Racial Slur at BYU Game - Real or Hoax?

[smac97]

We had two threads about this story:

BYU bans fan for racial slur

University of South Carolina cancels games with BYU amid alleged racist slur incident with Duke

It seems like the original story got a lot of press coverage.  

It looks like there are articles coming out claiming that the story is a fabrication.  See, e.g., here:

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Shocker: Viral BYU 'Racist' Volleyball Incident Looks to Be Another Hoax

Julio Rosas | Posted: Aug 31, 2022 10:45 AM

Duke University volleyball player Rachel Richardson, a black woman, accused someone in the Brigham Young University student section of repeatedly hurling racial slurs during a recent game and BYU school officials "failed to take the necessary steps to stop the unacceptable behavior and create a safe environment."

Richardson's statement garnered much attention on social media and within the news. BYU released a statement saying they had banned someone, who was not a BYU student, from future events. Yet, it appears Richardson's version of events are not true.

The BYU Cougar Chronicle reported multiple people, who were in attendance for the game, went on the record to say what Richardson described did not happen:

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The Cougar Chronicle has been unable to find a source in the student section that can corroborate Richardson’s claim of racial slurs being yelled at her. Vera Smith, a BYU student in the student section during the game, said she “heard absolutely nothing” that could be taken as a racial slur. Jacob Hanson, also a BYU student, shared texts with the Cougar Chronicle from two friends in two different parts of the student section that also heard nothing. They said they were not aware there had been a problem until after the game. Maddy Johnson, another BYU student who was in the ROC student section, said she did not hear any racial slur said and when she saw the individual escorted out of the arena he was in a different section. A mother of a BYU student says she personally knows five people who were in the student section during the game “One person was on the court and the others were in the first row” she told the Chronicle. None of them heard a racial slur. Two other people on the court, who wish to remain anonymous, did not hear any racial slurs.

In addition to the racial slurs not being hurled towards Richardson or her black teammates, but it looks as though BYU banned a man who is "mentally challenged" to appease the woke mob. Richardson also left out in her statement a police officer stood in between the court and the fan section after a complaint was made.

BYU Police Lt. George Besendorfer said reviewing video of the game they discovered the person who was banned did not even shout anything while Richardson was serving, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. Besendorfer added no one has come forward to corroborate Richardson's claim. The officer who was placed between the court and student section also noted in his report he did not hear anyone shout racial slurs.

And here:

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BYU Eliminates Fan Section, Bans Innocent Man for Life over Race Hoax

by JOHN NOLTE | 2 Sep 2022583

The moral cowards at Brigham Young University (BYU) are rewarding a race hoax by eliminating a fan section at future volleyball games.

Oh, and the innocent man falsely accused of this was escorted from the grounds and banned from the campus for life before the investigation into this hoax was completed. Yes, BYU punished an innocent man before the facts were known.

And it was a lie.

All of it.

And we all knew it was a lie the moment it was reported.
...
Brigham Young University should be ashamed of itself for punishing an innocent man before the investigation was completed. What sniveling, fascist cowards they are.

The above link ("was") goes to this article: Police Find No Evidence BYU Volleyball Fan Yelled ‘N-Word’ During Game

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A police investigation has found no evidence that a fan who Brigham Young University permanently banned for calling an opposing player the n-word had actually used the slur.

The banning of the fan occurred after Duke volleyball player Rachel Richardson, who is black, claimed that a white man yelled at her to “watch her back” when returning to the team bus after the game. She and other Duke team members also identified the same man as yelling the racial slur repeatedly during the game, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.

Richardson’s camp insisted that the man yelled out the n-word “every time Richardson served.”

The school acted quickly to ban the fan for life. But others persisted in their claim that the man did not engage in the accused behavior. In addition, fans in the stands told officials that they did not hear racial slurs during the game.

Witnesses also said that the Duke accusers never actually saw the man yell the n-word but only identified his voice.

The claims and counterclaims sent the BYU Police Department to search through video of the game to verify the man’s behavior. But, according to the department, they see no evidence that the man banned by the school acted out in the way he was accused.

“When we watched the video, we did not observe that behavior from him,” BYU Police Lt. George Besendorfer told the Tribune.

A BYU officer also agreed. “There was nothing seen on the game film that led me to believe” that the man “was the person who was making comments to the player who complained about being called the N-word,” the officer said.

The timeline surrounding the accusations also seems problematic, the police dept. said. The allegations do not match up to reality.

Indeed, a BYU officer even reported that during the match’s second set, the man was not even in the stands during some of the times when Richardson was serving. So, claims that he was yelling a slur “every time” Richardson served were false. And during another time the 19-year-old Duke player was serving, the game video showed the man paying attention to his cell phone and was clearly not yelling anything.

The fan who was banned, though, was identified by members of the Duke team after the game, and officials removed him from the school and told him he was not allowed to return. It is unclear where the accusations and investigation will go from here or if the school will issue an apology to the banned fan.

And here:

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Update on the Duke volleyball racial slur:

- The officer standing in front of the BYU students told Duke coaches during the game he heard no racial slurs yelled at Rachel Richardson.

- The person BYU banned did not yell any slurs.

https://www.sltrib.com/sports/2022/08/30/fan-who-was-banned-by-byu-does/

 

The fan who was banned by BYU does not appear to have yelled slurs at volleyball match, campus police say

University officials are asking for help with their investigation after police initially reviewed footage of game against Duke.

By Courtney Tanner   and  Kevin Reynolds   | Aug. 30, 2022, 9:46 p.m. | Updated: Aug. 31, 2022, 2:06 p.m.
 

Brigham Young University is still investigating the racist slurs yelled at a Duke volleyball player last week — in part because campus police say it doesn’t appear the man who was eventually banned was the person shouting the N-word.

It seems that so far there is no evidence, apart from the Duke player's accusation, that anyone shouted thee N-word.

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BYU Police Lt. George Besendorfer said Tuesday that based on an initial review of surveillance footage of the crowd, the individual who was banned wasn’t shouting anything while the Duke player was serving.

“When we watched the video, we did not observe that behavior from him,” he said.

And yet BYU banned him anyway.  I hope this gets reviewed and, if appropriate, the banning is undone.

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Duke sophomore Rachel Richardson, the lone Black starter on the team, has said she “very distinctly” heard a “very strong and negative racial slur” come from the student section during Friday’s match while she was serving.

I did wonder how BYU or anyone else identified the kid who was banned.

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“Various BYU Athletics employees have been reviewing video from BYUtv and other cameras in the facility that the volleyball team has access to for film review. This has been ongoing since right after the match on Friday night,” BYU Associate Athletic Director Jon McBride said in a statement. “The person who was banned was the person identified by Duke as using racial slurs. However, we have been unable to find any evidence of that person using slurs in the match.”

That's . . . awkward for BYU.  

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Based on those reports, that could mean a second person, who did shout the slur, has not yet been identified and has not had any action taken against them by the Provo university. BYU has not said it doubts Richardson’s account, and it is still investigating.

Yes, I suppose it could mean that.  

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The school is asking for fans in attendance to share video and accounts from the match to help with the investigation. At the volleyball match the next day, BYU Athletic Director Tom Holmoe encouraged them to, as well, asking them to “have the courage to take a stand and take care of each other and more importantly the guests, our guests who we invited to come and play here.”

The police report says that on Sunday — one day later — someone left a threatening voicemail for a BYU athletic coach. The report does not identify the coach or provide details about the anonymous message.

The report, with names redacted, was obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune through a public records request. It says the fan who was banned approached a Duke volleyball player after the game Friday in an interaction she reported made her uncomfortable. The police report says the fan “got in the face” of the player, who is not identified, but doesn’t note if anything was said.

The player’s family has said she was approached by a white man who told her to watch her back.

After that, though, Duke coaches and players identified that man as the same one who yelled the N-word from the BYU student section at Richardson, according to the police report.

I'm curious how they made this identification.

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Police talked to the man, who’s identified in the report as a Utah Valley University student, and he denied shouting any slurs; he said the only thing he yelled was that the players “shouldn’t hit the ball into the net.” He acknowledged that he did approach the Duke player after the match, thinking she was a friend of his who played for BYU (their uniforms are the same color, the officer noted).

An officer later reviewed footage, according to the report, and wrote: “There was nothing seen on the game film that led me to believe” that the man “was the person who was making comments to the player who complained about being called the N-word.”

Has anyone listened to the audio?  Seems like the slur would have been picked up if the player was able to hear it.

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During the match’s second set, the officer observed, the UVU student was not present when Richardson was serving, which is when Richardson’s family and Duke officials said the slurs were yelled.

And yet "Duke coaches and players identified that man as the same one who yelled the N-word from the BYU student section."

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And later, when she was serving again, he was playing on his phone, the officer wrote.

And yet "Duke coaches and players identified that man as the same one who yelled the N-word from the BYU student section."

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But the officers said the athletic department wanted to ban the man, so the school moved forward with that process. The officer told the man not to come to any future games “indefinitely,” according to the report.

In a statement after the match, BYU said only that an individual “identified by Duke” was banned.

This does not look good for BYU.

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When asked if police had reviewed footage further to see who was yelling the slur — because they were able to see that the banned UVU student likely was not — Besendorfer said the police department is no longer looking at the video.

Yeesh.  So far the evidence indicates that

• A) the guy, a UVU student, "was not present when Richardson was serving {during the match's second set}, that
• B) he "was playing on his phone" later in the game when Richardson was serving again, but 
• C) he was nevertheless "identified" by "Duke coaches and players" as "the same one who yelled the N-word from the BYU student section," and 
• D) the administration at BYU (not, it seems BYUPD) wanted to "ban" the guy from BYU anyway, and so had BYUPD do so.  And despite the incongruency between the evidence and the accusation,
• E) BYUPD "is no longer looking at the video."

