FBI Probes Possible Hate Crime at U-Va

The FBI has joined the investigation into the racially tinged assault this week on a University of Virginia student during her campaign for student government president, campus police said yesterday.

A 19-year-old sophomore from Columbia, S.C., told police she was assaulted by an unknown man shortly before 2 a.m. Wednesday when she left a friend's room on the historic Lawn at the center of campus to retrieve a cellular phone from her car. The Cavalier Daily student newspaper reported that she told police her assailant slammed her head into the steering wheel and referred to her candidacy with a racial epithet.

I believe it is a hoax as well - here are the reasons why.

- The absence of any direct eyewitnesses to the crime itself.

- The relatively minor injuries suffered by Ms. Lundy (no black eyes despite allegedly being slammed into the steering wheel forcefully, no other marks/scratches around the face, broken bones or wounds; leaving open the possibility of self infliction or having a friend do it with reluctance, so as not to cause serious physical harm). Racially motivated attacks tend to be vicious in nature, leaving much more in the way of physical injury.

- The absence of vandalism to her vehicle. If someone were lying in wait, they could very well have had her tires slashed or car doors keyed as an act of intimidation, however this was not done.

- The unusual circumstances of their encounter. How were her whereabouts known at 2 am? How could someone lurk around her car or the Lawn area for several hours in cold weather without being noticed and reported to the police as a prowler/potential rapist by concerned residents?

I believe it is a hoax as well - here are the reasons why. ...

It's really much worse than the picture you paint.

My comments here are excerpted from a letter I wrote to the CavDaily based upon an article they published. (My daughter graduated from UVa in 2001.)

The italics are quotes from the CavDaily article followed by my comments.

Lundy had just left the Lawn room of Tim Lovelace, student member of the Board of Visitors, to retrieve her cellular phone from her car, parked at the end of the alley.

My daughter and her cell phone are inseparable. (I have also observed this trait among all of her contemporaries.) My daughter does not leave her cell phone anywhere! But if she did leave it in a car, and she was in a Lawn room at 2AM and wanted to make a call, or even check her messages she would use the phone in that room, especially on a cold winter night.

"While she was searching for her phone, an unknown assailant reportedly assaulted Lundy. As she was leaning into her car, the assailant allegedly grabbed Lundy by the hair and slammed her head against the steering wheel. She subsequently fell to the ground, causing minor injury to her ankle.

So she went to her own car to "search" for her own phone? Please! I assume this comes from her own report. Why didn't she just say "get"? And some tough "slammed" her head against the steering, I'm guessing before she knew what was happening, and the only injury she sustained was a minor ankle injury?

Police provided a description of the alleged assailant yesterday in a press release, describing the suspect as 'a heavyset white male, wearing a dark coat, light pants and a dark hat."

The article implies that this description must have come from Lundy herself. But it seems to be too good a description to have come from someone attacked without warning, and left lying on the ground.

Lawn residents were called to the scene of the assault Wednesday morning when Lundy repeatedly honked her car horn. Lovelace heard the honking and decided to make sure things were okay, said McCarthy, who lives two rooms down from Lovelace and has been actively involved in Lundy's campaign.

When Lovelace arrived on the scene, Lundy was lying on the ground and he began screaming.

But previously it was reported she just leaned into the car, and then started being beaten. This report makes it clear that she remained on the ground from the time of the beating until people, apparently political associates, came to "assist" her. When, exactly did the opportunity to repeatedly honk her car horn arise?

An ambulance soon arrived on the scene and carried Lundy to the University Medical Center. She subsequently was released, having sustained no serious injuries.

Surprise, surprise! Tiwana Brawley comes to mind. The heavyset white guy slammed her head into the steering wheel, but there are not even bruises to report.

The Washington Post picture of Lundy is really something! (not reproduced here only because of the Copyright Mess, but one should definately have a look at Lundy to see how her "minor ankle injury" is being treated)

ML/NJ

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