The drowning death of former President Barack Obama's chef was quickly called an accident, but Massachusetts State Police are reportedly citing a Public Records Law exemption for the withholding of information during an ongoing investigation.
The procedural block of information about the death, including names of witnesses and information on the 911 call, have some Daily Mail sources frustrated and asking why an accidental drowning is an ongoing investigation.
"I'm not sure what they're waiting for," a local public safety source told the Daily Mail. "I don't know if it's just the toxicology.
"We're supposed to be transparent. This total drama to this, not giving out names, ... It's just dragging this out unnecessarily.
'What are we at, 10 days now? It's a drowning. It's unfortunate. In a coastal community, we've had a number of those over the years."
Chef Tafari Campbell drowned off his paddle board in a reported 8 feet of water in a pond bordering the Obama estate on Martha's Vineyard.
Massachusetts State Police have not been forthcoming with details, according to New England First Amendment Coalition's Justin Silverman.
"The burden is on law enforcement to show how their investigation may be jeopardized by releasing certain information," Silverman told the Daily Mail. "And they're not doing that right now. This really flies in the face of Public Records Law."
Also, according to the report, the state police have directed participating agencies to provide standardized rejections of requests for information.
The Dukes County Sheriff's Office fielded the original 911 call and sent the Daily Mail a boilerplate rejection.
"Hello," it read, citing the state Public Records Law, "At this time, we will not be releasing any recordings or materials."
The release of records "would probably so prejudice the possibility of effective law enforcement that such disclosure would not be in the public interest," it continued.
"The exemption allows investigative officials to withhold materials that could compromise investigative efforts if disclosed," it added, according to the report.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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