Arrests Made in (black on white) Assault; not 'racially-motivated' according to report

Copyright © 2003 by The Cornell Daily Sun, Inc. ^ | MONDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2003 | By TONY APUZZO

[Behind Liberal Lines]

ITHACA--According to a Cornell News Service media advisory released to The Sun yesterday, four female Ithaca residents, ages 20, 19 and two age 14, were arrested last week in the most recent development of the investigation into an assault that occurred Nov. 9 following the Ludacris concert at Barton Hall.

The investigation was conducted by the Cornell University Police Department and the Ithaca Police Department. During the two-week duration of the investigation, the CUPD and IPD interviewed the victim of the assault, witnesses and alleged perpetrators.

One 14 year-old was arrested last Wednesday and another the following day. Each was issued a juvenile appearance ticket and charged with assault in the third degree -- a misdemeanor -- as well as given a persona non grata letter for campus property. These charges may be upgraded, according to Police officials, pending further medical evaluation of the victim.

Also last Thursday, a 19 year-old and a 20 year-old were arrested and charged with harassment in the second degree, a violation. They were issued tickets to appear in the Ithaca City Court on Dec. 3 and received persona non grata letters for campus property.

A persona non grata letter means they "are not allowed on Cornell property any more -- and they can be charged with violating that if they return to campus," said Linda Grace-Kobas, interim vice president for communications and media relations.

The assault occurred outside Barton Hall at approximately 11:45 p.m., after the concert had let out. The confrontation was alleged by the victim to be a continuation of an incident from earlier in the evening. As a result of the assault, the victim suffered a ruptured ear drum and a cut near her mouth that required 13 stitches.

In an earlier report, the victim recalled one of the assailants saying, "Get your white hair out my face."

Although initial reports suggested that the incident may have been racially-motivated, further investigation did not support the contention that a hate crime had been committed. This determination was based on interviews and statements from witnesses and participants of the incident, according to the media advisory.

Despite what the investigation concluded, the victim continues to believe that the assault was racially motivated. "I still believe it was -- because that was the whole basis of what they were saying to me. That upsets me, that the police determined it was inconclusive, since I definitely think it was [racially motivated]," she told The Sun yesterday.

In order for the incident to be classified as a bias crime, it would have to be determined that it was "a crime perpetrated solely on the basis of race or discrimination," said Capt. Curtis S. Ostrander, deputy director of the CUPD.

Grace-Kobas explained that "the law is very specific when it comes to hate crimes. There were a lot of interviews conducted -- and based on statements by the victim, eye witnesses and those accused of the crime, it was determined that the incident did not meet that criteria."

Susan H. Murphy '74, vice president for student and academic services, said, "Any type of violent incident is a rare occurrence at Cornell and contrary to our expectations and policies. When such incidents occur, they harm not only those involved, but the entire community. We are grateful to the Cornell and Ithaca police investigators for their excellent investigative work in this case."

Unless new information is provided to investigators, CUPD have concluded their investigation into this matter, the media advisory stated. Any remaining actions concerning the two juveniles arrested will be taken by the Tompkins County Probation Department, while the Ithaca City Court will handle the other two harassment charges.

[Behind Liberal Lines]

Riddle me this, Batman...

When is a "hate crime," NOT a "hate crime"?

When the attackers are black, the victim is white and the crime occurs in Ithaca, the City of Evil!!!!

Right again, OLD CHUM!!!

Seriously...here's the victim's version of events...had the races of the actors been reversed, can there be any doubt that the local law enforcement would be labeling this a hate crime?

The incident, as described by the victim, began when the student had a minor altercation with another girl who was at the concert while the performace was still going on...."She said 'Get your white hair out of my face,'" ....After the student put her hair up to get it out of the way, the alleged assailant proceeded to hit her...she found herself surrounded by a group made up of five black females and one black male...."They said they were gonna f**k up my pretty white face," she said.

[Behind Liberal Lines]

City of Evil/hate crime bump

[Puppage]

Just look at the Carr Brothers' case in Kansas. 2 black cowards kill 5 innocent whites......not ONE peep out of the big 3 media. mAKES ME SICK.

[RushLake]

My almost 21 year old son listens to Crap. I noticed that he had a new CD by the crapper Jay Z who has made racist comments along with the standard verbal assaults on bitc#es & hos. I pointed out to my son that the only part of him that these hate filled crappers like is his hard earned money. This junk "music" fills our lives in TV commercials, mall background music, etc.

I sincerely hope that the victim of this vicious assault in Ithica will be alright and I certainly wish her no ill. Perhaps this will be a learning experience for her and her friends, and she and they will be more careful in how they live their lives in the future.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

"Any type of violent incident is contrary to our . . . policies"

Gee, isn't that bold - Cornell has a policy against violent incidents!

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Hate crimes are unconstitutional thought crimes. But while I opposed hate crime legislation, the hypocrisy and double-standard at play here are sickening.

[NativeNewYorker]

No perps named. No bail posted.

The City of Evil is real tough on HATE crime.

[mhking]

Black conservative ping

If you want on (or off) of my black conservative ping list, please let me know via FREEPmail. (And no, you don't have to be black to be on the list!)

