Northwestern Student Charged With Faking Racist Attacks

CHICAGO -- A 19-year-old Northwestern University student was charged with felony disorderly conduct for allegedly faking two racist incidents earlier this month because "he wanted to do something to motivate minority students," police said Tuesday.

Jaime A. Saide (pictured, right), 19, of Des Moines, was charged late Monday with two counts of felony disorderly conduct for filing separate false police reports claiming he was the victim of a hate crime, Evanston Police Commander Michael Perry said.

In the first report, filed Nov. 4, Saide said someone hung a sign on the door of his dormitory room that read, "Die Spic," Perry said.

Northwestern had offered a $2,500 reward for the arrest of anyone involved in the incident, university spokesman Alan Cubbage said at the time. University police found racial slurs and the word "die" written on a wall near the student's room in Chapin Residential College, as well as a piece of paper hanging outside the door with the similar messages, Cubbage said.

On Nov. 8, Saide filed a report stating he was attacked as he walked north on Sherman Avenue near University Place in Evanston, Perry said. Saide said a man walked up behind him, put a knife to the side of his neck and said, "Spic, we didn't run away this time," according to Perry.

Police were skeptical of Saide's account, and he later admitted he concocted both incidents because he was concerned about racism on campus, Perry said.

Saide was charged late Monday and held overnight before attending a bond hearing Tuesday morning at the Skokie Courthouse, Perry said. Perry did not know the bond set in the case.

Perry said Evanston and Northwestern University police continued to investigate a series of bona fide hate-crime incidents that have occurred recently on or near the campus.

An anti-Semitic phrase was found Nov. 9 written on an outside wall of the Norris University Center, near where a 3-foot-tall swastika scrawled in blue marker also was found that day, Kimberly Carter, office administrator at the Fiedler Hillel Center, 629 Foster St. in Evanston, had said.

The first in the latest incidents of vandalism occurred Oct. 30, when police found a swastika written in pencil in the hallway of Willard Hall. No forced entry was involved in that incident, so the university believed the vandal to be a student, Cubbage said.

During the spring of 2003, at least four incidents were reported in which racial slurs and a picture of lynching were drawn on doors of three African-American students' dorms, Cubbage said.

Police have yet to arrest anyone for the crimes, which do not appear to "have a pattern," Cubbage said.

During the fall, the university took measures to prevent further hate-related vandalism from happening, including meeting with student leaders and revising freshman orientation materials, "but apparently not successfully," Cubbage said.

Students protested the crimes last week by wearing black as a show of solidarity and holding several rallies and candlelight vigils.

Saide was scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing at 9 a.m. Dec. 1 in Skokie Court, Perry said.

From the Daily Northwestern:

EDITORIAL: Lies don't change importance of united campus
November 20, 2003

He lied to all of us. But when Communication freshman Xander Saide concocted two hate crimes, he went beyond simply fabricating events. He exploited and manipulated the Northwestern community at one of its most vulnerable moments.

As time elapses we'll respond as we did when we believed Saide's story to be true: by learning from what happened and enacting positive changes. But if any good comes from Saide's hoax, he deserves no credit.

Saide told police the words "Die Spic" were written near his dorm room Nov. 4. Four days later, he said, someone grabbed him on the street and put a knife to his throat, whispering, "Spic, we didn't run away this time." When confessing that neither incident occurred, Saide told police his goal was to inspire a campus dialogue on race relations.

We'll probably never know whether this reason or a sick need for attention truly motivated Saide -- and frankly it doesn't matter. His actions are no less destructive because they were rooted in noble intentions. He is not a martyr for his causes. In fact Saide hurt the causes he said he was trying to help, causes championed so passionately by students victimized by real incidents of bias on campus. Saide also provided an easy example for those people who react skeptically to all hate crimes to cite when defending their prejudices. He did nothing but give them more fuel for their convictions.

Even though the protest at The Rock Nov. 12 prominently featured Saide and his fabricated stories, the event still was an example of the best NU has to offer. The value of the rally had nothing to do with an individual incident. It instead illustrated that students are united and committed to taking back control of their school. No made-up story will ever change or detract from that.

Students must not let one misguided individual slow the real progress they were making. If anything they should fight harder to prove it doesn't take such an outrageous, terrible incident to inspire a real campus dialogue. Campus leaders should be courageous and expand that dialogue beyond racism to race in general. Though the rally at The Rock was reactionary, it was a necessary response. But for any long-term effects to be felt at NU, dialogue must be a constant, underlying aspect of life on campus.

We learned the lesson painfully, but this quarter has shown that race is a critical part of one's identity that can't be ignored. Racism and hate crimes do exist -- both in the real world and at NU. The three-foot swastika on the side of Norris University Center was not a lie. And it is because of this incident and others like it -- not Saide -- that real questions are finally being raised.

These are questions bigger than any one individual, addressing institutional problems. They cannot be fixed in a single editorial, conference or rally -- but at least they're finally being asked. Student groups' original responses to the incidents of bias on campus still are appropriate and absolutely necessary. Groups such as For Members Only and the Multiethnic InterVarsity Christian Fellowship are offering programming aimed at fostering communication among students and improving diversity. These efforts must not be tainted or forgotten in the wake of these latest developments.

Saide's lies compounded the damage done by the legitimate racist acts on campus, but NU will heal in time -- ultimately becoming stronger than it was to begin with. No matter what Saide's actions ultimately accomplish, though, it wasn't worth it. His lies cost too much.

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