It looks like BYU got unjustifiably raked across the coals, but its response here is . . . bad.  

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He said the task of reviewing the footage has been taken over by BYU athletics and the school’s communication administration.

Oh.  Academic bureaucrats are taking over an investigative function previously performed by (presumably POST-certified) law enforcement officers with BYUPD.

Yeah, really not a good look for BYU here.

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“There’s a bunch of video,” Besendorfer said. “Athletics and university communication, they are looking at all of that.”

Why?  Why is BYUPD not running point?

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It’s unclear whether any staff there have forensic experience in investigating video footage; a university spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday night on that question.

It's also "unclear" whether there is a conflict of interest in the "investigation" being turned over to administrative/academic staff.

I have previously had some qualms about BYU having its own police force.  This story is strengthening those qualms.

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It also raises questions about what in the investigation will be public. BYU’s police department is subject to public records requests. Other departments, including athletics, at the private school operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, are not.

Yep.  But will the "investigation" by administrative/academic staff be subject to public records requests?  I doubt it.

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So far, Besendorfer also said, no one from the student section or elsewhere at the volleyball match last week has come forward to BYU police to report the individual responsible for the slur. He also said no one has come forward to say they heard the slur being shouted during the match. He implored students who heard the comments to come forward; they can call police dispatch, he said, at 801-422-2222.

“We wish someone would,” he said.

That's a weird thing to say.  

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According to the school’s Honor Code, students are supposed to come forward in situations like this “to maintain the highest standards in their personal conduct regarding honor, integrity, morality, and consideration of others.”

It would also behoove BYU students to go to law enforcement and, if true, state that they did not hear racial slurs being shouted.

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Because of safety concerns raised by the Duke players, their next match against Rider was moved off the Provo campus the day after Richardson reported hearing the slur. BYU also played again on Saturday, where Holmoe urged any fans who were witnesses to come forward.

”As children of God, we are responsible,” he added. “It is our mission to love one another and treat everyone with respect. And that didn’t happen. We fell very short.”

He told CNN on Monday that if a student was involved, they would risk expulsion.

The phrase "rush to judgment" comes to mind.

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A mismatched timeline of events

The police report also provides for the first time a more detailed timeline of what happened and the response by BYU during the match — and some of it does not match what the players recounted happened to them.

Sheesh.  The Tribune is raising entirely legitimate questions about the accusations in this story.

BYU, it seems, is not.

What is up with BYU?

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Richardson said she alerted the Duke coaching staff immediately after hearing the racial slurs in the second set. At that point, Duke coaches told both the officials and the BYU coaches, she said.

According to the police report, BYU told an officer about the issue during the third set of the match and elected to put a police officer near the Duke bench before the fourth set. No one identified the person making the slurs at that time, the officer said.

Richardson’s family has said a fan in the student section repeatedly yelled the N-word at Richardson every time she served the ball. Richardson later noted in a statement the racial slurs escalated throughout the match and some comments “grew into threats which caused [her] to feel unsafe.”

The officer said in his report he didn’t personally hear any slurs while he was visibly standing there, listening. He said all he heard was BYU fans calling specific Duke players by their first names.

Um, isn't this a significant point?

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Holmoe also said BYU sent four ushers and an officer into the stands looking for the person who said the racial slur, as he spoke during the interview with CNN on Monday.

Richardson has since said she wanted the match to continue at that point, and felt her own coaches had taken the necessary steps to stem the action.

“That was enough action in that moment and that made me feel seen and heard,” Richardson said in an ESPN interview on Tuesday.

By the fourth set, though, Richardson said the racial slurs escalated. She also said that some of her teammates were subject to taunting from the crowd.

During the fourth set, during which "four ushers and an officer" were in the stands, yet the police officer states that he heard nothing (and the four ushers apparently had nothing to say either).

It was during this set, the fourth set, that the racial slurs "escalated?"

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“In the fourth set, we went back to that side, and it was almost as if the atmosphere of the student section had changed,” she told ESPN. “Even my Black teammates who were on the bench, who don’t play, they were being called out, pointed at and it was really confusing as to why. That’s when the racial slurs and heckling just grew more and more intense.”

The police officer said he talked to coaching staff from both teams that night and learned that Duke staff members were mad that he didn’t take action during the fourth set while the taunting continued. They said the Black players were being called out by name, only — while none of the white players were.

“I told the athletic staff that I never heard one racial comment being made,” he wrote in his report. The officer reported he also talked to others there who said they had not heard a slur.

BYU banned the UVU student from campus after the match.

What came after that

After the game, Richardson’s family has said she was also approached by a white man who told her to watch her back. It’s unclear if that’s when the UVU student who was banned was approaching who he thought was his friend, according to the police report.

The next morning, Richardson met with Holmoe, BYU’s athletic director, in the team hotel. BYU volleyball coach Heather Olmstead also said she spoke with Richardson at a separate time.

Richardson specified what she wanted Holmoe and BYU to do, including “staff and players undergoing education and training to better handle and prevent the racist, ignorant and asinine behaviors that were exhibited by their fans during the match.”

“I very much so felt heard and felt seen during that conversation,” she said of her meeting. “I could feel and I could see how sorry he was and honestly shocked that it happened.”

She said several BYU volleyball players have also reached out to her “just expressing how sorry they were.”

“That is a great group of girls. They were so sweet,” Richardson said. “Acted so sportsmanlike before the game, after the game, during the game.”

She added: “I just see it as an opportunity to raise awareness of the fact that racist incidents such as these, they still are happening. It’s 2022 and it should be unacceptable, but it’s still happening.”

Is it, though?

More here:

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Not only is the alleged incident (or series of incidents) not on tape, but not one student has come forward to say they heard the slurs. No video, no witnesses. Just Richardson claiming she heard the slurs.

The Cougar Chronicle has more (archive link):

The video of the match shows that Rachael Richardson served on the ROC (student section) side four times in the game, twice in the second set and twice in the fourth. A police officer can be seen standing by the ROC section monitoring the students as Richardson serves in the fourth set. Richardson did not mention this officer in her statement.

The Cougar Chronicle has been unable to find a source in the student section that can corroborate Richardson’s claim of racial slurs being yelled at her. Vera Smith, a BYU student in the student section during the game, said she “heard absolutely nothing” that could be taken as a racial slur. Jacob Hanson, also a BYU student, shared texts with the Cougar Chronicle from two friends in two different parts of the student section that also heard nothing. They said they were not aware there had been a problem until after the game.

Maddy Johnson, another BYU student who was in the ROC student section, said she did not hear any racial slur said and when she saw the individual escorted out of the arena he was in a different section. A mother of a BYU student says she personally knows five people who were in the student section during the game “One person was on the court and the others were in the first row” she told the Chronicle. None of them heard a racial slur. Two other people on the court, who wish to remain anonymous, did not hear any racial slurs.

Connor [the pseudonym for the Cougar Chronicle’s confidential source] explained what happened after the game:

“When a mentally challenged fan approached a Duke player. The Duke team then suddenly recognized the handicapped man’s ‘voice’ as the same one shouting slurs. They never saw or pointed out a face, just a voice. They banned this man. Not for slurs, but for interfering with visiting guests. BYU Athletics staff went through footage of the entire game and the man Duke identified was never seated in the student section. Her story doesn’t add up, BYU banned an innocent man to appease the mob and make their PR mess go away. While I don’t know if Ms. Richardson genuinely misheard something or intentionally made up this story, it certainly does not constitute the criticism BYU has gotten. There is zero evidence of a slur being said. Not a single witness, besides Ms. Richardson, has come forth. Not a single cell phone video or BYUtv’s several camera angles caught a single thing. How unlikely when this person supposedly said a slur during ‘every single serve.'”

The Cougar Chronicle reviewed private messages between Connor and others inside the athletic department. The messages corroborate Connor’s statement.

BYU apparently felt they had to ban someone, so they picked someone out after the game and banned him.

It’s also worth noting that Richardson’s godmother, who was the first to report the alleged incident, is running for office in Fort Worth, Texas.

The Cougar Chronicle continues:

In a second press release not posted to Twitter BYU athletics clarified the reason they banned the accused man, “Following Friday night’s volleyball game, we spent hours reviewing video of the event to try and figure out what exactly [happened]… When last night’s behavior was initially reported by Duke, there was no individual pointed out… It wasn’t until after the game that an individual was identified by Duke… That is the individual who has been banned.” Despite not finding any evidence, BYU athletics was sure to indicate they still believed Richardson. “We understand that the Duke players’ experience is what matters here. They felt unsafe and hurt, and we were unable to address that during the game in a manner that was sufficient. For that, we truly do apologize” the statement continued. The Chronicle has reached out to BYU athletics for comment but did not receive a reply by the time of this publication.

Rachel Richardson was not the only person who provided statements to the media on her experience. Marvin Richardson, Rachel’s father, claimed there was more than one person throwing slurs at his daughter. He did not attend the game.

Another relation, Rachel’s godmother Lesa Pamplin, drew attention to the story before Richardson’s statement by Tweeting “While playing yesterday [my Goddaughter] was called a n***** every time she served. She was threatened by a white male that told her to watch her back going to the team bus.” According to her Twitter account, Pamplin is an attorney and a current candidate for a Fort Worth judicial election. Pamplin even claimed credit for making the story national news in an official campaign statement on the incident. “We should be even more outraged that it took a Tweet from me, in Tarrant County Texas, to bring this incident to light” she stated. As indicated in the statement, Pamplin was also not at the game.

I take issue with BYU’s statement that “the Duke players’ experience is what matters here. They felt unsafe and hurt, and we were unable to address that during the game in a manner that was sufficient.” It only matters if it actually happened, and so far, there is no evidence at all that it did.

