Golf Course Called Police on Black Lawyer Who Knows Her Way Around Civil Rights Law
Sandra Thompson operates a solo firm in York, practicing civil rights, criminal defense, family law, immigration, incorporation, landlord-tenant and personal injury law.
April 25, 2018 at 02:56 PM
4 minute read
The original version of this story was published on The Legal Intelligencer
From left, Carolyn Dow, Sandra Harrison, Karen Crosby, Sandra Thompson and Myneca Ojo. The five women were golfing at Grandview Golf Club in York County, Pennsylvania, when they were asked to leave.
One of the African-American women on a golf course, whose co-owner said they were playing too slowly and called the police, is a Pennsylvania lawyer and president of the local NAACP chapter.
Sandra Thompson and her friends were golfing on April 21 at Grandview Golf Club in Dover Township, where they are members, when the co-owner of the golf course alerted police about their pace of play and asked them to leave. The women denied they were golfing too slowly, and they stayed put.
Like the recent incident at a Philadelphia Starbucks where an employee called police about two black men who did not immediately place an order while waiting on a friend, the golfers' fiasco has spread quickly among national media like The Associated Press, Newsweek and ESPN, and was even featured on Comedy Central's “The Daily Show” in a segment about people calling police on others “for being black in public.”
Thompson didn't immediately return calls seeking comment.
She wrote a Facebook post about the incident—shared 276 times so far—that said her group of five African-American women “were discriminated against, refused the benefits of our membership, were told to vacate the premises, and had the police called on us.”
Thompson was admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania in 1999, according to her profile on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Disciplinary Board website. She earned her law degree from Widener University School of Law in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in 1999, said her Facebook profile. Since 2003, she's operated a solo firm in York, practicing civil rights, criminal defense, family law, immigration, incorporation, landlord-tenant and personal injury law.
Thompson's Facebook post said that the group has played for years and they know etiquette and the rules. Their game started at 11 a.m., about an hour after their scheduled tee time. At the second hole, former York County Commissioner Steve Chronister identified himself as the course's owner and harassed the group, she wrote.
Three of the women stopped playing after the ninth hole because they were distraught at their treatment, Thompson wrote. The two remaining women took a break, and the next group of golfers arrived, so the women told them to skip ahead. But the later group said they wanted a beer break. Thompson wrote that the other golfers hadn't lodged any complaints, and that one of them told her that her group had been maintaining the pace of play.
She wrote that she and her friend were teeing off at the 10th hole when Chronister arrived again with three or four other men—all white—one was his son, Jordan Chronister, a co-owner of the golf course.
“They now accused us of taking too long of a break and said they wanted us off their premises,” she wrote. They said they had called the police.
Police arrived, and were respectful, she wrote.
Reports in the local newspaper, The York Dispatch, said that a frost delay had started the women's golf game late. Steve Chronister first approached the group saying they were playing too slowly. The group skipped the third hole because of the interaction.
Thompson was shooting video of the encounter, which now has over 105,000 views on YouTube.
“We've asked you three times now to remove yourselves from the premises, and you have yet to remove yourselves,” Jordan Chronister said to the women in the video.
His wife and the course's co-owner, JJ Chronister, told the newspaper that she had called the women to apologize. The golf course wrote on Facebook that the women's experience didn't reflect the course's values or commitment to making a welcoming environment for everyone.
“Our team is very sorry for any interaction that may have made any member feel uncomfortable. Please know that we are taking this issue very seriously and expect our own organization to meet the highest standards for service that allows for everyone to feel comfortable and welcome,” said the Facebook post.
Angela Morris is a freelancer. Follow her on Twitter at @AMorrisReports
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