Rafael was still rather tired when he woke up Tuesday morning. He and Olivia had stayed up rather late the night before discussing what Rafael wanted to do; if he wanted to run for District Attorney or continue with his plans to finally take the bench come January. Rafael was torn, but he definitely needed to make a decision sooner rather than later if he was actually going to run for Manhattan D.A.

As for work, the Evans case was definitely keeping him busy. He quickly learned that that was the least of his worries, however when he was greeted with NYPDs latest political nightmare.

"You need to leave now!" a Brunette woman, Colleen Reynolds, yelled.

I have a right to be here," a black man, Jayvon Brown, replied. "Okay, ma'am?"

"Not near my child you don't," the woman retorted.

The woman's son, Dylan, spoke up. "Mommy, let's go."

"Okay," Reynolds stated. "I am calling the police."

"Don't do that," Brown replied. "I'm not bothering you."

Rafael sighed as he watched the incident in the viral video continue.

"Yes," Reynolds said not altogether quietly into her cell phone, "there is a black man threatening me and my son."

"There she goes, y'all!" Brown exclaimed into the camera he was using to film the interaction. "What? I am just working out!"

"We're Central Park," the women shot back. "In the Ramble."

Brown tried to justify his being there again. "I'm just -"

"Please hurry," the woman said.

Brown was clearly exasperated. "This is America. 2020."

When the video ended, Rafael looked right at Olivia and raised an eyebrow.

"Hold up," Olivia said, "the mom called the cops on Jayvon before anyone found the body? The unis didn't tell us that."

Rafael pinched the bridge of his nose but didn't take his eyes off of his wife. "Please tell me you had probable cause to arrest."

"We didn't arrest him," the sergeant quickly jumped in to explain. "He was cuffed when we got there."

"And you're sure he's good for the assault?" he pushed.

"We don't know," Olivia immediately admitted. "He was in the vicinity, he refused to talk, he has warrants."

"For what?" he immediately inquired

"BLM curfew arrest," Fin stated. "He missed his desk appearance."

"None of which we're prosecuting," Rafael said, feeling rather exasperated.

"He also had a sealed juvie," Olivia quickly chimed back in, "for a public disturbance, noise complaint."

"So no prior sex crimes?" he asked for confirmation. "Nothing violent?"

Rafael watched as Fin bit his lip, shaking his head. This was just great. This was about to turn into one hell of a political mess. "Did the vic ID him, or was it just the mom?"

"The vic," the captain explained, "Eric Aquino, 26, lost consciousness before we could get a full statement."

"So no!" Rafael scoffed. "Do you have any idea what mess you all stirred up? Captain, I'd think you would have handled this mess better. Especially after the last little mess with Terence Reynolds."

"Counsellor-" Olivia immediately stated.

He put his hand up to stop her. "Not now." He shook his head. "With that video going viral and the way half the city thinks about the cops right now..." He turned to face the sergeant. "Has Jayvon lawyered up yet?"

"No," Fin replied.

"He's handling himself pretty well without one," Olivia commented.

He shook his head. "If he's good for this, I need an airtight case. Double-check everything. And Question that woman again. No more mistakes."

Olivia nodded. "Understood."

"Apologize and let him go," Rafael hissed, not even attempting to hide his anger. "And get that damn video under control, Captain."

Walking out of the office he ran over everything in his mind.

Brown had been apparently exercising in the park when the woman started filming and screaming. He'd to all appearances filmed the interaction like a lot of people of colour lately, as a way to make sure they had some solid proof as to the nature of the interaction.

Unis had then arrived on the scene while the man continued to take a video and bystanders started to as well. Reynolds continued to act accusatory that Brown was scaring her son but Brown claimed it is only because he was black. Rafael privately agreed that it was likely. Brown had been asked for ID, he'd tried to assert his rights, and things had then gone from bad to worse when Dylan had found a man bleeding, unconscious, pants down, and not moving. One of the officers checked it out and Reynolds accused Brown of attacking the man and Brown denied it. After that SVU had gotten involved and things had gotten even worse.

He shook his head. This is a complete mess.

Back at 1 Hogan Place, he met with the D.A and Chief Dodds. Reverend Curtis had a lot to say to Rafael as well given his position.

His phone had been ringing off the hook, all the Brass and City Hall very clearly wanting to put their two cents in. Things weren't about to get better though.

"How bad is it?" Olivia asked.

"Jayvon's video's got five million hits," Rafael said, "and you don't wanna know how many calls I've been getting." He sighed. "Do you honestly think he's good for this?"

"Well, I checked his alibi," Olivia said. "There's a problem with the timeline."

He nodded. "Okay, good. We can use that as leverage. I want to go talk to him. With Tamin. We need to get to the bottom of this."

"Okay," she said, "but I'm coming with."

He eyed her, stepping into her space slightly. "No, Captain, you're not."

She sighed. "Fine. I'll send Carisi and Rollins to the bar to speak with Mr. Donovan."

He nodded. "You do that."

Wasting little time, he closed the office door behind him and called out to Tamin, the young woman immediately grabbing her keys and following Rafael out of the precinct.

Their alleged suspect seemed less than enthusiastic to see them when he opened the door but wasn't particularly rude.

