With all that is happening with Rev. Dr. Robert Bennett, we received a call asking that we please write about what happened with Dr. Rebecca Warner’s involvement in this attempted destruction of a substantial, well-liked, lovely person as he comes to the end of his life at 87 years old. The person calling saw Dr. Warner’s name on one of the original filings and wanted to know what that was about. She also asked about the possibility of filing against Dr. Warner, but didn’t know if she was a person who could do that since she was not one of the family and if not was there some way she could be involved to see that people like Dr. Warner could not continue practicing their craft when they do such things to people without a thought. There should be responsibility for what Dr. Warner has done.

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What was she talking about?

On March 3, 2020 – as most of you know – 8 white policemen showed up at Rev. Dr. Bennett’s home, very unexpectedly and without cause with court papers to remove Rev. Dr. Robert Bennett from his home citing a “section 12” as the reason.

We say without cause because Dr. Bennett was removed from his home by these 8 policemen, 5 or 6 EMT’s two ambulances and more causing a circus in his neighborhood only to be released by Mass General Hospital where he was taken for this Section 12. He was released with “no medicines prescribed”, “all vitals normal” and no reason for him to have been picked up in the first place.

His family insisted he be taken to MGH instead of Mount Auburn Hospital where the Court papers signed by Dr. Jessica Warner wanted him to go.

That clearly said Dr. Warner was wrong from having signed such a paper and something needs to come out of this so this kind of frivolous , racist, evil stops. To start at the end process by sending the police after someone like Rev. Dr. Bennett is unbelievable – but I think most African Americans would understand that process and many probably have experienced other versions.

How do you deal with an African American man who has achieved much, has no criminal record, has prospered in legitimate ways in his lifetime and can’t be put into the criminal system to experience the things that African American men experience who are picked up from their homes and/or on the street for criminal activity and put into jails? How do you incarcerate an African American man who can’t be touched by the criminal justice system? Put him through what has and is happening to Rev. Dr. Robert Bennett and to do that you need people willing to step out and take the risks that Dr. Rebecca Warner stepped out to take against Dr. Bennett.

The police were going to take Dr. Bennett to Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge. His family sternly objected because Dr. Bennett had just returned home on – Sunday March 1, 2020 – from brain surgery at Mass General Hospital and had never been to Mount Auburn Hospital, nor had he ever seen or been seen by a doctor at Mount Auburn Hospital so why this order comes from the Court just two days after his discharge from Mass General Hospital was a mystery.

It was signed by Dr. Rebecca Warner who said she had never met Dr. Bennett, never examined him, knew nothing about him and had never been to his home – and yet – she declared he should be picked up for a sectioning at Mount Auburn Hospital and had additionally declared his house “unsafe”..

That order was taken out by Somerville Cambridge Elder and Protective Services who apparently decided to focus on Dr. Bennett – an African American retired Episcopal priest who is lovely, quiet, – someone who is liked by just about everyone he meets, and who has never had even a hint of mental problems at any time in his life.

Well, his wife says he went crazy when he met her, but other than that there was no reason to even attempt to have Dr. Bennett hauled into Mount Auburn Hospital for a “sectioning” under Section 12 which is for those who have had psychotic breaks and caused a public nuisance in the process; or overdosed on drugs, alcohol or some other such substance and caused a public disturbance whereby someone thought he needed to be sent to the hospital to be analyzed and diagnosed by a psychiatrist and more of that kind of thing. Just for a note – Dr. Bennett has never smoked, does not drink, does not take drugs of any kind and is concerned even about medical prescriptions. He wants to know what goes into his system and tries to make sure it is good.

Dr. Warner, signing such a document is, to us, totally irresponsible. What makes it illegal from our perspective is that she could not have gotten any information from anyone else at Somerville Cambridge Elder and Protective Services about Dr. Bennett because no one else had seen him, examined him, been through his house to declare it “unsafe” and all the rest that goes along with this type of sectioning.

This is the strongest action Somerville Cambridge Elder and Protective Services can take against someone. It is usually the last action taken after they are exasperated working with someone who was causing all kinds of problems. This action against Dr. Bennett was taken when SCES did not even know, had never met, never analyzed, never had a discussion with Dr. Bennett on any level and had no business pushing its way into Dr. Bennett’s home and life.

What we discovered in the process of doing this investigation is that people were waiting at Mount Auburn Hospital to send Dr. Bennett to the psychiatric wing of the hospital to begin the process reserved for people being put through this kind of thing that ends up in “Guardianship over” being taken, their assets being drawn upon until they are gone and more. We have discovered many to whom this has happened. All those we discovered were either Black, Latina or Jewish. This seems reserved mostly for Jews, but others are beginning to be pulled in. It is a way to destroy the inheritance of the particular family being targeted. And you don’t have to worry about the press because they are peculiarly uninterested in reporting on such.

For Dr. Rebecca Warner to be so involved with such a scurrilous happening to attempt the physical and financial destruction of a nationally well known biblical scholar, theologian, priest and just all around decent human being, who was still working, doing research, and more at 87 years old. To someone whose family cares about him and is fighting this with all of their resources which should not be happening – says a lot about Dr. Warner – nothing positive.

Isn’t this kind of thing what “Black Lives Matter” is fighting against?

This happening is how to make sure the next generation of minorities cannot survive and will continue in low level jobs which just helps them get by and the generations to come will not benefit from the blood, sweat and tears of their ancestors financial and other accomplishments. What Dr. Warner has done is to help demean, disgrace, establish an undeserved reputation for Dr. Bennett who worked hard all of his life to reach that pinnacle from which African Americans are picked up and thrown into the ugly, vicious abyss for having tried and especially for having thought themselves equal to.

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