In the four days since news broke of a civil lawsuit alleging gang rape by former Bills punter Matt Araiza and two others, plenty has happened.
Most recently, his parents issued a lengthy statement to KUSI in San Diego. PFT has confirmed that the message, attributed to “Mr. and Mrs. Araiza, parents of Matt Araiza,” is legitimate.
Here’s the full statement.
“The rule of law is innocent until proven guilty. That is not our experience. There has been war waged on our son. He has been tried and convicted in the media based on information released solely from the alleged victim and her attorney, much of it through social media. People have taken this information as factual, when it is not.
“We do not wish this experience on anyone, but question why our son is the only one receiving this kind of treatment by social media and national news media. The vitriol has been on him alone.
“He has been extorted, discriminated against, harassed and the subject of multiple and continuous threats of violence and death. He has been released from his job and our entire family continues to receive horrific threats of violence and death. We have all been canceled. Every member of our family.
“Salacious rumors grew as fact. There are multiple witness reports to deny the claims that are made against him. The legal system is designed to find the facts and make decisions. They should be allowed to do that.”
Obviously, threats of violence or death directed to Matt Araiza and any members of his family are wrong. They are illegal. Action should be taken to hold the appropriate persons responsible.
As Bills G.M. Brandon Beane explained it on Saturday night during the press conference announcing the team’s decision to move on from Araiza, the situation is complicated. There are different versions. Although the truth may be that the Bills decided that, given the position he plays, it’s not worth the headache and distraction to keep him on the team, there’s a basic truth in the reality that Matt Araiza should focus his efforts on resolving these issues appropriately, both as to the civil lawsuit and the pending criminal investigation.
Regarding the notion that Matt Araiza has been the lone subject of “vitriol,” he’s the only one of the three defendants in the civil lawsuit who was firmly in the public eye as a player on an NFL team. His situation naturally became a greater subject for scrutiny and attention, given that the Bills had to decide what to do about the situation. Now that they have, the uproar (at least the portion of it that arose from his status as the Bills’ punter) should subside.
Ultimately, the truth hopefully will come out, whether through the criminal process or the civil litigation. That’s the best thing for Araiza and his family to focus on.
It’s a sad situation for everyone involved. It’s important at this point for everyone to allow the legal processes to play out. But it’s definitely not “extortion” for the alleged victim to pursue justice in the form of compensation via a potential settlement of her civil claims. Araiza has the right to refuse to settle those claims and to fight them in court. All of his Constitutional protections remain in place. It will be for his lawyers to ensure that those protections are honored, every step of the way.
Whether the statement quoted above is the best approach for trying to undo the damage done in the court of public opinion remains to be seen. In his only comments regarding the matter, Araiza said, “The facts of the incident are not what they are portrayed in the lawsuit or in the press. I look forward to quickly setting the record straight.”
There’s a balance to be struck between getting the public to accept that the facts aren’t what the alleged victim has claimed them to be in her lawsuit, or in her other statements made to the relevant authorities, and avoiding any harm to his ability to defend himself in court. In this specific case, the allegations made by the alleged victim have not been rebutted in any meaningful way that would allow the public or the media to advance Araiza’s case.
It will be for Araiza and his representatives to navigate this situation in the best possible way. If Araiza truly is innocent, he’ll need a P.R. strategy that entails something more than broad denials and/or complaints about the natural consequences of not reacting with a specific and persuasive public response that would cause people to believe him.
Calling it a “money grab,” as his lawyer did last week, doesn’t work. Attacking the alleged victim doesn’t work. Shouting innocence from the rooftops and commencing the process of demonstrating it becomes the best way -- indeed, the only way -- to convince the many jurors in the court of public opinion that he is wrongly and falsely accused. So far, any such efforts have been incomplete and ineffective.
Whether that changes or not, he still can defend himself within the confines of both branches of the legal system, civil and criminal. His rights in those two contexts have not changed, and to date have not been undermined, in any way. Whether that eventually happens remains to be seen.