"Jayvon, I am Executive ADA Barba," Rafael said. "And this is Officer Tamin."

"Barba? Your the guy who prosecuted those three cops for killing that boy a couple of years back?" Brown questioned. "That was major news."

"I am," he confirmed, hoping that meant the boy would trust him. "I'd like a word with you if you don't mind. I just have some questions."

"I already told the police everything," he said.

"I'm not the police," Rafael pointed out. "Look, we both want the same thing... to get to the truth."

"You already have the truth," Brown stated.

"No," Rafael replied, "not all of it." He eyed the younger man. "You got to the park at 7:00," Fin stated, "but we found out that you punched out at 5:00."

"And there's a gap in your timeline, Mr. Brown," Rafael added. "The same time Eric Aquino was attacked in the Ramble."

"I had nothing to do with that," Brown immediately bristled.

Rafael nodded. "Alright then, just tell us where you were."

Tamin picked then to chime in. "Help yourself out, Jayvon."

The man gave him an exasperated look. "I was having coffee with my sponsor before our 6:00 A.M. meeting."

"6:00 A.M. meeting?" Rafael inquired. "What program?"

"NA," the man admitted after a second. "Last spring, I hurt my back. I got hooked on oxy. I'm clean now."

"Why didn't you just tell the detectives that?" Tamin inquired.

"I wanna advance," Brown explained. "Drivers get better benefits, better pay. I didn't want SVU telling my boss I was at a meeting."

"There's no way your boss will ever hear that from us," Tamin assured the man, "but I'm gonna need your sponsor's number."

"Just to confirm," Rafael said, his gut saying to believe Brown's account. "If confirmed I'll make a statement on your behalf."

The younger man nodded. "I'll call him right now."

It took a moment to persuade the sponsor, Corrie, to actually talk, but Rafael sadly wasn't surprised by the result.

"Corey," Brown said, "it's okay to talk to them."

"That's all I need to hear," the man said.

Rafael sighed. "This is Executive Assistant District Attorney Rafael Barba. Can you tell me when you last saw Jayvon?"

"This morning," Corrie replied. "We met at 5:30 for coffee and a walk. At 6:00, we went to our NA meeting in the garden at St. Clair's. At 7:00, we said goodbye. He was on his way to the park to work out, Captain.

"That's what I've told the cops," Brown stated.

"Jayvon has been diligently working his program," Corrie continued. "I don't see him doing anything that would jeopardize his recovery or his job, and I could get a dozen others to vouch for him as well."

Rafael played with his face somewhat as he spoke. This case was a very clear case of racial profiling. Not deliberately by Olivia and her team, he was sure, but if Brown had been white the entire mess likely wouldn't have happened. And if the cops had been called, there is no way the unis would've handled it the way they did.

And for God's sake, Olivia, as the captain, should've just told Brown that he was being brought in regarding the outstanding warrants and being removed from the scene for his own protection given Reynolds' very visible agitation. And Fin... why in the hell did he not stand up to Olivia's complete laps of judgement? "Thank you very much."

"Jayvon," Corrie asked, "do you need a lawyer? I can send someone from my firm."

Rafael quickly eyed Fin and then the phone. "No need, sir. I assure you my office will not be pursuing any charges against Mr. Brown."

"Good," the man replied. "Jayvon, call if you need anything."

Standing up, Rafael shook Brown's hand. "Thank you for your time, Mr. Brown, and I am very sorry about what transpired here today."

"Appreciated," the younger man replied without hesitation. "This entire thing is getting old though, don't you think?"

Rafael nodded. "I agree completely."

Tamin nodded, shaking the man's hand. "Thank you for your time."

Leaving the Brown residence, Rafael felt worse, knowing full well that they were about to walk into an even bigger political nightmare than he'd thought. He was not looking forward to the amount of damage control he was going to have to do to remotely salvage this mess.

Walking into the squad room, he immediately got everyone's attention. "You guys arrested an innocent man." He eyed Olivia. "So, tell me you've got something."

Carisi sighed. "We got the traffic cam footage back, and as you pointed out, it's definitely not Jayvon." He pointed to the screen. "He was mouthing off and filming."

"We have an ID on this guy?"

"Just a handle," Rollins said. "ThirstTrap94."

He quirked an eyebrow. "Thirst trap"?

"Wow," Tamin said.

"Let's just say dude's feeling himself," Fin quipped.

"I'll say," Rafael agreed.

"I checked his other posts," Rollins offered in way of explanation, "and I found this. He tags two girls. Danielle and Hana."

"Start there," Rafael suggested.

"Agreed," Olivia said. "Find the one that he didn't tag. She may have a more interesting story to tell."

"Always," Fin said.

Rafael knew things were about to go from bad to worse when he saw Dodds walk in with a rather grim expression. "Captain."

Olivia nodded. "Chief."

Dodds sighed. "I know it's late, but I need a word with you and Sergeant Tutuola... Jayvon Brown has filed a lawsuit against NYPD. You've both been named."

As Olivia led Dodds to her office, Rafael glanced at everyone and sighed. "I'm going home to the kids. I have a feeling she's in for a long night."

Rollins nodded. "I'll go talk to the girl."

A bittersweet smile formed on his lips. "Good luck."