People Are Pissed Because They Think The Bar Owner Was Victim Blaming In HIs Statement In The Patrick Kane Case

LBS- More specifically, people are outraged over the paper publishing comments from the owner of the club where Kane was spotted the night of the alleged encounter.

Mark Croce, the owner of SkyBar in Buffalo, told The Buffalo News that he witnessed a young woman “hanging all over” Kane and “being very forward, very flirtatious with him.” Croce admitted that he had no idea who the woman was or if she was the sexual assault accuser.

“It was almost like she stationed herself near him and was keeping other women away from him,” Croce said. “I noticed it and kind of laughed about it.”

Croce says the woman and a female friend then “followed” Kane and a couple of male friends out of the nightclub at around 3 a.m.

“I don’t know if this is the same woman who made the rape allegation against him,” he said. “I only know what I saw that night on my own premises. If you’re going to ask what happened between them after they left that night, how would I know?”

First of all, we haven’t the slightest idea if the woman who was supposedly “hanging all over” Kane at the bar is the same woman who allegedly accused him of rape. But we do know that the alleged victim reportedly had visible injuries on her when she went to the hospital to have a rape kit performed and was questioned by police.


How could he? How could the owner of a bar come forward with a statement as one of the only witnesses to Patrick Kane and whoever his company was on the night in question? How dare he come out and suggest that maybe the female that was hanging all over Patrick Kane and cornering him at the bar is the same female that was supposedly raped? Why even search for facts and clues, if said facts and clues are going to be viewed as victim blaming? We should just all sit in a prayer circle and let God decide what really happened. 

I have a question. How is it possible to victim blame if we aren't even sure who the victim is yet? A bite mark and a scratch are equally as telling as some broad hanging all over Kane at the bar and subsequently following him home at 3AM. Saying a couple visible marks on a body automatically mean rape is just as ridiculous as saying that following a guy home at 3AM automatically makes it consensual. At the end of the day, no one really knows what happened in that room besides the two parties in question. What I do know is that both parties made dumb (Also see: Drunk) decisions. I also know that a false rape allegation is just as harmful to a person's life as actual rape. There isn't just one person's well being on the line with the results of this investigation. Like it or not, when we are discussing professional athletes, fraudulent accusations are a very real concern. 

Did the bar owner imply that the female may be lying about what happened or did he just say what he saw from a sober point of view? Did the hospital imply that Patrick Kane is a rapist or did they just say what they saw when they examined the alleged victim's body? You can phrase it however you want but literally every part of this investigation is, by default, going to be an "implication" against either Kane or the girl. Should they just stop releasing facts, or do we think we can all grow up, at least until the truth comes out, and understand that this situation is much more complicated than finger pointing? Especially when both people are already victims of their own poor decision making, no matter what happened behind closed doors. I think it goes without saying (even though apparently it doesn't) that a girl can change her mind about sex at any point before or during the act, no matter how flirtatious she may have been earlier. However, that doesn't change the fact that she, much like Kane, put herself in a pretty terrible position.