On Tuesday morning, when I called Jenesse Center, a Los Angeles domestic violence intervention program, its department heads were in a regular meeting, talking about this very topic. They’d all seen the video of Rice punching his then-fiancee in the Atlantic City casino elevator, watching her drop like a stone and then being dragged out of the elevator into a hallway.
All found it chilling. Not one believed it was his first assault.
“Had it been the first time,” said Debra Ward, Jenesse director for strategic development, “he would have gone straight to her to see if she was doing well, and he did the opposite. It didn’t even faze him.”
“One of the myths about abuse and domestic violence is that the violence happens when they lose control,” said Angela Parker, Jenesse director of training and programs. “That is not true. It is all about control. He didn’t just black out and hit her. It’s a pattern of violence where he has used violence to control her, to keep her in line, to keep her quiet. There’s always a build up to it.”