Extra warning: this is a high-volume ping list.

[2banana]

Although initial reports suggested that the incident may have been racially-motivated, further investigation did not support the contention that a hate crime had been committed.

After they found out it was just a cracker making the complaint...

[Soaring Feather]

bump

[Behind Liberal Lines]

Gee, isn't that bold - Cornell has a policy against violent incidents!

Unless it's a group of African-American radicals conducting an armed takeover of the student union.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Well, that's because Cornell's subsequent investigation revealed the takeover wasn't armed, wasn't really a takeover, and for that matter there's serious doubt whether the building in question was the Straight, or for that matter a building on Cornell's campus at all!

[joesnuffy]

The left has been using this invidous type of warfare inside America for years....

The so called civil rights movement was turned by those of the ACLU ilk and all the college kids they've managed to brainwash...into a hate fest

The target..the outgroup...white males..(one of the best part of their little hate fest..has backfired in that Asians have made an end run of the whole bunch....bwahahahaha)

Blacks have been used for decades by these left wingers...and are kept in their place by them
through the constant legitimization of hate and blame whitey....imo

This doctrine is an essential part of America's culturual brainwashing from music and movies to literature...wanna get published or recorded...just write up some entertaining pablum...

Looks like white females who had been their staunch femanazi allies in the past are about to feel the pain as well...well...someone has to lay down a bunt once in a while...

[JoeFromCA]

Hate crimes laws don't apply to crimes against white people. Hate crime legislation is simply a form of affirmative action. I thought everybody knew that.

[Little Ray]

There is no such thing as a hate crime; "hate crime" is simply an attempt to criminalize "incorrect" thought. It doesn't matter what color the victims or perps are, this sort of political correctness should not be allowed

Assault and battery is the appropriate crime with which to charge the perps.

[Behind Liberal Lines]

In principle, I agree. However, it is interesting to watch the liberal double standard at work here.

[WilliamofCarmichael]

In order for the incident to be classified as a bias crime, it would have to be determined that it was "a crime perpetrated solely on the basis of race or discrimination," said Capt. Curtis S. Ostrander, deputy director of the CUPD.

Well now. Certainly not all PDs follow the same law. Without specifying details here (google, idaho "Lonny Rae") Mr. Rae got upset that his reporter-wife was confronted physically by a black referee upset that his picture was taken at a game that fans thought there were too many penalties called. Mr. Rae pursued the referee but was not allowed in the locker rooms to confront the man. Mr. Rae lost his temper even more and used the N-word while daring the referee to come out.

Clearly Mr. Rae did not "perpetrate" the confrontation solely for an opportunity to use the N-word. He was charged with a felony "hate crime," punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. Last I heard attorney Edgar J. Steele (acting pro bono) got the felony charges dismissed. But Rae still faces a prison sentence for assault owing, I think, to him pushing the referee away from his wife.

"Hate crime" laws are extremely dangerous -- unless someone can in this case prove that Mr. Rae would have just laughed and pointed at a white man shoving and almost breaking his wife's neck by yanking her camera away from her.

[ClearCase_guy]

We are always told that racism and prejudice is caused by bad parents, passing their bad beliefs on to their innocent and accepting children.

I'm just wondering: the white female who was victimized here -- how does she feel about blacks today? Does she now feel animosity toward blacks? And who has caused her to feel this way? Her parents? I don't think so.

Is racism a problem in the US? I think so. Most often manifested as black hatred of whites.
Do some whites hate blacks? Yes. Why? In some cases personal experience has colored their views.

[FormerLib]

It was only a couple of years ago in Charlottesville VA that a group of black teens would prowl the campus and attack lone whites walking in the area.

This was clearly not a hate crime, officials assured us, but merely an example of "town-versus-gown" friction. That certainly made me feel a lot better...NOT!

The incidents did help convince a buddy of mine in the area to obtain a concealed carry permit.

[FormerLib]

Most often manifested as black hatred of whites.

I don't think we even need to try to compare which is more prevalent so long as we could get both sides to agree that racism flows both ways (the left denies that fervently).

[friendly]

The Cornell campus is extremely segregated. Blacks there are shunted off into filthy strictly segregated dorms, and subjected to study-disrupting loud vile "music" glorifying drugs, crime, and the degradation of women. The "Back Studies" many of them attend is a bizarro trip into complete unreality.

Where are the Black Republicans to liberate the Cornell Plantation?

[friendly]

Back Studies = Black Studies

[sauropod]

I'd have told him to burn the CD or get out of the house!

There is a cost to tolerating that stuff, just like there is to tolerating the baseball cap turned around backwards (prison edicate).

As a parent, it should not be tolerated behavior in your offspring. I do not tolerate it in mine.

[sauropod]

Who'd want to be represented by Steele?

[dwd1]

If the black teens attacked blacks and whites that were walking alone, then it is not a hate crime but if they only attacked whites or non-blacks, it most certainly is a hate crime...

