Recently the Duke's women’s volleyball team went to BYU to play, and where one of Duke's players, Rachel Richardson, who is black, said that she was heckled by a fan who called her the n-word. Richardson’s godmother, Lesa Pamplin (who is running for circuit court judge candidate in Fort Worth, TX), said that she was called that word "every time she served"[1] and was told to "watch her back going to the team bus."
Naturally, this garnered a great deal of national attention, with Richardson being interviewed about it by ESPN.
And of course BYU leapt into action.
The unidentified man, who isn't a student there but was sitting in student seating, was escorted out by police and has been banned from ever setting foot on the campus again for life.
An entire section of fan seating was also removed.
Only one problem.
There is no evidence anything happened.
After reviewing footage of the game along with the people around where the alleged incident took place, BYU Police Lt. George Besendorfer told the Salt Lake Tribute that "When we watched the video, we did not observe that behavior from him [the unnamed student]."
Another officer who also reviewed the footage confirmed this, stating that, "There was nothing seen on the game film that led me to believe" that the man removed and banned "was the person who was making comments to the player who complained about being called the N-word."
The fact is that nobody aside from Richardson and her godmother ever heard any slurs or threats.
A number of students were interviewed by The Cougar Chronicle, a student newspaper operated independently of the university, and reported that they don't hear any racial epilates or anyone acting in a derogatory way towards Richardson.
So now we have someone who was not allowed to defend himself being summarily punished for an act that he did not do. And even though BYU associate athletics director Jon McBride told The Salt Lake Tribune that "we have been unable to find any evidence of that person using slurs in the match," the punishment stands.
Meanwhile, all the news outlets that hyped the story have suddenly lost all interest in it now that the other shoe has dropped. They have not reported on how the accusation has fallen apart and I doubt you can expect any retractions.
I hope he sues the snot out of the moral cowards at BYU. It's not just him who was unfairly punished, BYU fans had their seating reduced as a result of what looks like another race hoax.
And I hope Duke investigates this and if they found that Richardson made up the story, not just kick her off the team but out of the school.
1. it is merely a coincidence that Pamplin, who was elected to her position, relies heavily on advocating for racial reform in her campaign.
Naturally, this garnered a great deal of national attention, with Richardson being interviewed about it by ESPN.
And of course BYU leapt into action.
The unidentified man, who isn't a student there but was sitting in student seating, was escorted out by police and has been banned from ever setting foot on the campus again for life.
An entire section of fan seating was also removed.
Only one problem.
There is no evidence anything happened.
After reviewing footage of the game along with the people around where the alleged incident took place, BYU Police Lt. George Besendorfer told the Salt Lake Tribute that "When we watched the video, we did not observe that behavior from him [the unnamed student]."
Another officer who also reviewed the footage confirmed this, stating that, "There was nothing seen on the game film that led me to believe" that the man removed and banned "was the person who was making comments to the player who complained about being called the N-word."
The fact is that nobody aside from Richardson and her godmother ever heard any slurs or threats.
A number of students were interviewed by The Cougar Chronicle, a student newspaper operated independently of the university, and reported that they don't hear any racial epilates or anyone acting in a derogatory way towards Richardson.
So now we have someone who was not allowed to defend himself being summarily punished for an act that he did not do. And even though BYU associate athletics director Jon McBride told The Salt Lake Tribune that "we have been unable to find any evidence of that person using slurs in the match," the punishment stands.
Meanwhile, all the news outlets that hyped the story have suddenly lost all interest in it now that the other shoe has dropped. They have not reported on how the accusation has fallen apart and I doubt you can expect any retractions.
I hope he sues the snot out of the moral cowards at BYU. It's not just him who was unfairly punished, BYU fans had their seating reduced as a result of what looks like another race hoax.
And I hope Duke investigates this and if they found that Richardson made up the story, not just kick her off the team but out of the school.
1. it is merely a coincidence that Pamplin, who was elected to her position, relies heavily on advocating for racial reform in her campaign.
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