Further, it is not the university’s responsibility to make anyone feel “safe” from hearing bad words or suffering hurt feelings. This kind of coddling is just ridiculous, and it always goes only one way. Where are the universities standing up for their conservative students who are routinely called fascists, Nazis, cultists, and a whole host of other unwarranted names? Oh, right, busy banning their organizations from student life and refusing to permit their chosen speakers on campus.

The above article references "Rachel's godmother Lesa Pamplin."  Ms. Pamplin is currently running a campaign to be a judge in the County Criminal Court in Tarrant County, Texas.  She touts herself as "a former police officer, prosecutor, and current defense attorney."  From the "About" page of her website:

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In 1997, Lesa graduated from law school and passed the bar. Shortly thereafter, she began her legal career as a prosecutor at the Tarrant County DA’s Office. Lesa worked as a prosecutor from 1998 to 2004 and handled misdemeanor and felony cases. In 2004, Lesa opened her law firm, Law Office of Lesa Pamplin, PC, and has been passionately representing individuals charged with crimes ever since.

Lesa Pamplin has extensive criminal law knowledge and expertise as a trial attorney. She is a member of the L. Clifford Davis Legal Association, Tarrant County Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, and The Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. She is also a member of the Fort Worth Metropolitan Black Chamber of Commerce and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, Xi Theta Omega Chapter where she extends her talents and passion to be of “service to all mankind.”

Her personal tweets, however, paint something of a different picture as to the "all mankind" bit:

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Per the above link, "Her account is now private."

Also from the above link:

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Oh, and the BYU men’s basketball game was right there next to the student section the entire game, and despite the fact that several of them are black not one of them seem fazed by a man yelling the n word for 2 hours right next to them.

 

The inflammatory rhetoric, both from those supportive of the Duke player and those who believe she is pulling a Jussie Smollett, is problematic.

This link also includes a summary of Pamplin's tweets:

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“Creepy a** crackers are scary.” (06/27/2013)

“White women & men always disappoint.” (11/07/2018)

“You poor white motherf*ckers can’t take it.” (06/27/2019)

“Would expect nothing less than a pale white chic. Sit down Becky.” (10/16/2019)

“Why does CNN constantly interview these dumb a** white women?” (11/06/2019)

“Ain’t watching this Cracker Barrel bullsh*t.” (01/14/2020)

“You damn straight about that. Whypipoe being white.” (03/27/2020)

“Judge [Eric V.] Moyé ain’t playing with these crackers.” (05/06/2022)

Also this (same link) :

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According to a Fort Worth Star-Telegram article from 2008, {Pamplin} had previously “wanted a Tarrant County district judge taken off her cases for being ‘racist,'” but had to withdraw her request. Pamplin had accused Judge Elizabeth Berry based on a suspicious email that was sent to her court reporter, “in which she called another court reporter a racial epithet.”

After an investigation, it was revealed the email was fake, didn’t originate with Berry, and Pamplin was forced to withdraw her claim of racism.

It could not be determined who did originate the email that galvanized Pamplin’s claim.

A fabricated email that bolster's Pamplin's accusation of racism.  Weird.

More here:

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Mystery Unfolds From BYU-Duke Volleyball Match That Smells Of Hoax

Liam Edgar | September 1, 2022

The story of the N-word volley fired at a black college volleyball player at Brigham Young University last weekend has all the makings of another race-baiting hoax.

BYU hosted a women’s volleyball tournament last weekend, and during one game, a white man fan allegedly and repeatedly called a rival Duke player the N-word.

The godmother of the Duke athlete claimed on social media a white man heckled the player, Rachel Richardson, “every time she served.” The godmother asserted the fan used the N-word repeatedly and also “threatened” Richardson by telling her “to watch her back going to the team bus.”

Richardson agreed with that account. She claimed “my fellow African American teammates and I were targeted and racially heckled throughout the entirety of the match. The slurs and comments grew into threats which caused us to feel unsafe.” She even told ESPN later that BYU “failed to take the necessary steps to stop the unacceptable behavior and create a safe environment.”

The situation was reportedly so heated during the game that a campus police officer was stationed at the Duke bench to prevent potential violence by the offensive fan. At one point, the Salt Lake Tribune added, BYU sent four ushers into the student section to find the culprit.

And they all came up empty.

...

The cop who was deployed by Duke’s bench noted in his report, “I told the athletic staff that I never heard one racial comment being made.” The Tribune added, “The officer reported he also talked to others there who said they had not heard a slur.”

School officials concluded the same thing.

BYU Associate Athletic Director Jon McBride told the Tribune, “Various BYU Athletics employees have been reviewing video from BYUtv and other cameras in the facility that the volleyball team has access to for film review. This has been ongoing since right after the match on Friday night. The person who was banned was the person identified by Duke as using racial slurs. However, we have been unable to find any evidence of that person using slurs in the match.”

BYU said it is still investigating. And according to the Tribune, BYU Athletic Director Tom Holmoe was begging someone in attendance that night to come forward.

And here (ABC 4) :

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POLICE: BYU finds no evidence of fan using racial slurs
by: Derick Fox
Posted: Aug 31, 2022 / 04:37 PM MDT
Updated: Aug 31, 2022 / 04:46 PM MDT

PROVO, Utah (ABC4) – Brigham Young University (BYU) police have reportedly found no evidence of a Cougar fan using racial slurs toward Duke University Volleyball players during the game on Friday.

During the Aug. 26 match, police say that Duke officials advised a BYU officer on duty of racial comments coming from the BYU student section directed toward Rachel Richardson and other Duke University players. Following the match, Duke officials reportedly pointed out the fan, who was escorted off BYU property and later received an indefinite ban from BYU Athletics. 

In a police report filed by Officer Richard Laursen, he stated he was informed of the comments made during the third set of the match. At the start of the fourth set, Laursen said he moved to stand between the Duke players and the BYU student section, though he did not hear any racial slurs. Laursen later confirmed this with staff from BYU Athletics.

While standing near the BYUI student section amid the third set, Laursen said that he was questioned by a BYU fan, the same person who was eventually banned from the college’s athletic events, as to why the officer was there and if there was an issue. Laursen reports that he told the fan that he “was there listening for inappropriate comments towards Duke players and the fan told (him) that he hasn’t heard any inappropriate comments. He said he told the players that they shouldn’t hit the ball into the net, but that was the only comment he made to the Duke players.”

Laursen went on to add that the fan, who is reportedly a student of another University, “seemed more interested in talking to (him) than cheering for BYU.” Laursen also stated that the student appeared to have special needs.

In his report, Laursen went on to note that after the match had finished, Duke players and coaches were still upset with what happened during the game, and claimed that the alleged racial comments targeting Duke players continued throughout the fourth set and that Laursen did nothing to address them. Laursen reportedly told the athletic staff that he never heard any racial comment being made throughout the match. 

As reported by ABC4 following the incident, Lesa Pamplin of Fort Worth, Tex. originally tweeted about the incident saying Rachel Richardson, her goddaughter was called the N-word every time she served.

“She was threatened by a white male that told her to watch her back going to the team bus,” Pamplin Tweeted, adding that, “A police officer had to be put by their bench. You allowed this racist behavior to continue without intervening. Apologizing to her parents after the fact is not enough. She will soon be sharing her story.”

Laursen later reviewed footage of the game with one of the BYU coaches but still could not find any evidence of racial discrimination stemming from the BYU student section. Laursen noted that the fan in question was either not present while Richardson served or was on his phone and not paying attention to the game when the Duke player was serving.

In a statement following the incident, BYU Athletics released a statement on Twitter saying that they are “extremely disheartened in the actions of a small number of fans” during the match. 

“We will not tolerate behavior of this kind,” the statement continues. “Specifically, the use of a racial slur at any of our athletic events is absolutely unacceptable and BYU Athletics holds a zero-tolerance approach to this behavior.” 

Duke’s game the following night against Rider was moved to Mountain View High School and was played without any fans in attendance.

Here's a report from "Cougar Chronicle":

Quote

Exclusive: Racist Comments at BYU Volleyball Game Never Happened, Sources Suggest

Updated: 6 days ago

By: Luke Hanson and Thomas Stevenson

 

An alleged racist incident occurred during a BYU Women’s Volleyball game on Friday, August 26, 2022. In a public statement given on Sunday, African-American Duke Volleyball player Rachel Richardson claimed, “[I] was targeted and racially heckled throughout the entirety of the match. The slurs and comments grew into threats… Both officials and BYU coaching staff were made aware of the incident during the game, but failed to take the necessary steps… they also failed to adequately address the situation after the game.”

Her story has spread across the nation, appearing in The New York Times, NPR, CNN, and The Hill, among others. BYU athletics appeared to agree with Richardson’s claim of racist slurs in an official statement posted on Twitter indicating that they had “banned a fan who was identified by Duke during last night’s volleyball match from all BYU athletic venues."

The Cougar Chronicle was contacted yesterday by a source inside the BYU athletic department who told a different story. They have asked for their name to be kept private to avoid discipline from BYU athletics. They will be referred to as Connor. Connor explained:

“Ms. Richardson complained of hearing a racial slur during the second set but did not point anyone out. Officials discussed briefly and stationed policemen there… there were no more complaints until after the match.”

The video of the match shows that Rachael Richardson served on the ROC (student section) side four times in the game, twice in the second set and twice in the fourth. A police officer can be seen standing by the ROC section monitoring the students as Richardson serves in the fourth set. Richardson did not mention this officer in her statement.

