Hate Crime Hoaxes: Air Force Academy and Kansas State University Edition

Another day, another incident of fake hate revealed.  Two, actually.  Back in September, the United States Air Force Academy Prep School was rocked by the appearance of racial slurs on white boards in the campus dorms.  The resulting video in which Lt. Gen. Jay Silveria addresses the cadets and tells any racists among them to “get out” went viral.

In another incident at Kansas State University, a black student’s car was defaced with racist graffiti.

Both incidents have been revealed to have been perpetrated by the black “victims.”

The racist messages at the Air Force Academy got the most mainstream media attention, and the General’s address to the cadets was broadcast far and wide.

Here’s General Silveria’s viral address to cadets:

When I saw this, my first thought was that it was likely an incident of fake hate.

I’m sure many others thought the same thing.  It just made no sense on any level.  Not only are such incidents of this type of racism typically found to be hoaxes, but I couldn’t fathom someone who is accepted into such a prestigious institution throwing it all away in such a manner.

Sure enough, the incident was investigated and found to be a hoax perpetrated by a now-former black cadet.

Fox News reports:

A racist message posted outside an Air Force Academy dorm in September was written by one of the alleged victims, the school confirmed Tuesday, casting blaring initial coverage of the incident — which lauded the school superintendent’s forceful reaction in an apparent bid to ding President Trump — in a new light.

The student who wrote the slurs, which were discovered in September outside the rooms of five black students at an Air Force Academy dormitory in Colorado Springs, Colo., was no longer at the school, the Academy confirmed. A spokesman declined to say whether the student withdrew or was expelled, citing privacy laws. The student’s name was not released.

In a written statement Tuesday, the academy said: “We can confirm that one of the cadet candidates who was allegedly targeted by racist remarks written outside of their dorm room was actually responsible for the act. The individual admitted responsibility and this was validated by the investigation.”

The Kansas State incident also went viral.

The Kansas City Star reported at the time:

The vandalism of a car near the Kansas State University campus is being investigated as a possible hate crime by the FBI.And university police are increasing patrols on the Manhattan campus.On Wednesday at 7:25 a.m., Riley County police were contacted about a car parked in an off-campus apartment lot in the 2220 block of Claflin Road that had been defaced.“Go Home Nigger Boy” had been painted in yellow across the rear windshield and other expletives and threats were painted along the car’s side doors.According to a police report the car was vandalized sometime between 1:30 a.m. and 3 a.m. on Wednesday. Police began an investigation and filed a report for criminal threat, listing Dauntarius Williams, 21, of Manhattan as the victim.K-State President Richard B. Myers, in a statement released Thursday afternoon, said the racist messages, “are a direct attack on the values of our community.”

It turned out, however, that Williams had put the racist graffiti on his own car.

The Washington Post reported:

A black Kansas man has admitted he put racist graffiti on his own car as a Halloween prank that got out of hand, police said Monday.Photographs posted on social media Wednesday showed the car covered with racial slurs against blacks and messages that included “Go Home,” ‘’Date your own kind,” and “Die.”The vehicle, covered in graffiti scrawled with washable paint, was parked Wednesday at an apartment complex near Kansas State University and the incident fueled racial tensions at the university and in the community.An emergency meeting of the Black Student Union called that evening drew concerned administrators and community leaders as well as students. Kansas State held a Facebook Live event the next day with worried parents. The university stepped up patrols on campus. The FBI opened a civil rights investigation into a possible hate crime.But on Monday the Riley County Police Department issued a news release saying the 21-year-old owner of the vehicle, Dauntarius Williams, had told investigators that he was responsible for the graffiti.Authorities concluded that charging him for filing a false report would “not be in the best interests of the citizens” of Manhattan.

Deciding not to file any charges against Williams is not popular on campus.  The Kansas State Black Student Union is furious and wants criminal charges filed against him immediately.

KTEN reports:

Leaders of the Black Student Union at Kansas State University are calling for charges to be filed against the man who put racist graffiti on his own car as a Halloween prank that got out of hand.The Riley County Police Department said in a release posted to Facebook that that no criminal charges would be filed against 21-year-old Dauntarius Williams for filing a false report. Authorities concluded filing charges would not be in the best interests of the citizens of Manhattan.Black Student Union leaders in a media release said they are appalled, disgusted and hurt by Williams false report and so called “prank”and believe criminal charges should be filed, the Hutch Post reports.“The fact that an African American man committed this act should not undermine its effect on Kansas State students. The conduct of Williams does not negate the current racist and discriminatory actions that continue on campus, community, the state and nation.”

Tags: College Insurrection, Culture, Hoaxes

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