Another Side to the Story
This letter is in response to the Jan. 2 “First Person” article by Times staff writer Lois Timnick on the front page of the Westside section. Ms. Timnick recounted how her perceptions of the homeless were changed and her empathy increased by her service as a juror in one of the many criminal trials of Thomas (Ocean) Harrison, a resident of Santa Monica.
At the end of the article, Ms. Timnick recounts discussing her continued regret that the jury convicted Harrison of resisting arrests, with a “respected legal authority.” The legal authority apparently criticized the guilty verdict as a failure to “do what was right,” and excused Harrison’s behavior because of Harrison’s “wretched state--he doesn’t have a home to drink privately in like we do.” The article was accompanied by two flattering pictures of Mr. Harrison, taken by a Times photographer.
We respectfully request that Ms. Timnick and the “legal authority” invite Mr. Harrison to their homes to drink, particularly on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, so that the sizable and diverse community of chess and checker players, and other peaceful citizens of all ages (including non-assaultive “homeless” people) can visit the beach areas of Santa Monica free of the following list of Harrison’s drunken behaviors, each one witnessed or experienced by some or all of the undersigned: public urination, indecent exposure, lewd sexual comments to women and girls, threatening senior citizens and weaker homeless people to get money. These latter activities apparently support Mr. Harrison’s purchase of “short dogs” of fortified wine.
Harrison spends his time drinking on the volleyball bleachers. He has been under a court order since January of last year to stay away from the adjacent chess-table area at the beach. When drunk, Harrison is hostile and aggressive.
Harrison has chosen to prey on the community, and the community has complained to the lifeguards, the police, the homeless task force and the city attorneys for relief. To portray Harrison’s story as a personal grudge match with Officer (Thomas) Tanner is ludicrous.
Ms. Timnick’s blatant romanticizing of this aggressive, drunken man, and her equally unfounded portrayal of officer Tanner as a spineless bully, “squirming in the witness chair” in response to Harrison’s “best defense attorney tone,” is not only preposterously inaccurate, but is also grossly offensive to the name and reputation of an excellent police officer, sensitive to the needs of the entire community, including the homeless, all of whom deserve protection from Harrison and his ilk.
As to Harrison’s desire to receive treatment for his alcoholism, he has no need to wait until he can be sentenced to treatment in the county facility at Acton. There are many 12-step programs available to Harrison locally. Furthermore, to excuse Harrison’s illegal and antisocial behavior as an inevitable product of his “wretched” alcoholic status is to mock and belittle the constant struggle of recovering alcoholics who daily acknowledge and cope with their problem without resort to criminal misconduct.
Finally, The Times should be embarrassed to publish such a baseless glorification of a local menace and an equally baseless, personal attack on officer Tanner, by a reporter whose knowledge and experience of the local community is clearly insufficient to provide an accurate context for her remarks. Next time, get the facts straight and publish some nice photos of the lifeguards, or officer Tanner, or nonviolent, non-drunken homeless, or other local people, who also visit Harrison’s “neighborhood.”
Editor’s note -- This letter was signed by the Friends of Santa Monica International Chess Park: Alphonso Wallace, Andre Felix, Alberto Barroso, Mark Rosenberg, Joe Soto, Sean McMillan, Gonsolo Laurras, Jonathan Milberg, Fred Shaw, Earl Pitney, Chris Jackson, Raymond Carriere, Indrek Pringi, Peter DeLeon, Sam Greenlaw, John Tohidi, Shoma Kutasov and Tom Moran.
