The story of Brian Banks (37) demonstrates that a mistake or a false accusation can turn a person’s life upside down. Banks was a football player who in 2002 a classmate from his school accused him of rape.
Almost ten years later, the victim confessed that the complaint he had made to Brian was false and the man was released. Since 2014, the athlete has been campaigning to disclose his case so it doesn’t happen to anyone else.
In 2018, her story hit theaters with the film “Brian Banks, it’s never too late”in which his story and his innocence were told. Because of what happened to the man, many people have wondered whether it is possible to inflict sanctions on women who make false allegations of rape.
Its short and intense life
Brian Keith Banks was born on July 24, 1985 in California, United States of America. From an early age he has always liked sports. He attended Long Beach Polytechnic High School. In this place he started practicing American football, being one of the most important of the entire class.
The young man joined the school team and, already a teenager, became one of the young stars who dreamed of a place in the NFL.
Brian seemed to be on the verge of making his dream come true. Very close After finishing his secondary education, he was approached by a professional football team to enroll in college. This would be his first step into the NFL, but an unexpected event would have ruined his plan.
the false accusation
In 2002, Brian was 16 and in his prime as an athlete. Wanetta Gibson, one of his classmatesaccused him of raping her in an empty campus stairwell.
Banks unexpectedly found himself involved in a crime he didn’t commit. LAuthorities believed the young woman and Brian were immediately arrested.
At the trial for his case he had to make a very difficult decision: risk being sentenced to 41 years in prison, or accept a pact in which he would suffer a lesser sentence but admit guilt.
Afraid of the possible consequences, the young man chose the second option. The deal with the California police was as follows: spend 5 years in prison, plus another 5 years of probation and be registered as a sex offender.
Banks knew this would put an end to his football career, but at the time he saw it as the lesser of two evils: ““If you get in there right away I can guarantee that you will end up choosing that it will be an all white jury and you will find yourself guilty because you are a big black teenager,” were the words Brian heard from his lawyer.
For his part, Gibson, Banks’ partner who accused him of rape, took advantage of the situation to denounce the university as “a dangerous environment”. Because of his win at the trialthe study center had to pay him $ 1.5 million.
freedom and justice
Surprisingly, history took a 180 degree turn nearly a decade later. In 2011, nine years after the incident, Gibson contacted Banks and asked him to speak to him to apologize for the incident.
Banks did not accept his apology for letting him spend nearly 10 years in prison and asked Gibson to admit in a video that he falsely accused him of rape.
The case went viral in the United States as well Thanks to a Facebook chat between Banks and Gibson, it was established that the woman’s complaint was false. For this reason, and some extra evidence gathered by the justice system, Banks was exonerated in 2012. At the time the woman decided to make a video apologizing for what happened.
But to no avail, the following year, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ordered Gibson to pay back $ 1.5 million in damages and another $ 1.1 million in fees.
Despite what happened, Banks said he didn’t hold a grudge against his wife: “When you put yourself in a position where you have to make a decision whether or not to forgive someone, it means you still can.” Brian said.The daily news.
life after
The same year he was released, Banks received offers from six NFL teams. However, that year he didn’t agree with any team he needed peace after a very grueling few months.
TO year later, in 2013, Brian played a few games with the Atlanta Falcons with regular performance. banks He left professional sports and started working in the NFL but in a different position.
The young man, then 27 years old, became part of the operational management of the organization, dealing with the social networks and communication activities of the League.
Brian has been in his position for 3 years and then left this position to start speaking out about his case publicly. With the main aim of raising awareness of the false suspicions of rape and what they can mean for the men who suffer from it.
In 2018 his film was released: “Brian Banks, it’s never too late”, directed by Tom Shadyac and starring actor Greg Kinnear in the role of Brooks. The film tells the life and struggle that the athlete had to face after the event that changed his life.
Today Brian is the visible face in the fight against false claims and continues to lecture in various schools and public places.
Source: Clarin
