Thread by @bykenarmstrong

1/ We’re thrilled @ProPublica with the positive response to @Netflix’s #Unbelievable. The show is sparking important conversations, like this @TheAtlantic piece: bit.ly/2mpfTVz.
But we’ve also seen some sentiment online that concerns us.
I'd like to talk about that.

@propublica @netflix @TheAtlantic 2/ We've seen things like: Why didn’t the foster moms apologize? (They did.) That Marie must hate everyone who doubted her. (She doesn’t.) And that the police probably didn’t learn a thing from this. (They did.)

@propublica @netflix @TheAtlantic 3/ First let's talk about Marie's foster moms:

@propublica @netflix @TheAtlantic 4/ The Netflix series is based on this @propublica @marshallproj collaboration bit.ly/226XQyL and @ThisAmerLife episode bit.ly/2smzbLy.
I worked on the story while at The Marshall Project with ProPublica’s @txtianmiller and This American Life’s @RobynSemien.

@propublica @netflix @TheAtlantic @MarshallProj @ThisAmerLife @txtianmiller @RobynSemien 5/ In 2008, Marie, 18 years old, reported being raped, only to be doubted by her two foster moms and by Lynnwood, Washington, police. The foster moms doubted Marie because she didn’t react the way they thought a rape victim would.

@propublica @netflix @TheAtlantic @MarshallProj @ThisAmerLife @txtianmiller @RobynSemien 6/ One foster mom conveyed her misgivings to the case’s lead detective, who later charged Marie with false reporting.
In the series, it’s not easy watching these doubts form, fuse & spread. It’s upsetting. Or worse. Some viewers have judged the foster moms & police with no mercy.

@propublica @netflix @TheAtlantic @MarshallProj @ThisAmerLife @txtianmiller @RobynSemien 7/ I interviewed both foster moms.
And having sat with them—and heard them reconstruct how they went astray—I’ve come to appreciate the courage it takes to own our worst mistakes.

@propublica @netflix @TheAtlantic @MarshallProj @ThisAmerLife @txtianmiller @RobynSemien 8/ As reporters, we ask a lot from people.
In this case I was asking: Please tell me about this terrible mistake you made. Tell me how you went wrong; tell me your regrets; tell me the consequences.
That is a big ask.

@propublica @netflix @TheAtlantic @MarshallProj @ThisAmerLife @txtianmiller @RobynSemien 9/ Both moms agreed to talk. They shared their mistakes so that others could learn from them.
If you watch Unbelievable & get upset at scenes in which Marie is doubted, please know: The scenes could be reconstructed fully only because the foster moms were so candid & forthcoming.

@propublica @netflix @TheAtlantic @MarshallProj @ThisAmerLife @txtianmiller @RobynSemien 10/ They don’t want to see such scenes repeated in the lives of others.
Also know: Both apologized to Marie. Marie accepted their apologies. To this day, Marie keeps ties with both.

@propublica @netflix @TheAtlantic @MarshallProj @ThisAmerLife @txtianmiller @RobynSemien 11/ The foster mom who called the detective has struggled to process her role in all this. By her own admission, there was initially some denial on her part. But denial turned to acceptance. Acceptance turned to deep remorse.

@propublica @netflix @TheAtlantic @MarshallProj @ThisAmerLife @txtianmiller @RobynSemien 12/ In the series, the other foster mom is named Colleen.
This foster mom, in real life, knew she had to apologize in person.
She and Marie took a walk in the woods. About 100 yards down the trail, she told Marie how sorry she was that she hadn’t believed her.

@propublica @netflix @TheAtlantic @MarshallProj @ThisAmerLife @txtianmiller @RobynSemien 13/ She told Marie she would understand if Marie never forgave her, if Marie never talked to her again.

@propublica @netflix @TheAtlantic @MarshallProj @ThisAmerLife @txtianmiller @RobynSemien 14/ Now the police:
W/ Robyn, I interviewed a Lynnwood police commander, a sergeant & the case’s lead detective.
I’ve been a reporter a long time. While @ChicagoTribune I wrote about the criminal justice system’s failures w/ @smmills1960 (now, too, @ProPublica) & @mauricepossley.

