Darryl Glenn has explained what happened 33 years ago when he was charged, and then the charges dropped, for allegedly striking his father— an incident the Denver Post rushed to judge, and for that story they now look like complete idiots.
We encourage PeakNation™ to read Glenn’s statement for themselves, because it’s one of the most poignant and heartbreaking stories our cynical old hearts have ever read.
To sum it up, it’s an all-too-familiar story of family violence, something most people aren’t eager to share, and after 33 years, it’s understanding that Glenn’s recollection would be sketchy. In order to piece it together, he had to bring up those painful memories with his mother, who was the target of the domestic violence that night 33 years ago, and it was Darryl who got between his violent father and mother to protect her.
My parents’ marriage was very violent. This was not the first time my father attacked my mother, and sadly, it was far from the worst time.
When you grow up in a violent home, the fights, the shouting, the pain all blur together. To survive, you block as much of it out of your head as you can in the moment. You try to forget it going forward. What happened that night was just another in a long series of violent incidents between my parents. In that sense, it was not really memorable.
Here’s what I do know about the night of November 20,1983: My father hit my mother, and I got between them to try and protect her. The police were called. He claimed to the police that I hit him. I do not believe I ever hit him. My mother swears I did not hit him either, but it wouldn’t have been beyond him at the time to claim I did. I do not remember ever talking to a police officer. I do not remember signing anything for the police.
Trying all these years later to piece together what we learned this week, I think it’s likely that the police showed up and took everyone’s information. I think my dad initially wanted to press charges that night and a report was filed. I know that a few weeks later my mother and I were called into a meeting in a Judge’s chambers. He asked us a few questions and then sent us home. That’s the last thing we definitively know.
I only have these details now because of what my mother told me this past week. In fact, this was the very first time we’d spoken about that evening in the 32 years since it happened. It’s probably hard to understand this unless you grew up in the kind of environment that I did.
But the Post refuses to let go of the story, trying desperately to paint Glenn as a liar because he didn’t remembered correctly how long it was before he was called into the judge’s chambers and the charges dropped. They also reminded readers they used a handwriting expert to confirm it was Glenn’s signature on the police report filed 33 years ago, which Glenn says he does not remember signing. Judging by the history of violence in his home, signing a piece of paper was entirely a forgettable event for a teenager.
The Post’s article this week was a despicable hit piece, journalistic malpractice that would have gotten the paper sued if the story was not about a public official.
And the intent of that piece has now completely backfired. Anyone who grew up in a violent home can relate to Glenn’s statement, to the heartbreaking and frightening details he was forced to reveal about his not-so-perfect childhood.
That the Post cannot show one shred of decency and offer an apology for rushing to judgement in an attempt to smear a political candidate is galling and shameful.