Barry condemns Park Police for arrest, says little else
By: Michael Neibauer
Examiner Staff Writer
July 10, 2009
D.C. Councilman Marion Barry said his weekend arrest for stalking by a U.S. Park Police officer was "inappropriate," but he refused to say whether he planned to bring a lawsuit against the law enforcement agency.
The former mayor also dodged questions Thursday about the controversial contract he awarded to the woman he was accused of stalking.
Barry, 73, addressed reporters for the first time since he was stopped Saturday night near Anacostia Park, handcuffed and charged with stalking 40-year-old Donna Watts-Brighthaupt, a former girlfriend. The two had eaten lunch together hours earlier in Annapolis and had planned to spend the weekend in Rehoboth Beach, Del., but returned to Washington instead.
Prosecutors announced Wednesday that they would not pursue the case.
"The Park Police should never have arrested me," Barry, the Ward 8 councilman, said outside the John A. Wilson Building.
The officer who made the stop, Barry said, "has caused great pain for my family, for this community and for this nation." It has caused "consternation," the former mayor said, and "led to embarrassment."
The ex-mayor refused to discuss the $60,000 taxpayer-funded contract he awarded to Watts-Brighthaupt last year when the two were dating. He declined to address why he would hire a woman whom his spokeswoman described days earlier as "unstable." And he would not talk about Watts-Brighthaupt's ex-husband, whom Barry had barred from the Wilson Building last Friday.
Those questions, he said, would be dealt with "at the appropriate time."
Support for an investigation into the contract to Watts-Brighthaupt is growing. Mayor Adrian Fenty said Thursday that he would "defer to the council." But Attorney General Peter Nickles was ready to take action.
"I'm very hopeful the council will look into this and take care of its own problem," Nickles said. "If the council does not act, I'm going to take a look at it."
Ward 6 Councilman Tommy Wells said the city must determine whether Barry did anything illegal by hiring Watts-Brighthaupt.
"The first question is whether he broke any laws," Wells said.
Barry's stalwart supporters, meanwhile, condemned the coverage of Barry's arrest as racially motivated.
"This is a disgrace," said Tisa Mitchell, a Barry backer. "They better leave Marion Barry alone. This is an outrage."
