In a crossover episode no one ever imagined, Fox drama “Empire” meets the Allentown City Hall after one of it’s employees was just accused of fabricating an alleged hate crime from January. Now, everything is coming to light, and LaTarsha Brown is at the center of it all.
On Monday (March 24), Allentown, Pa. Chief of Police Charles Roca announced Brown has been charged with tampering with or fabricating physical evidence and false reports to law enforcement, according to the New York Post. This comes just two months after she claimed a noose was deliberately placed on her work desk in City Hall. As you can expect, the shocking January revelation sent civil rights groups and several government agencies into a frenzy.
The Morning Call first reported a deep investigation into the matter was underway. Community activist Pas Simpson even called for the FBI to take over the Allentown Police Department’s investigation. “It has to go federal because this is a hate crime,” he said during a January rally. But now, it seems the culprit behind the hate crime is none other than the alleged victim herself.
During the investigation, every employee who had access to the floor where the noose was found was asked to submit their DNA, according to Capt. Steve Milkovits. “Every employee agreed, except for Ms. Brown,” he said during a press conference before adding, “Initially cooperative, Ms. Brown requested that the investigation be discontinued.”
That’s when Brown’s alleged scheme started to fall apart. She allegedly made “vague statements and gave deceptive answers” to police during the probe, according to an affidavit obtained by the Morning Call. And to make matters even worse, when her DNA was finally received through a court order, officials found a match.
On March 10, investigators found Brown’s DNA matched with swabs taken from the outer surface and inner knotted portion of the noose, Dailymail.com reported. No one else’s tested DNA was a match.
At the same time, officials couldn’t connect anyone on office security footage to the alleged crime, forcing all eyes back on Brown. Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk said the charges against Brown were “shocking.” He continued adding, “It’s doubly shocking that an employee would— that she would have fabricated this incident.”
Her alleged hoax draws comparisons to that of actor and singer Jussie Smollett, who in 2020 alleged he was physically attacked by multiple racist white men, as The Root previously reported. A formal investigation into the matter found Smollett made up the attack. He was eventually sentenced to five years behind bars despite maintaining his innocence to this day.
For now, Brown gets to keep her job as a City Hall employee and her role on the Allentown School Board, Dailymail.com reported. She is scheduled for a preliminary court hearing on April 22.