The Cougar Chronicle has been unable to find a source in the student section that can corroborate Richardson’s claim of racial slurs being yelled at her. Vera Smith, a BYU student in the student section during the game, said she “heard absolutely nothing” that could be taken as a racial slur. Jacob Hanson, also a BYU student, shared texts with the Cougar Chronicle from two friends in two different parts of the student section that also heard nothing. They said they were not aware there had been a problem until after the game. Maddy Johnson, another BYU student who was in the ROC student section, said she did not hear any racial slur said and when she saw the individual escorted out of the arena he was in a different section. A mother of a BYU student says she personally knows five people who were in the student section during the game “One person was on the court and the others were in the first row” she told the Chronicle. None of them heard a racial slur. Two other people on the court, who wish to remain anonymous, did not hear any racial slurs.

Connor explained what happened after the game:

“When a mentally challenged fan approached a Duke player. The Duke team then suddenly recognized the handicapped man's ‘voice’ as the same one shouting slurs. They never saw or pointed out a face, just a voice. They banned this man. Not for slurs, but for interfering with visiting guests.  BYU Athletics staff went through footage of the entire game and the man Duke identified was never seated in the student section.  Her story doesn't add up, BYU banned an innocent man to appease the mob and make their PR mess go away. While I don't know if Ms. Richardson genuinely misheard something or intentionally made up this story, it certainly does not constitute the criticism BYU has gotten. There is zero evidence of a slur being said. Not a single witness, besides Ms. Richardson, has come forth. Not a single cell phone video or BYUtv's several camera angles caught a single thing. How unlikely when this person supposedly said a slur during ‘every single serve.'"

BYU banned a man with special needs?  Who wasn't even in the student section from whence the purported slurs came?

Quote

The Cougar Chronicle reviewed private messages between Connor and others inside the athletic department. The messages corroborate Connor's statement. In a second press release not posted to Twitter BYU athletics clarified the reason they banned the accused man, “Following Friday night’s volleyball game, we spent hours reviewing video of the event to try and figure out what exactly [happened]… When last night’s behavior was initially reported by Duke, there was no individual pointed out... It wasn’t until after the game that an individual was identified by Duke... That is the individual who has been banned.” Despite not finding any evidence, BYU athletics was sure to indicate they still believed Richardson. “We understand that the Duke players’ experience is what matters here. They felt unsafe and hurt, and we were unable to address that during the game in a manner that was sufficient. For that, we truly do apologize” the statement continued. The Chronicle has reached out to BYU athletics for comment but did not receive a reply by the time of this publication.

The Athletic Department at BYU is not exactly covering itself with glory.

Quote

Rachel Richardson was not the only person who provided statements to the media on her experience. Marvin Richardson, Rachel’s father, claimed there was more than one person throwing slurs at his daughter. He did not attend the game.

Another relation, Rachel’s godmother Lesa Pamplin, drew attention to the story before Richardson’s statement by Tweeting “While playing yesterday [my Goddaughter] was called a n***** every time she served. She was threatened by a white male that told her to watch her back going to the team bus.” According to her Twitter account, Pamplin is an attorney and a current candidate for a Fort Worth judicial election. Pamplin even claimed credit for making the story national news in an official campaign statement on the incident. “We should be even more outraged that it took a Tweet from me, in Tarrant County Texas, to bring this incident to light” she stated. As indicated in the statement, Pamplin was also not at the game.

Lesa Pamplin was not even at the game.

Quote

Most of the comments on this story now rely on the narratives given by Richardson’s father and godmother, both of whom were not at the game. No evidence of the truthfulness of the allegations has been found, yet BYU athletics has continued to treat the incident as if it happened. Connor believes “BYU is an easy target… ultimately it’s her word against ours. We’ll look bad just calling a black woman a liar."

Yeesh.

More:

Quote

Video Casts Doubt On Story That Fan Shouted N-Word At Duke Volleyball Player

She claimed a man repeatedly shouted racial slurs at her during a game.

By  Mairead Elordi •Aug 30, 2022

 

A Duke University volleyball player claimed a man repeatedly shouted racial slurs at her during a game last week, but video of the game does not appear to show the incident, casting doubt on her story.

Rachel Richardson, a sophomore at Duke, said a man in the stands “racially heckled” her and eventually threatened her during Friday’s game against Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

...

The allegation was initially made by Richardson’s godmother, Lesa Pamplin, who said her goddaughter was called the n-word “every time she served.” A police officer had to be placed by Duke’s bench, she said. Pamplin also said that later, on the way back to the team bus, Richardson was threatened by a “white male” who told her to “watch her back.”

...

However, the video of the entire game posted on YouTube does not appear show anyone yelling slurs at any point, and so far, no cell phone footage of the incident has surfaced either. The video also does not appear to show a police officer near Duke’s bench at any point.

BYU issued an apology within hours, saying they banned the racist fan, who was “identified by Duke.” The person, who is not a BYU student, despite sitting in the student section according to the school, is now banned from all BYU athletic venues.

The alleged incident attracted support for Richardson from several high-profile figures, including LeBron James and Utah Governor Spencer Cox, a Republican.

More (Washington Examiner) :

Quote

Media go all-in on apparent volleyball racism hoax at BYU
by Zachary Faria, Commentary Writer | August 31, 2022 03:49 PM

We were past due for another racial hoax. Sports media and Brigham Young University have apparently just helped Duke volleyball provide us with one.

The controversy started when the godmother of Duke’s only black starter, Rachel Richardson, claimed that a BYU fan called her the N-word every time she served. This controversy predictably blew up, and one fan was banned indefinitely from BYU games.

This story was picked up by professional race-baiters Jemele Hill (the Atlantic) and Mike Freeman (USA Today). ESPN bit on it, giving an interview to Richardson while ESPN personalities condemned the incident. It even bled into establishment media. CNN’s Brianna Keilar gave a segment to Richardson’s father, who smeared the entire BYU crowd as racist due to the “atmosphere” in the arena. It was picked up uncritically by NPR, ABC, NBC, the New York Times, and the Washington Post.

The problem with this? None of it appears to be true.

BYU police reviewed footage of the fan who was banned and determined that he did not yell any slurs when Richardson was serving. The fan wasn’t even present when Richardson was serving the first time, and he was on his phone during Richardson’s second serve. Those were the only two times she served in front of the BYU student section. A BYU student newspaper reached out to several people in the student section, none of whom had heard any slurs.

Not a single person has since come forward to report to BYU police that they heard the alleged slur. Black members of BYU’s basketball team were also in the student section, yet they did not react and have not come forward to say they heard anything.
...
 

The story never made sense on its face, but the media did not care. A black player claims to hear a slur, so the media assume there was one. The media pressure scared the cowards at BYU into banning one fan indefinitely without evidence, just as it scared the Colorado Rockies into threatening to ban one fan whom the media claimed was yelling the N-word at a game — even though no one in the crowd even reacted to it. (That fan was actually yelling the name of the mascot, but establishment media didn’t care to find that out before reporting on it.)

Even the scenario that some other fan was the one yelling the slur seems unlikely, given everything we know now. We know thanks to BYU police that the fan who was banned certainly didn’t say it. But there will be no reckoning or accountability for our media, because raising a five-alarm fire over any reported incident of racism, no matter how unlikely or unproven, is all establishment media do these days.

More:

Quote

With racist invention, media fails another fake news test
By Stephen L. Miller | September 02, 2022 06:00 AM

We've had Jussie Smollett, Nicholas Sandmann, and numerous others. Whenever there is a public accusation of racial impropriety, bad-faith media actors leap into action.

This time, it involved black volleyball players from Duke University. Some of these players claimed that several members of the BYU student cheering section were hurling racist epithets and slurs. Specifically, Duke's Rachel Richardson claimed she heard such insults when she stepped back to serve. This was good enough for CNN’s Brianna Keilar and ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, as well as the Atlantic’s Jemele Hill (who practically makes a living off such episodes). Nominally unbiased (very nominally) news outlets such as NPR also ran with the accusation, once again without corroboration.

Shortly after the story broke, however, both the BYU student newspaper and the Salt Lake Tribune said they could not verify important details of Richardson’s story.

Campus police who looked into the incident could not verify any eyewitness accounts of the harassment Richardson spoke of. The BYU student newspaper spoke to several on-the-record witnesses who stated that they neither heard nor saw anyone screaming slurs at any time. Furthermore, when Richardson pointed out an individual believed to be the person committing the act, that person was then escorted off the premises and permanently banned from any future sporting events on campus. The only problem is surveillance video at the time Richardson claims she heard the slurs shows that this individual was not in their seat.

All of these details appeared in law enforcement incident reports, the student newspaper, and the Salt Lake Tribune. Unfortunately, this prudent journalism wasn't good enough for ESPN, ABC’s Good Morning America, or CNN. Let's be clear — these aren't just some one-person partisan blogs. These are supposedly serious news outlets that have many producers to vet stories before running them.

Why are there never any professional consequences for this shoddy journalism?

Is this a recipe for the new "hard news" standard that new CNN boss Chris Licht is reported to be employing at CNN? What happened to standards at the Atlantic, which just recently held a conference on disinformation? Or does that standard only apply to external journalists, not the publication's own writers?

It’s possible Richardson simply misheard chants of her name or heckling from a rowdy college audience. At least for now, she deserves the benefit of the doubt that she is not simply perpetrating a volatile racial hoax. But no journalist deserves this level of good faith.

These guys are suggesting that not only is this story a hoax, but an orchastrated one.  A shakedown:

More YouTube videos here:

• Duke Volleyball Player Made It All Up?
• Clay Travis: BYU Racial Slur At A Volleyball Game Story Collapses
• Did A Fan ACTUALLY Yell RACIAL SLURS At This Volleyball Game?
• Duke Volleyball Player’s Hate Crime HOAX Is Falling Apart
• No evidence found of banned BYU fan using racist slurs at volleyball game
• No evidence of racial slurs found at Duke-BYU volleyball game
• BYU-Duke Volleyball Race Hoax
• Was It All A Lie? Duke Volleyball Vs BYU!