@propublica @netflix @TheAtlantic @MarshallProj @ThisAmerLife @txtianmiller @RobynSemien @chicagotribune @smmills1960 @mauricepossley 15/ We wrote about:
—confessions coerced by police chicagotribune.com/investigations…
—misconduct by prosecutors chicagotribune.com/investigations…
—faulty evidence and unscrupulous trial tactics that put innocent people on death row chicagotribune.com/investigations…

@propublica @netflix @TheAtlantic @MarshallProj @ThisAmerLife @txtianmiller @RobynSemien @chicagotribune @smmills1960 @mauricepossley 16/ And I’ve learned: Rarely do police or prosecutors acknowledge their errors, much less apologize for them.
In Lynnwood, the reaction was different.

@propublica @netflix @TheAtlantic @MarshallProj @ThisAmerLife @txtianmiller @RobynSemien @chicagotribune @smmills1960 @mauricepossley 17/ After learning of their mistake, Lynnwood police ordered an internal review.
They ordered an external review. (It was scorching.)
They accepted blame.
They made changes.
They apologized to Marie—in person. The brass apologized. The lead detective apologized.

@propublica @netflix @TheAtlantic @MarshallProj @ThisAmerLife @txtianmiller @RobynSemien @chicagotribune @smmills1960 @mauricepossley 18/ They also agreed to be interviewed, on the record.
The commander told us:
“Knowing she went through that brutal attack—and then we told her she lied?”
“Each one of us will remember this case forever.”
“We don’t want to see this happen to anybody ever again.”

@propublica @netflix @TheAtlantic @MarshallProj @ThisAmerLife @txtianmiller @RobynSemien @chicagotribune @smmills1960 @mauricepossley 19/ The lead detective told us he was so devastated by his mistake that he thought of quitting the force.
During our interview, I asked him if he thinks often of Marie.
It was such a simple question. But it hit him like a poleaxe.

@propublica @netflix @TheAtlantic @MarshallProj @ThisAmerLife @txtianmiller @RobynSemien @chicagotribune @smmills1960 @mauricepossley 20/ He said nothing—for five seconds, 10, 15.
The silence lingered as he tried to collect himself. Twenty-nine seconds passed—in that room, it seemed an eternity—then he excused himself.
When he returned to the room, he said:
“Yeah, I do.”

@propublica @netflix @TheAtlantic @MarshallProj @ThisAmerLife @txtianmiller @RobynSemien @chicagotribune @smmills1960 @mauricepossley 21/ He thinks of her often, he said.
“When I think of Marie, it’s more of how she is doing now.”
“I hope that she’s okay.”

@propublica @netflix @TheAtlantic @MarshallProj @ThisAmerLife @txtianmiller @RobynSemien @chicagotribune @smmills1960 @mauricepossley 22/ The detective accepted the blame for what happened. All of it. No qualifiers.
He absolved the foster mom who called him of any blame.
She was relaying information she thought was important, he said.
That he used what she said in the way that he did is on him, he said.

@propublica @netflix @TheAtlantic @MarshallProj @ThisAmerLife @txtianmiller @RobynSemien @chicagotribune @smmills1960 @mauricepossley 23/ The Netflix series’ creators and cast knew this was a complicated story with people not to be reduced to cardboard cutouts.
Executive producer Sarah Timberman told @Variety “it was imperative not to vilify” the foster parents and police: variety.com/2019/tv/featur…

@propublica @netflix @TheAtlantic @MarshallProj @ThisAmerLife @txtianmiller @RobynSemien @chicagotribune @smmills1960 @mauricepossley @Variety 24/ @KaitlynDever, who played Marie, used similar language in an interview with @goodhousemag: goodhousekeeping.com/life/entertain…

@propublica @netflix @TheAtlantic @MarshallProj @ThisAmerLife @txtianmiller @RobynSemien @chicagotribune @smmills1960 @mauricepossley @Variety @KaitlynDever @goodhousemag 25/25 As for Marie, here’s what she did in that walk in the woods.
She hugged her foster mom. She told her it was OK, that she forgave her.
“I’m a forgiving person,” Marie told me. “I was born with that, or something. It might take a while to forgive or trust, but I do forgive.”