Rachael Denhollander has reacted to the news that Larry Nassar was stabbed to death in a Florida prison. She is the first female athlete to be credited with not only charging, but also actively pursuing criminal charges against the disgraced USA Gymnastics doctor. Denhollander reacted in a series of tweets to the news.
Rachael Denhollander, the first athlete to be credited with not only accusing, but also actively pursuing criminal charges against disgraced USA Gym doctor Larry Nassar for sexual assault, reacted to the news of his stabbing in a prison in Florida.
The attack happened Sunday at the Coleman United States Penitentiary in Florida. He was stabbed in the stomach and chest during an altercation with another inmate at a federal prison. At the time of the attack, Nassar was serving decades in prison for convictions in state and federal courts for sexually assaulting gymnasts, including Olympic medalists.
Nassar managed to survive the attack and is currently in stable condition. In a series of tweets on Monday, Denhollander wrote: “Justice is conformity to what is right. You have to chase him and fight for him. Forgiveness is releasing personal revenge and wanting the offender to find true repentance and peace. I am holding both especially today. I still refer to these words I said years ago: “Larry, I want you to understand why I made this decision knowing full well what it was going to take to get here and with very little hope of success. I did it because it was good. No matter the cost, it was good…” And the furthest I can run from what you have become is to choose daily what is right instead of what I want. You have become a man ruled by selfish and perverted desires, a man defined by his daily choices repeatedly to feed that selfishness and perversion…”
She added: “You chose to pursue your evil no matter what it cost others and the opposite of what you have done is for me to choose to love sacrificially no matter what it cost me… In our first hearings. you brought your Bible into the courtroom and have talked about praying for forgiveness. And so it is on that basis that I appeal to you. If you’ve read the Bible you carry, you know that the definition of sacrificial love being described is God himself loving…so sacrificially that he gave it all up to pay the penalty for the sin he didn’t commit. By his grace, I too choose to love in this way.”
“You talked about praying for forgiveness. But Larry, if you’ve read the Bible you carry, you know that forgiveness doesn’t come from doing good things, as if good works could erase what you’ve done… It comes from repentance, which requires facing and acknowledging the truth about what you’ve done. you’ve done. in all its utter depravity and horror with no mitigation, no excuse, no acting as if good deeds could erase what you’ve seen in this courtroom today… The Bible you carry speaks of a final judgment where all wrath is poured out of God and eternal terror in men like you. If you ever come to the point of truly facing what you have done, guilt will crush you… I pray that you will experience the crushing weight of guilt on your soul so that one day you may experience true repentance and true forgiveness from God, that you need much more than forgiveness. from me, even though I extend it to you too… And that is what makes the gospel of Christ so sweet. Because it extends grace, hope and mercy where it should not be found. And it will be there for you…” she continued.
Justice is conformity to what is right. It should be pursued and fought for.
Forgiveness is releasing personal vengeance and desiring for the offender to find true repentance and peace.
I am holding both especially today. https://t.co/5LREwJZ6O6
— Rachael Denhollander (@R_Denhollander) July 10, 2023
Who is Rachael Denhollander?
Rachael Denhollander is a lawyer and former gymnast. Denhollander was born on December 8, 1984 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. In 2004, she was a gymnastics coach. She started law school at Oak Brook College of Law and Government Policy when she was 19 years old.
She was the first woman to publicly expose Larry Nassar, the former Michigan State University and USA gymnastics doctor, of sexual assault. eventually hundreds of women came forward with their own experiences of dealing with the abuse, which ultimately led to his conviction. She came forward 16 years after Nassar first abused her.
Denhollander was the last to speak during Nassar’s two sentencing hearings. While urging the judges to impose the maximum sentence on Nassar, Denhollander said: “How much is a girl worth? These victims are worth everything… I beg you to impose the maximum sentence under the plea agreement because everything is what these survivors are worth.”
Time magazine named her to the 2018 list of the 100 most influential people in the world for bringing Nassar to justice. She also won Sports Illustrated’s Inspiration of the Year award on December 12, 2018.
Denhollander is married to her husband, Jacob. They have four children together: Jonathan, Annaliese, Ellianna, and Elora.
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