A few closing thoughts:

1. The accusation seems pretty weak.  Apparently the sole earwitness was the Duke player.  No other first-person accounts.

2. Much of the news coverage arises from vitriolic commentary from the player's "godmother" who A) was not present, B) was previously involved in a scam involving a fabricated email to impute racism against a judge, and C) has a long and well-documented history of saying some pretty awful things about white people.

3. BYU, to its credit, apparently sent both a police officer and four ushers to monitor the student section, none of which reported any racial slurs during times when the Duke player said they were happening.

4. The folks from Duke somehow accused a special needs guy of being the one who yelled the slurs, even though A) he wasn't in the student section during one portion of the game during which slurs were purportedly yelled, B) during another portion of the game when the slurs were purportedly flying, he was playing with his phone, and C) he is apparently special needs.

5. BYU has asked for anyone who saw/heard anything, or recorded anything, to come forward.  Nobody has done so.

6. The entire game was recorded, yet nobody has been able to detect any racial slurs in the recordings.

7. BYUPD has turned the "investigation" over to administrative staff, who have no particular training or expertise in examining video/audio footage.

8. BYUPD, having summarily banned a UVU student (who is apparently also a special needs person), is not presently investigating this matter further.

9. The Salt Lake Tribune, an unofficial BYU student paper (the "Cougar Chronicle"), and various YouTubers who have no connection to BYU have done far more in examining this issue, in terms of evidence and investigation and analysis, than BYU and is police department have done.

10. The differentiation in perspectives on this story is apparently not along racial lines (several of the YouTubers commenting on this story as being a hoax are black).  Nor are the lines ideological in terms of religion (pro- or -con BYU and the Church), as several articles examining this apparent hoax are very critical of BYU's handling of this issue, several have little to nothing to say about BYU's status as a "religious" school affiliated with the Church, and the Tribune hardly has any reason to carry water for BYU  (kudos to their reporting of this, BTW).  

Thoughts?

Thanks,

-Smac

[Durangout]

100% race hoax.  No doubt.

The player, her father and the Gmother, the real racists in this seemly affair will never be held accountable.  
 

It has used as an excuse to further hatred and bigoted anti-Mormon views.

 

[Senator]

Holy crap!

When do you have time to hold down a job?

[jkwilliams]

26 minutes ago, smac97 said:

We had two threads about this story:

BYU bans fan for racial slur

University of South Carolina cancels games with BYU amid alleged racist slur incident with Duke

It seems like the original story got a lot of press coverage.  

It looks like there are articles coming out claiming that the story is a fabrication.  See, e.g., here:

And here:

The above link ("was") goes to this article: Police Find No Evidence BYU Volleyball Fan Yelled ‘N-Word’ During Game

And here:

It seems that so far there is no evidence, apart from the Duke player's accusation, that anyone shouted thee N-word.

And yet BYU banned him anyway.  I hope this gets reviewed and, if appropriate, the banning is undone.

I did wonder how BYU or anyone else identified the kid who was banned.

That's . . . awkward for BYU.  

Yes, I suppose it could mean that.  

I'm curious how they made this identification.

Has anyone listened to the audio?  Seems like the slur would have been picked up if the player was able to hear it.

And yet "Duke coaches and players identified that man as the same one who yelled the N-word from the BYU student section."

And yet "Duke coaches and players identified that man as the same one who yelled the N-word from the BYU student section."

This does not look good for BYU.

Yeesh.  So far the evidence indicates that

• A) the guy, a UVU student, "was not present when Richardson was serving {during the match's second set}, that
• B) he "was playing on his phone" later in the game when Richardson was serving again, but 
• C) he was nevertheless "identified" by "Duke coaches and players" as "the same one who yelled the N-word from the BYU student section," and 
• D) the administration at BYU (not, it seems BYUPD) wanted to "ban" the guy from BYU anyway, and so had BYUPD do so.  And despite the incongruency between the evidence and the accusation,
• E) BYUPD "is no longer looking at the video."

It looks like BYU got unjustifiably raked across the coals, but its response here is . . . bad.  

Oh.  Academic bureaucrats are taking over an investigative function previously performed by (presumably POST-certified) law enforcement officers with BYUPD.

Yeah, really not a good look for BYU here.

Why?  Why is BYUPD not running point?

It's also "unclear" whether there is a conflict of interest in the "investigation" being turned over to administrative/academic staff.

I have previously had some qualms about BYU having its own police force.  This story is strengthening those qualms.

Yep.  But will the "investigation" by administrative/academic staff be subject to public records requests?  I doubt it.

That's a weird thing to say.  

It would also behoove BYU students to go to law enforcement and, if true, state that they did not hear racial slurs being shouted.

The phrase "rush to judgment" comes to mind.

Sheesh.  The Tribune is raising entirely legitimate questions about the accusations in this story.

BYU, it seems, is not.

What is up with BYU?

Um, isn't this a significant point?

During the fourth set, during which "four ushers and an officer" were in the stands, yet the police officer states that he heard nothing (and the four ushers apparently had nothing to say either).

It was during this set, the fourth set, that the racial slurs "escalated?"

Is it, though?

More here:

The above article references "Rachel's godmother Lesa Pamplin."  Ms. Pamplin is currently running a campaign to be a judge in the County Criminal Court in Tarrant County, Texas.  She touts herself as "a former police officer, prosecutor, and current defense attorney."  From the "About" page of her website:

Her personal tweets, however, paint something of a different picture as to the "all mankind" bit:

Per the above link, "Her account is now private."

Also from the above link:

The inflammatory rhetoric, both from those supportive of the Duke player and those who believe she is pulling a Jussie Smollett, is problematic.

This link also includes a summary of Pamplin's tweets:

Also this (same link) :

A fabricated email that bolster's Pamplin's accusation of racism.  Weird.

More here:

And here (ABC 4) :

Here's a report from "Cougar Chronicle":

BYU banned a man with special needs?  Who wasn't even in the student section from whence the purported slurs came?

The Athletic Department at BYU is not exactly covering itself with glory.

Lesa Pamplin was not even at the game.

Yeesh.

More:

More (Washington Examiner) :

More:

These guys are suggesting that not only is this story a hoax, but an orchastrated one.  A shakedown:

More YouTube videos here:

• Duke Volleyball Player Made It All Up?
• Clay Travis: BYU Racial Slur At A Volleyball Game Story Collapses
• Did A Fan ACTUALLY Yell RACIAL SLURS At This Volleyball Game?
• Duke Volleyball Player’s Hate Crime HOAX Is Falling Apart
• No evidence found of banned BYU fan using racist slurs at volleyball game
• No evidence of racial slurs found at Duke-BYU volleyball game
• BYU-Duke Volleyball Race Hoax
• Was It All A Lie? Duke Volleyball Vs BYU!

A few closing thoughts:

1. The accusation seems pretty weak.  Apparently the sole earwitness was the Duke player.  No other first-person accounts.

2. Much of the news coverage arises from vitriolic commentary from the player's "godmother" who A) was not present, B) was previously involved in a scam involving a fabricated email to impute racism against a judge, and C) has a long and well-documented history of saying some pretty awful things about white people.

3. BYU, to its credit, apparently sent both a police officer and four ushers to monitor the student section, none of which reported any racial slurs during times when the Duke player said they were happening.

4. The folks from Duke somehow accused a special needs guy of being the one who yelled the slurs, even though A) he wasn't in the student section during one portion of the game during which slurs were purportedly yelled, B) during another portion of the game when the slurs were purportedly flying, he was playing with his phone, and C) he is apparently special needs.

5. BYU has asked for anyone who saw/heard anything, or recorded anything, to come forward.  Nobody has done so.

6. The entire game was recorded, yet nobody has been able to detect any racial slurs in the recordings.

7. BYUPD has turned the "investigation" over to administrative staff, who have no particular training or expertise in examining video/audio footage.

8. BYUPD, having summarily banned a UVU student (who is apparently also a special needs person), is not presently investigating this matter further.

9. The Salt Lake Tribune, an unofficial BYU student paper (the "Cougar Chronicle"), and various YouTubers who have no connection to BYU have done far more in examining this issue, in terms of evidence and investigation and analysis, than BYU and is police department have done.

10. The differentiation in perspectives on this story is apparently not along racial lines (several of the YouTubers commenting on this story as being a hoax are black).  Nor are the lines ideological in terms of religion (pro- or -con BYU and the Church), as several articles examining this apparent hoax are very critical of BYU's handling of this issue, several have little to nothing to say about BYU's status as a "religious" school affiliated with the Church, and the Tribune hardly has any reason to carry water for BYU  (kudos to their reporting of this, BTW).  

Thoughts?

Thanks,

-Smac

What if it’s neither? It could be that she thought she heard racist taunts. Whatever the case may be, it’s probably best to see what comes of the university’s investigation. 

[smac97]

2 minutes ago, jkwilliams said:

What if it’s neither?

I think the "narrative" is too long for that.

2 minutes ago, jkwilliams said:

It could be that she thought she heard racist taunts.

That doesn't account for the Duke player's characterization of “'very distinctly' heard a 'very strong and negative racial slur.'"

That doesn't account for the Duke player's claim of also having been threatened on her way out to the bus ("watch your back").

That doesn't account for the Duke player apparently being the only person who heard the racial slurs.

That doesn't account for the police officer and ushers who were present in the student section when some of the slurs were purportedly yelled, yet none of them heard anything.

That doesn't account for the utter absence of forensic evidence.  Again, the entire game was recorded, and the recordings have been extensively reviewed, yet nobody has been able to discern any audible racial slurs.  Nobody has come forward as an earwitness or an eyewitness or with their own recording.  The people who have come forward have said that they did not hear any racial slurs.

2 minutes ago, jkwilliams said:

Whatever the case may be, it’s probably best to see what comes of the university’s investigation. 

