins in her knee that can never ever be repaired.” Ms. McBride did not respond to several requests for an interview. But Mr. Cohen said that he believed her comments were not made with malicious intent. “I believe that was a phrase that

she had heard a thousand times or more, and she did not actually believe that it was offensive,” he said. However, he added, the use of the phrase suggested “a level of sensitivity that needs to be ad- dressed.” The use of “jew” as a verb meaning “to cheat” has been in English dictionaries for decades, with the Oxford English Dictio- nary citing its use as early as 1825, but it is considered offensive. After Trenton’s mayor, Reed Gusciora, who oversees the city’s Law Department, learned of Ms. McBride’s remark, he emailed the entire Council, saying Mr. Cohen deserved an apology. “Comments like that are just not helpful, and should not be part of the public discourse,” Mr. Gus- ciora said in an interview.

Once the mayor’s email became public, Ms. Vaughn and Mr. Muschal rose to Ms. McBride’s defense. On Facebook, Ms. Vaughn said on Sunday that the phrase was “a verb and is not anti-anything.” Mr. Muschal, in an interview with The New Jersey Globe, said that the expression had been used “mil- lions of times” and was “just a statement of speech.” Mr. Muschal apologized pri- vately to Mr. Cohen on Monday, both men said. In an email to The Times, Mr. Muschal added that he meant no harm by his remarks. “If I offended anyone in the Jew- ish community, I hope they will accept my sincere apology,” he wrote. “There was no malicious intent.” Mr. Muschal also said that Mr. Cohen told him that he “uses the phrase all the time,” which Mr. Co- hen disputed. In an interview on Monday, Ms. Vaughn said that she understood that Ms. McBride’s statement was inappropriate and that she did not condone it. “I absolutely understand that it’s derogatory, that the Jewish community would be offended by it, just like I would be offended by the N-word,” said Ms. Vaughn, who is African-American. Yet she disputed the characteri- zation of Ms. McBride as anti-Se- mitic, saying the context of the remark was important. But by Wednesday night, Ms. Vaughn decided to apologize. “My comments were wrong,” she said in a statement. “Never was it my intention to hurt, disrespect or de- mean anyone when I described a racial slur or its usage, as a verb.” She added about Ms. McBride: “I do not believe her to hate Jews nor harbor anti-Semitic feelings. Nonetheless, my defense of her behavior was an error of my judg- ment.”

Kathy McBride in 2018. Ms. McBride, the president of the City Council in Trenton, has apologized, but controversy continues.

THE TRENTONIAN

Anti-Semitic Slur by Trenton Official Provokes Outrage

By MICHAEL GOLD

An uproar amid a

resurgence of violence

against Jews.

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The New York Times - 19.09.2019

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