Illinois State University informs the public that there are no suspects, but leaves out important information.
According to a police statement obtained by The College Fix, the alleged victim of an anti-gay “hate murder” at Illinois State University is not even queer and has changed his story numerous times.
The official record from the event four months ago tells a different story than the officers and college left the community with the impression the case was closed because of a shortage of suspects and that the unknown person was “knocked” off a bike and “punched”
At the conclusion of the police report on August 24th, Detective Matthew Hice wrote,” I was unable to identify the components of the act,” despite the fact that this was suspected of being a hate crime.
One reason is, according to Hice’s recounting, the alleged victim,” could not recall]his attacker’s ] height, weight, clothing details, or any unique features. He claimed that if he encountered them afterwards, he wouldn’t be able to identify them.
Aondover Tarhule, the president of ISU, responded to the occasion by staging LGBT rallies.
” I understand the emotions that diverse teams and populations experience, and my hope is that one day we live in a community, and especially a college, where nobody has to feel those sorts of troubles, where nobody questions the degree to which they belong,” Tarhule said. Having said that, I believe there will always be a distinction between responding to requests for specific information and providing the assurance that you are speaking from a fact-filled place.
Tarhule’s reluctance proved prophetic when, after ISU authorities conducted eight conversations, reviewed security camera footage from a variety of sites, and used cellular access data, the case was closed in September. Although ISU police closed the case because no suspects had been identified, Chief Aaron Woodruff told the media that hate crimes had no place on our campus.
Due to misunderstanding public records law when it comes to closed cases, the university initially denied The Fix access to the police report. It turned the report over after The Fix sought assistance from the Illinois attorney general’s office, which intervened.
The first, and actually only real attack was “random” according to Detective Hice. The victim, who is not gay, claimed to believe he was called because he was using a scooter to get around.
The term “faggot” was not even yelled at the student, but between friends, according to the report. A group of students were “intoxicated,” according to several residents of the area. When questioned by police, they did not recall hearing the slurs.
Hice went into even more detail about why he desired the case to be closed:
]The victim said ] he was punched in the jaw by one attacker and then’ Two of the five people then continued to punch him for about 30 seconds, repeatedly shouting” ]f-word ] you, faggot,’ while the other three encouraged them by saying” kick his ass. ” Group 1’s interaction was recorded in the video for about one second. The video shows a difficult contact in the contact. It appears contact was made by one individual, wall, he immediately gets on his scooter and left the area. There was no second attack, as previously stated.
The initial police officer, Amy Giese, reviewed video footage and said it” does not show a physical confrontation,” as the victim reported.
According to Giese’s report on August 26, the alleged victim also “retracted his earlier claim that he was repeatedly punched and clarified that a member of the group shoved him into the west wall of the Bone Student Center, which caused him to dismount from his scooter. Despite this, a” hate crime” charge was then added to the report.
The Fix also inquired with the university and campus police about why they didn’t inform the public that the narrative had changed and if there would be more statements to make sure the LGBT community is aware there isn’t an anti-gay attacker at large, as well as whether there were any further developments to the case.
The lack of sufficient evidence to justify an arrest does not imply that the incident did not take place, or that the report was misclassified, according to Chief Woodruff, and that the investigator’s decision to ignore the fact that there was insufficient evidence to support the burden of proof for an arrest ( probable cause ) is reflected in the findings.
According to him,” The University is required to alert the campus community to certain reported crimes ( including hate crimes ), in a manner that is timely and will help prevent similar crimes,” in accordance with the Clery Act. According to the Illinois Hate Crime Statute, which is set forth in pertinent part, a hate crime may occur based on either an actual or perceived trait,” Woodruff said in response to a question about why the victim’s true sexual identity was not revealed.
Woodruff once more cited the Clery Act in response to a question about why the police didn’t share that the video that had been reviewed did not depict a confrontation and the alleged victim’s statement was in conflict with the video.
He did not directly address the question of why the police did not explain this to the public, saying instead,” The only thing the incident footage from a single camera view in the area does not show the physical confrontation.
The University sent a follow-up communication to the campus on October 9, 2024, summarizing the investigation and indicating there was insufficient evidence to make arrests, he said.
There are no new leads, according to campus police. University media relations told The Fix it had nothing to add to Woodruff’s response.
One student called it a” shame” the case was closed.
The suspects do not scare me, nor do any other hate crimes, as a student of Illinois State University in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community and all students on campus. I will not be stripped of my identity because another person doesn’t approve,” Andrew Franson told WGLT.
The Fix contacted an LGBT organization on campus to discuss the findings of the police report, but it was unsuccessful to respond to three inquiries in the previous few weeks.
The university previously announced it had closed an investigation into an alleged racial slur at a basketball game because it was unable to “validate” the claim.
MORE: ‘ N-word notes at Rhodes College were a hoax
IMAGE: vchal / Shutterstock .com
Follow The College Fix on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.