The "investigation" being . . . the one that BYUPD handed off to the school administration?

Thanks,

-Smac

[jkwilliams]

Just now, smac97 said:

I think the "narrative" is too long for that.

That doesn't account for the Duke player's characterization of “'very distinctly' heard a 'very strong and negative racial slur.'"

That doesn't account for the Duke player's claim of also having been threatened on her way out to the bus ("watch your back").

That doesn't account for the Duke player apparently being the only person who heard the racial slurs.

That doesn't account for the police officer and ushers who were present in the student section when some of the slurs were purportedly yelled, yet none of them heard anything.

That doesn't account for the utter absence of forensic evidence.  Again, the entire game was recorded, and the recordings have been extensively reviewed, yet nobody has been able to discern any audible racial slurs.  Nobody has come forward as an earwitness or an eyewitness or with their own recording.  The people who have come forward have said that they did not hear any racial slurs.

The "investigation" being . . . the one that BYUPD handed off to the school administration?

Thanks,

-Smac

Again, it’s entirely possible she misheard something from the stands. I get it that you have a black-and-white approach to this (no pun intended), but there’s no need to label this a malicious hoax. 

[Judd]

Fun commentary. 
 

 

[smac97]

7 minutes ago, jkwilliams said:

Again, it’s entirely possible she misheard something from the stands.

Okay.

It's also "entirely possible" that she fabricated the whole thing for personal gain and notoriety.

7 minutes ago, jkwilliams said:

I get it that you have a black-and-white approach to this (no pun intended), but there’s no need to label this a malicious hoax. 

If it's a hoax, it is per se malicious.

Thanks,

-Smac

[blackstrap]

I am unclear as to what law was broken  that needed the police involved . It seems more like a BYU regulation, but maybe it falls under the general umbrella of " public disturbance " .

[jkwilliams]

Just now, smac97 said:

Okay.

It's also "entirely possible" that she fabricated the whole thing for personal gain and notoriety.

If it's a hoax, it is per se malicious.

Thanks,

-Smac

I guess I don’t see why a college athlete would invent something to cause this much distraction to her team and herself. Of course it’s possible it was a malicious hoax. I’m just not comfortable jumping to that conclusion. 

[Kenngo1969]

Rachel Richardson, from the Outside The Lines excerpt on Jason Whitlock's podcast: "I know that meeting anger with anger, it just starts a vicious cycle ..."

Then you should talk to your Godmother, Ma'am.  (I doubt she'll listen, though: she's too busy turning these baseless allegations to her political advantage, as though she had said: I have fought for the citizens of this community!  In fact, I'll fight injustice anywhere, including racism directed at my Goddaughter from those racist racists in Utah ...)

 

[Kenngo1969]

16 minutes ago, smac97 said:

... That doesn't account for the Duke player's characterization of “'very distinctly' heard a 'very strong and negative racial slur.'" ...

She has bionic hearing.  In a crackerbox gym, filled with 5,000 raucous fans (note to the clueless: No, "raucous" and "racist" are not synonyms   ) she "very distinctly" heard a racist slur. 

[smac97]

21 minutes ago, jkwilliams said:

I guess I don’t see why a college athlete would invent something to cause this much distraction to her team and herself.

The motives for bogus hate crime claims are varied.  See, e.g., here: Hate crime hoaxes, like Jussie Smollett's alleged attack, are more common than you think

Quote

The hate attack on Empire star Jussie Smollett is now alleged to be a hoax. That shouldn’t surprise anyone.

Smollett’s story was bizarre, bordering on the absurd. He claimed to have been attacked — at 2:00am in Chicago — by two men, in some early reports, wearing red MAGA hats, who called him “that Empire n_____,” yelled “this is MAGA country,” and poured bleach on him while putting a noose around his neck.

The questions here are obvious. How many Trump supporters even exist in the downtown of a city that went 83% for Hillary Clinton — and how many of them watch "Empire?" How many guys looking for a fight carry rope and bottles of bleach around with them? Almost every normal citizen had questions like these about this incident, and we were justified in having them.

That this case turned out to be a hoax shouldn't come as too big of a shock. A great many hate crime stories turn out to be hoaxes. Simply looking at what happened to the most widely reported hate crime stories over the past 4-5 years illustrates this: not only the Smollett case but also the Yasmin Seweid, Air Force Academy, Eastern Michigan, Wisconsin-Parkside, Kean College, Covington Catholic, and “Hopewell Baptist burning” racial scandals all turned out to be fakes. And, these cases are not isolated outliers.

Doing research for a book, Hate Crime Hoax, I was able to easily put together a data set of 409 confirmed hate hoaxes. An overlapping but substantially different list of 348 hoaxes exists at fakehatecrimes.org, and researcher Laird Wilcox put together another list of at least 300 in his still-contemporary book Crying Wolf. To put these numbers in context, a little over 7,000 hate crimes were reported by the FBI in 2017 and perhaps 8-10% of these are widely reported enough to catch the eye of a national researcher.

Why do hoaxers hoax? In some cases, the motivations are tawdry and financial. Jussie Smollett allegedly wanted to make himself a sympathetic figure to boost his salary.

However, the motivations of many hoaxers are honorable if misguided. In college campus hate hoax cases (Kean College, U-Chicago), the individuals responsible almost invariably say that they staged incidents to call attention to real incidents of racist violence on campus. Certainly, the media giants that leap to publicize hate crime stories later revealed to be fakes, and the organizations that line up to defend their “victims” — the Southern Poverty Law Center, Black Lives Matter, CAIR — think that they are providing a public service by fighting bigotry.

Given the Duke player's rhetoric (as well as the rhetoric of her godmother), "honorable if misguided" may be an apt descriptor.  More from the article:

Quote

However, hate crime hoaxers are “calling attention to a problem” that is a very small part of total crimes. There is very little brutally violent racism in the modern USA. There are less than 7,000 real hate crimes reported in a typical year. Inter-racial crime is quite rare; 84% of white murder victims and 93% of Black murder victims are killed by criminals of their own race, and the person most likely to kill you is your ex-wife or husband. When violent inter-racial crimes do occur, whites are at least as likely to be the targets as are minorities. Simply put, Klansmen armed with nooses are not lurking on Chicago street corners.

In this context, what hate hoaxers actually do is worsen generally good race relations, and distract attention from real problems. As Chicago’s disgusted top cop, Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson, pointed out yesterday, skilled police officers spent four weeks tracking down Smollett’s imaginary attackers — in a city that has seen 28 murders as of Feb. 9th, according to The Chicago Tribune. We all, media and citizens alike, would be better served to focus on real issues like gun violence and the opiate epidemic than on fairy tales like Jussie’s.

Yep. 

Here is Richardsons' posted-on-Twitter statement:

A few observations:

1. She was purportedly "heckled {from the stands} throughout the entirety of the match."  And yet nobody from the stands heard anything.  Not any students.  Not any of the members of the nearby men's b-ball team (many of whom are black), not the police officer stationed nearby after the claim was made, not the four ushers who were also stationed there.

2. She says that both she and her "fellow African American teammates ... were targeted and racially heckled."  And yet no news reports I have read give any indication that any of her teammates are corroborating her story.

3. She says that the "slurs and comments grew into threats which caused us to feel unsafe."  Again, there is no indication that any of other black players in the "us" are corroborating Richardson's story.

4. She speaks of "racist, ignorant, and asinine behaviors that were exhibited by their {BYU's} fans during the match" and "racist bigots."  So how many "fans" were involved?  What did they say?  And why did nobody else but Richardson hear these things?  And why were these "behaviors" not picked up on any video/audio recording?

5. Her rhetoric about "administrators have a chance to educate," "you must demonstrate that you are anti-racist," her endorsement of "A Long Talk," seems a bit contrived and opportunistic.

I can't altogether dismiss the self-interested motives, such as notoriety, praise, etc.  None of us knew who Rachel Richardson was before this story.  Now we all do.

See, e.g., here:

Quote

Just to review: Duke’s Rachel Richardson accuses a BYU fan of yelling racial slurs at her. Her godmother — who is running for public office in Texas and has a history of racist remarks against white people — tweets that Richardson was called the “N-word” repeatedly throughout the match.

ESPN then interviews Richardson on ”Outside The Lines” in which they do not question her story in the slightest, even though by then there were several reasons to be skeptical. No evidence or witnesses support her claims.

A slew of left-leaning colleges and out of touch woke media outlets use the completely unsubstantiated claims made by Richardson to grandstand and preach that racism is bad, implying BYU is racist.

Rachel Richardson is hailed as a brave hero worthy of celebration. When the only thing that’s clear at this point in time is that Richardson’s claims are worthy of far more scrutiny.

And here:

Quote

The University of South Carolina women's basketball team has cancelled its scheduled home-and-home series with BYU for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons, the program announced Friday. The decision is in response to Duke volleyball player Rachel Richardson saying she heard racial slurs directed toward her and other Black players from the BYU student section at a recent match.

The Gamecocks were set to open their season vs. BYU on Nov. 7. South Carolina is now working on finalizing another opponent for the game at Colonial Life Arena.

"As a head coach, my job is to do what's best for my players and staff," said Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley in a statement. "The incident at BYU has led me to reevaluate our home-and-home, and I don't feel that this is the right time for us to engage in this series."

...

Friday was not the first time Staley commented publicly on Richardson's incident. The 2022 Naismith Women's Coach of the Year replied to the Duke sophomore on Twitter on Aug. 28.

Quote

Rachel you and your teammates are incredibly brave. This is one more hurdle black athletes have to leap because they are black. Rachel…your mental strength and endurance should not have been tested in this manner….but when it was you passed. Godspeed to you all!