[Freedom_Is_Not_Free]

"Despite what the investigation concluded, the victim continues to believe that the assault was racially motivated. "I still believe it was -- because that was the whole basis of what they were saying to me. That upsets me, that the police determined it was inconclusive, since I definitely think it was [racially motivated]," she told The Sun yesterday. "

Ah, a Conservative in the making!

[MissAmericanPie]

Since when is the perp asked if they committed a hate crime? So far that determination has been left up to the victim.

Aska perp, did you committ a misdomeanor or a federal offense, and what does one expect they will answer?

There is one thing about wasps, mess with their nest long enough and the whole bunch will sting.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Where are the Black Republicans to liberate the Cornell Plantation?

The Chairman of the Cornell Republicans, Elliott Marton Reed, is black and has taken a number of courageous stands on related issues.

[BadAndy]

Parents should excercise some parental authority, declare rap music, posters, etc as contraband and confiscate it. That is what I did with my kids. it's a little different with a 21 y.o.

[richtig_faust]

Ahhh, yes, the Witchita Massacre... But remember, it's not "hate" if it's black on white. Only whitey can hate.

[FormerLib]

...if they only attacked whites or non-blacks, it most certainly is a hate crime...

You cannot apply logical thinking to a liberal construct as it creates a distortion in the space-time continuum and reality itself fragments (and they said watching Star Trek wouldn't come in handy some day!).

[sandydipper]

Question? Why is it always a "group" of blacks. It occurs to me that a "single" black is less likely to assault.

[dwd1]

I watch Star Trek too... It is a hate crime... And liberals or conservative punches are irrelevant... The law is the law... And the law does not give special dispensation for a black person to attack another person based solely on his race, ethnicity, etc... I guess perhaps I have seen too many episodes of "Law and Order" but being black and having suffered oppression (which I have) is not a free pass... As they said to me in the USAF, "You have a responsibility for yourself and to yourself!"

[misterrob]

Okay, so we are all in agreement that the authorities handled this in a hypocritical and racist fashion and we would all agree that if the perps had ganged up on a black student and said that they were going to kick her black ass that there would have been a huge uproar (and rightly so as racial crimes have no place in this world).

Question is, is anyone willing to go further with this? Is there a telephone number to call? Emails to send? Press people to contact?

[dwd1]

The Vulcans will never join the federation if we don't display a little more logic...

[spodefly]

Status Quo

[Indie]

There is no such thing as a hate crime; "hate crime" is simply an attempt to criminalize "incorrect" thought. It doesn't matter what color the victims or perps are, this sort of political correctness should not be allowed. Assault and battery is the appropriate crime with which to charge the perps.

Dr Walter E Williams could not have said it better. Now all we have to do is start punishing people who commit these crimes to begin with. (Oh I forgot...we have to take into account their poor childhood and other social factors since that is what made them do it. Everybody seems to use this defense now despite color.)
~Sigh~
We need to take back our country. Intelligent leaders and visionaries such as Dr Williams do not get any airtime by the communist media and it is so very sad.

[Puppage]

Press people to contact?

Won't do anything...just look at all the calls, emails, etc.with regard to the democRATs memo & I've STILL yet to see or hear a peep outta the media.

[Indie]

Ahhh, yes, the Witchita Massacre... But remember, it's not "hate" if it's black on white. Only whitey can hate.

And that is exactly what these jerks have even said in public. "It is impossible for a black man to be a racist."
The "reverands of hate and division" (my term) need to open their Bibles once in awhile. Are you listening Jessie? Get down on your knees Jessie and ask God to cleanse your heart of your hate and your communist ideals.

[sheik yerbouty]

Some folks is mo' equal than others..

[p. henry]

Since when is an assault which ruptures an eardrum and requires 13 stitches "harrassment" instead of felony battery?

[longtermmemmory]

This definitly opens up hate laws to selective enforcemtn defense by any smart attorney.

[FormerLib]

Question? Why is it always a "group" of...[blank]

Actually, you can fill in the blank with virtually any racial, ethnic, economic or social group that you like.

The fact of the matter is that "a group of cowards" is required before they are willing to assault an individual.

[sheik yerbouty]

Perhaps an official apology can be made, and the jihadist invited to a formal state dinner.

[sheik yerbouty]

These things are only considered a "hate crime" whem Whitey is doing the assaulting. If the victim is white and the perp is not, then the PC apparatchiks will say there is no case.

[sheik yerbouty]

Cancel this post! Sent to wrong thread!

[Kudsman]

In order for the incident to be classified as a bias crime, it would have to be determined that it was "a crime perpetrated solely on the basis of race or discrimination," said Capt. Curtis S. Ostrander, deputy director of the CUPD.

Okay we have established a crime occurred. Now what are the mitigating circumstances that show the basis was not racial? Was the victim robbed? Raped? If not then what was the motivation for the attack? Come on deputy, sounds like you are part of the coverup/agenda.

[talleyman]

Great detective work - Barney Fife could have done better...

[Behind Liberal Lines]

[Elliott Reed]

We Cornell Republicans are what I like to call "robust conservatives." I can remember a time being surrounded by 20 students who disagree with me. Here's information on M-c-K-i-n-n-e-y's visit to Cornell:

http://www.cornelldailysun.com/articles/10287/