Anita Baker seemingly proved that not even the rich, famous and legendary can always get proper police protection when needed.
The beloved R&B singer recently told a story on Twitter about two potentially dangerous autograph seekers stalking her and then having to phone the police. One guy was taken away by officers but not charged.
Dissatisfied, Baker went to the state police to see if charges could be filed and to inquire about obtaining a concealed weapons permit.
Baker says once the local police found out what she did they became vindictive and started giving her traffic tickets.
“After following me All Summer (1) of my Stalkers came 2 my home,” Baker tweeted on Wednesday, June 15. “Suburban police took him away said they couldn’t charge him. I went 2 State police 2 bring charges & get A CWP. In retaliation 4 ‘Going Over their Head?’ Local Police ticketed me so much? I simply quit driving.”
“This happened A few yrs ago,” she added. “But, The query is the Same?… Who can You Call when those designated to Help you, actually Abuse you??? Everyone has a Story, re: The System & how it Fails the Same Demographic, Over. & Over. Etc. etc. Ad nauseam. Repetition, isn’t An Accident … No one is immune. Things happen to us all… Question is. #WhoYaGonCall?”
Baker may not be hitting the stage or vocals booth like she used to, but she’s been using her voice on social media, especially since the protests to end systemic racism began.
In the last few days alone, Baker has acknowledged the work being done by young protesters in the States, she posted a video of Black Lives Matter marches in other countries like New Zealand, and gave credit to Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms for initiating police reform in Atlanta.
On Monday, June 15, Bottoms said she’d be signing several administrative orders covering police reform and officers’ use of force. Bottoms’ announcement came after the death of Rayshard Brooks, a 27-year-old Black man who was shot and killed by an Atlanta police officer last week. The officer was charged with murder on Wednesday, June 17.
“To begin Police Reforms, at a Local Govnmt level. Lifting her Up,” tweeted Baker about Bottoms.
After the legendary singer told her story about the stalkers, one person wrote, “I’ve heard multiple times that law enforcement can’t do anything about a stalker until they actually touch you. That’s crazy.”
“Not. True,” Baker replied. “You just have to have Proof: of them Stealing/Manipulating your mail, cell phone pics of that ‘Same Person’… Everywhere you go. I had proof. (1) was Arrested. Charged. Prosecuted. #GodIsAble.”
In her tweets, Baker never says when or where this experience happened or identified the individual she was referring to as the stalker she had arrested, but in October 2011 Detroit man Dwon Darnell Thompson was taken into custody in the wee hours of the morning at Baker’s Grosse Pointe, Michigan, home. He was hit with two misdemeanor charges of stalking and trespassing.
The Patch reported then that Baker phoned police after the 24 year old banged on her door at around 3 a.m. while singing and wouldn’t leave. Baker told police at the time that Thompson had been stalking her for months and she’d repeatedly asked him to leave her alone. In a court appearance, Thompson was ordered to undergo psychological evaluation, and the disposition of the case remains unclear at this time.