 

More here:

Quote

As we have reported here on OutKick, details continue to emerge about the allegations made by Duke volleyball player Rachel Richardson. The 19-year-old sophomore alleges that a BYU fan called her a racial slur several times during their match on Friday.

OutKick has obtained a copy of the police report from that night, provided by the BYU Police. According to the report, the officer that was placed near the BYU student section — following complaints from the Duke players and staff — heard no “inappropriate comments or language.”

BYU Police Det. Sgt. Richard Laursen was summoned to stand next to the man who was alleged to have made the racial comments. That fan has since been banned for life from BYU athletic venues.

According to a police report filed by Laursen the night of the incident, the man did not make any racial remarks while he was standing near him. That included the fourth set when Richardson alleged to have heard a slur while she was serving in front of the ROC (Roar of the Cougar) student section.

“During the game and while I was standing on the sideline between the Duke players and the ROC section, I didn’t hear or observe any inappropriate comments or language from the ROC section,” Det. Sgt. Laursen wrote in the police report.

The man in question asked why Laursen was summoned over to the section.

“I told him I was there listening for inappropriate comments toward the Duke players and the fan told me that he hadn’t heard any inappropriate comments,” Laursen responded. “He said he told the players that they shouldn’t hit the ball into the net, but that was the only comment he made to the Duke players.”

Laursen later described the man as potentially having a developmental disability.

“He seemed to be more interested in talking to me than cheering for BYU. It was evident based on the individual’s comments, stuttered speech and mannerisms that he has special needs,” Laursen wrote.

“Based on my training and experience in Crisis Intervention Training, he may have (A)sperger syndrome or could have autism. The individual was articulate, but socially awkward. The individual kept scrolling through his phone and didn’t seem too involved in the game.”

Laursen also revealed that he received mixed reviews on his performance in the situation, praised by one Duke player but chided by other players and coaches.

“I was thanked by one of the Duke players. She shook my hand and said thanks for having their team’s back,” he said. Later, he wrote he “was told the Duke players and coaches were very upset with what happened during the game and that the racial comments toward the Duke players was still happening during the fourth set that that (sic) I didn’t do anything about the comments being made.”

“I told the (BYU) Athletic staff that I never heard one racial comment being made,” he added.

Despite Laursen reporting to the BYU staff that he did not hear any racially-charged language, they issued a lengthy apology denouncing the behavior that has yet been proven to have occurred.

...

Laursen also reported to have reviewed film of the game following the event to see if he could observe the behavior reported by the Duke team and Rachel Richardson.

“There was nothing seen on the game film that led me to believe (he) was the person who was making comments to the player who complained about being called the ‘N’ word,” Laursen wrote.

“During the second set, when the comment was reported to having been made, (he) was not present when the player was serving,” Laursen added. “On her second time serving during the set, (he) was on his phone and didn’t appear to be paying attention to the game.”

Despite Laursen’s report that directly contradicted Duke’s account, BYU still banned the fan from all athletic venues.

I guess I appreciate that BYU took this issue seriously, but I think they now need to continue to do so.  Not just sweep it under the rug.

21 minutes ago, jkwilliams said:

Of course it’s possible it was a malicious hoax. I’m just not comfortable jumping to that conclusion. 

Nor am I.  No "jumping" needed at this point, nor a "conclusion."  Like you, I want this matter fully examined and reported.  And if it is a hoax, that deserves just as much attention as the original story did.

The Deseret News just posted an Op-Ed:

Quote

BYU on trial in the court of public opinion

BYU volleyball incident made national headlines, but where do we go from here?

By  Doug Robinson

 

The court of public opinion is now in session and BYU is on trial for a racist incident, one in which a fan is accused of yelling the word-you-do-not-say at a visiting player. In the court of public opinion, the university (or whomever is accused) is guilty until proven otherwise — and maybe not even then, because once the accusation is made, whether it’s proven true or false, the stain remains.

This is where things stand after Duke volleyball player Rachel Richardson, who is Black, claimed that she heard “a very strong and negative racial slur” from the student section during a recent volleyball match at BYU’s Smith Fieldhouse.

...

The problem is — and this is a pretty big one — no one else heard the racial slurs. So far, not one person has come forward to say he or she heard anything that was inappropriate. Not the police officer who was posted near the BYU student section. Not the students watching the match just a few feet from the court. Not even Richardson’s Duke teammates. BYU officials can’t find any evidence of it on video, either (since the fans sit close to the court, they are clearly seen on video). The only other people who made the accusation are Richardson’s godmother and father and they weren’t at the match; they were 1,200 miles away, in Texas, and still the first to post the incident via Twitter.

I'm glad to see a bit of clarification on this issue.

Would be better coming from BYU, though.

Quote

And yet condemnation has been swift. No one waited to see what actually happened. South Carolina coach Dawn Staley canceled a home-and-home basketball series with BYU over the incident. College volleyball teams have rushed to post tweets about “Black Outs” to rally behind Richardson — #BlackoutRacism, #StandWithRachelRichardson. The American Volleyball Coaches Association, via tweet, is urging the volleyball community to wear black to stand against racism in response to Richardson. The Deseret News reported that a death threat was made against the BYU volleyball coach. The accusations spread like wildfire in the media throughout the country.

Even BYU, hypersensitive to these issues like all universities, was quick to ban the fan who is at the center of the allegations, before the facts were clear. Richardson singled out one man for yelling the slurs — she said they occurred during the second and fourth sets — but Laursen observed the man and the student section closely in the fourth set after being made aware of the accusations. He said he never heard anything offensive.

“(The man) seemed to be more interested in talking to me than cheering for BYU,” Laursen reported. “It was evident, based on the individual’s comments, stuttered speech and mannerisms, that he has special needs. Based on my training and experience in crisis intervention training, he may have (A)sperger syndrome or could have autism.”

Right from the start, the accusations coming from the Duke volleyball player seemed suspect, and nothing since then has made them seem otherwise. It’s difficult to believe that in this era of hypersensitivity that someone could yell an emotion-charged racial epithet — repeatedly — in a crowd without any objection from those around him. Especially among students. Especially on college campuses. Especially at BYU, where students, obligated by the school Honor Code, are required to report anything that violates school standards.

Yeah, this story doesn't quite pass the smell test.  

Quote

A BYU student newspaper — The Cougar Chronicle — interviewed fans who were sitting in the student section during the match and could not find anyone that corroborated Richardson’s accusations. Several fans went on record to say that they heard no racial slurs and some said they were not aware there was a problem until after the match. According to the Chronicle, the mother of a BYU student says she personally knows five people who were in the student section during the match — one on the court and two on the first row — and none heard a racial slur.

All of this sounds a lot like a similar incident that involved University of Utah basketball player Britton Johnsen many years ago. Following the semifinals of the 1998 Final Four, a North Carolina player accused Johnsen of calling him the word-you-do-not-say. Johnsen denied it and had the full support of his coach and team. It created the predictable media fuss, but the UNC player eventually recanted and apologized.

None of this is to say Richardson didn’t hear something. She says she heard it “very distinctly.” But is it possible she only thought she heard it, that the word was something else?

We will probably never know. Either way, the damage has been done. The court of public opinion has already spoken.

I don't know.  Richardson's claim of having heard it "very distinctly" makes a mishearing less tenable.

Thanks,

-Smac

[jkwilliams]

11 minutes ago, smac97 said:

The motives for bogus hate crime claims are varied.  See, e.g., here: Hate crime hoaxes, like Jussie Smollett's alleged attack, are more common than you think

Given the Duke player's rhetoric (as well as the rhetoric of her godmother), "honorable if misguided" may be an apt descriptor.  More from the article:

Yep. 

Here is Richardsons' posted-on-Twitter statement:

A few observations:

1. She was purportedly "heckled {from the stands} throughout the entirety of the match."  And yet nobody from the stands heard anything.  Not any students.  Not any of the members of the nearby men's b-ball team (many of whom are black), not the police officer stationed nearby after the claim was made, not the four ushers who were also stationed there.

2. She says that both she and her "fellow African American teammates ... were targeted and racially heckled."  And yet no news reports I have read give any indication that any of her teammates are corroborating her story.

3. She says that the "slurs and comments grew into threats which caused us to feel unsafe."  Again, there is no indication that any of other black players in the "us" are corroborating Richardson's story.

4. She speaks of "racist, ignorant, and asinine behaviors that were exhibited by their {BYU's} fans during the match" and "racist bigots."  So how many "fans" were involved?  What did they say?  And why did nobody else but Richardson hear these things?  And why were these "behaviors" not picked up on any video/audio recording?

5. Her rhetoric about "administrators have a chance to educate," "you must demonstrate that you are anti-racist," her endorsement of "A Long Talk," seems a bit contrived and opportunistic.

I can't altogether dismiss the self-interested motives, such as notoriety, praise, etc.  None of us knew who Rachel Richardson was before this story.  Now we all do.

See, e.g., here:

And here:

More here:

I guess I appreciate that BYU took this issue seriously, but I think they now need to continue to do so.  Not just sweep it under the rug.

Nor am I.  No "jumping" needed at this point, nor a "conclusion."  Like you, I want this matter fully examined and reported.  And if it is a hoax, that deserves just as much attention as the original story did.

The Deseret News just posted an Op-Ed:

I'm glad to see a bit of clarification on this issue.

Would be better coming from BYU, though.

Yeah, this story doesn't quite pass the smell test.  

I don't know.  Richardson's claim of having heard it "very distinctly" makes a mishearing less tenable.

Thanks,

-Smac

It doesn’t require a full treatise to see we’re basically on the same page: let the school investigate and see what they find. 

[teddyaware]

2 hours ago, smac97 said:

We had two threads about this story:

BYU bans fan for racial slur

University of South Carolina cancels games with BYU amid alleged racist slur incident with Duke

It seems like the original story got a lot of press coverage.  

It looks like there are articles coming out claiming that the story is a fabrication.  See, e.g., here:

And here:

The above link ("was") goes to this article: Police Find No Evidence BYU Volleyball Fan Yelled ‘N-Word’ During Game

And here:

It seems that so far there is no evidence, apart from the Duke player's accusation, that anyone shouted thee N-word.

And yet BYU banned him anyway.  I hope this gets reviewed and, if appropriate, the banning is undone.

I did wonder how BYU or anyone else identified the kid who was banned.

That's . . . awkward for BYU.  

Yes, I suppose it could mean that.  

I'm curious how they made this identification.

Has anyone listened to the audio?  Seems like the slur would have been picked up if the player was able to hear it.

And yet "Duke coaches and players identified that man as the same one who yelled the N-word from the BYU student section."

And yet "Duke coaches and players identified that man as the same one who yelled the N-word from the BYU student section."

This does not look good for BYU.

Yeesh.  So far the evidence indicates that

• A) the guy, a UVU student, "was not present when Richardson was serving {during the match's second set}, that
• B) he "was playing on his phone" later in the game when Richardson was serving again, but 
• C) he was nevertheless "identified" by "Duke coaches and players" as "the same one who yelled the N-word from the BYU student section," and 
• D) the administration at BYU (not, it seems BYUPD) wanted to "ban" the guy from BYU anyway, and so had BYUPD do so.  And despite the incongruency between the evidence and the accusation,
• E) BYUPD "is no longer looking at the video."

It looks like BYU got unjustifiably raked across the coals, but its response here is . . . bad.  

Oh.  Academic bureaucrats are taking over an investigative function previously performed by (presumably POST-certified) law enforcement officers with BYUPD.

Yeah, really not a good look for BYU here.

Why?  Why is BYUPD not running point?

It's also "unclear" whether there is a conflict of interest in the "investigation" being turned over to administrative/academic staff.

I have previously had some qualms about BYU having its own police force.  This story is strengthening those qualms.

Yep.  But will the "investigation" by administrative/academic staff be subject to public records requests?  I doubt it.

That's a weird thing to say.  

It would also behoove BYU students to go to law enforcement and, if true, state that they did not hear racial slurs being shouted.

The phrase "rush to judgment" comes to mind.

Sheesh.  The Tribune is raising entirely legitimate questions about the accusations in this story.

BYU, it seems, is not.

What is up with BYU?

Um, isn't this a significant point?

During the fourth set, during which "four ushers and an officer" were in the stands, yet the police officer states that he heard nothing (and the four ushers apparently had nothing to say either).

It was during this set, the fourth set, that the racial slurs "escalated?"

Is it, though?

More here:

The above article references "Rachel's godmother Lesa Pamplin."  Ms. Pamplin is currently running a campaign to be a judge in the County Criminal Court in Tarrant County, Texas.  She touts herself as "a former police officer, prosecutor, and current defense attorney."  From the "About" page of her website:

Her personal tweets, however, paint something of a different picture as to the "all mankind" bit:

Per the above link, "Her account is now private."

Also from the above link:

The inflammatory rhetoric, both from those supportive of the Duke player and those who believe she is pulling a Jussie Smollett, is problematic.

This link also includes a summary of Pamplin's tweets:

Also this (same link) :

A fabricated email that bolster's Pamplin's accusation of racism.  Weird.

More here:

And here (ABC 4) :

Here's a report from "Cougar Chronicle":

BYU banned a man with special needs?  Who wasn't even in the student section from whence the purported slurs came?

The Athletic Department at BYU is not exactly covering itself with glory.

Lesa Pamplin was not even at the game.

Yeesh.

More:

More (Washington Examiner) :

More:

These guys are suggesting that not only is this story a hoax, but an orchastrated one.  A shakedown:

More YouTube videos here:

• Duke Volleyball Player Made It All Up?
• Clay Travis: BYU Racial Slur At A Volleyball Game Story Collapses
• Did A Fan ACTUALLY Yell RACIAL SLURS At This Volleyball Game?
• Duke Volleyball Player’s Hate Crime HOAX Is Falling Apart
• No evidence found of banned BYU fan using racist slurs at volleyball game
• No evidence of racial slurs found at Duke-BYU volleyball game
• BYU-Duke Volleyball Race Hoax
• Was It All A Lie? Duke Volleyball Vs BYU!

A few closing thoughts:

1. The accusation seems pretty weak.  Apparently the sole earwitness was the Duke player.  No other first-person accounts.

2. Much of the news coverage arises from vitriolic commentary from the player's "godmother" who A) was not present, B) was previously involved in a scam involving a fabricated email to impute racism against a judge, and C) has a long and well-documented history of saying some pretty awful things about white people.

3. BYU, to its credit, apparently sent both a police officer and four ushers to monitor the student section, none of which reported any racial slurs during times when the Duke player said they were happening.

4. The folks from Duke somehow accused a special needs guy of being the one who yelled the slurs, even though A) he wasn't in the student section during one portion of the game during which slurs were purportedly yelled, B) during another portion of the game when the slurs were purportedly flying, he was playing with his phone, and C) he is apparently special needs.

5. BYU has asked for anyone who saw/heard anything, or recorded anything, to come forward.  Nobody has done so.

6. The entire game was recorded, yet nobody has been able to detect any racial slurs in the recordings.

7. BYUPD has turned the "investigation" over to administrative staff, who have no particular training or expertise in examining video/audio footage.

8. BYUPD, having summarily banned a UVU student (who is apparently also a special needs person), is not presently investigating this matter further.

9. The Salt Lake Tribune, an unofficial BYU student paper (the "Cougar Chronicle"), and various YouTubers who have no connection to BYU have done far more in examining this issue, in terms of evidence and investigation and analysis, than BYU and is police department have done.

10. The differentiation in perspectives on this story is apparently not along racial lines (several of the YouTubers commenting on this story as being a hoax are black).  Nor are the lines ideological in terms of religion (pro- or -con BYU and the Church), as several articles examining this apparent hoax are very critical of BYU's handling of this issue, several have little to nothing to say about BYU's status as a "religious" school affiliated with the Church, and the Tribune hardly has any reason to carry water for BYU  (kudos to their reporting of this, BTW).  

Thoughts?

Thanks,

-Smac

If this is indeed another race hoax, a-la Jussie Smolett’s deceitful and cynical quest for heroic status and glory, then the most likely reason why Pamplin and Richardson thought they could successfully’ ‘pull it off’ is because they believed they could count on the widespread and unfair stereotyping among the woke progressives that the Latter-Day Saints are hateful, hardwired racists who will protect and cover for each other as they carry out their crimes of hate.

[Duncan]

8 minutes ago, teddyaware said:

If this is indeed another race hoax, a-la Jussie Smolett’s deceitful and cynical quest for heroic status and glory, then the most likely reason why Pamplin and Richardson thought they could successfully’ ‘pull it off’ is because they believed they could count on the widespread and unfair stereotyping among the woke progressives that the Latter-Day Saints are hateful, hardwired racists who will protect and cover for each other as they carry out their crimes of hate.

get a life already

[teddyaware]

3 minutes ago, Duncan said:

get a life already

Dare I say it’s obvious that you’re spending much more time wasting your life away on this board than I am? Also, are you so naive that you believe only conservatives can be Machiavellian connivers, and that all woke progressives are unassailable in their actions and as pure as the wind driven snow in their motives? 

[JustAnAustralian]

My biggest issue with the inconsistencies is that she specifically identified the banned individual (based on his voice) as the one that was hurling the insults. At the very least, she should apologise to him if she hasn't already.

[ttribe]

3 hours ago, Senator said:

Holy crap!

When do you have time to hold down a job?

Well, at his billing rate as an attorney, it is very easy to determine what the cost of that post actually was....

[Duncan]

4 minutes ago, teddyaware said:

Dare I say it’s obvious that you’re spending much more time wasting your life away on this board than I am? Also, are you so naive that you believe only conservatives can be Machiavellian connivers, and that all woke progressives are unassailable in their actions and as pure as the wind driven snow in their motives? 

you would only know that if you yourself are "spending much more time wasting your life on this board than I am". No, I think your kind of people poison things and then blame others. Like I said, get a life

[JarMan]

Quote

Oh.  Academic bureaucrats are taking over an investigative function previously performed by (presumably POST-certified) law enforcement officers with BYUPD.

Yeah, really not a good look for BYU here.

Do you really want police (in general) to start policing speech? You don't think it's a crime to yell racial slurs, do you?

[Durangout]

2 hours ago, teddyaware said:

If this is indeed another race hoax, a-la Jussie Smolett’s deceitful and cynical quest for heroic status and glory, then the most likely reason why Pamplin and Richardson thought they could successfully’ ‘pull it off’ is because they believed they could count on the widespread and unfair stereotyping among the woke progressives that the Latter-Day Saints are hateful, hardwired racists who will protect and cover for each other as they carry out their crimes of hate.

Which is exactly what happened with all of the news stories and coverage of the event.

[The Nehor]

https://www.deseret.com/2022/9/6/23339424/byu-duke-volleyball-rachel-richardson-racism-rorschach-test

[jkwilliams]

3 hours ago, The Nehor said:

https://www.deseret.com/2022/9/6/23339424/byu-duke-volleyball-rachel-richardson-racism-rorschach-test

What she said.

[The Nehor]

There is also a huge vacuum of information about this case. Smac’s news articles are more an admission that we know almost nothing and everyone is trying to fill in the holes with something.

I want to know more about the banned guy. One dubious report has him following her back to the van and saying something that isn’t well described. Somehow this became the person was banned for saying the original slurs. Isn’t it more likely the fan was banned for what they said to the person later by the bus? There seems to be a big lack of journalistic curiosity here.