[Update 2/4/11: This post was written immediately after the allegations emerged and does not reflect my views on the case. I raised questions early about inconsistencies in the accuser's account and became a vocal critic of Mike Nifong's prosecution. The charges were later dropped and Nifong was eventually disbarred for prosecutorial misconduct.]
Here in Durham, the local community and campus are in turmoil as disturbing details emerge of a racially charged incident in which white members of the Duke lacrosse team allegedly gang-raped an African American stripper at an off-campus house:
The woman who says she was raped last week by three members of the Duke University lacrosse team thought she would be dancing for five men at a bachelor party, she said Friday. But when she arrived that night, she found herself surrounded by more than 40.
Just moments after she and another exotic dancer started to perform, she said, men in the house started barking racial slurs. The two women, both black, stopped dancing."We started to cry," she said. "We were so scared."Forty-six members of the men's lacrosse team submitted DNA samples Thursday in the unusual case. As of late Friday, there had been no arrests...Details of the accusations were made public this week in a warrant authorizing a search of the three-bedroom rental house where the attack is alleged to have taken place...
The accuser had worked for an escort company for two months, doing one-on-one dates about three times a week."It wasn't the greatest job," she said, her voice trailing off. But with two children, and a full class load at N.C. Central University, it paid well and fit her schedule.This was the first time she had been hired to dance provocatively for a group, she said. There was no security to protect her, and as the men became aggressive, the two women started to leave. After some of the men apologized for the behavior, the women went back inside, according to police. That's when the woman was pulled into a bathroom and raped and sodomized, police said...Jason Bissey, who was on his porch next door during the party, saw the victim that night. He said Friday that he wishes he had called police at the first sign something was wrong.
He saw at least 30 men go into the white three-bedroom house, which Duke officials say is rented by three lacrosse team captains.Bissey saw two women arrive and, after they were in the house 20 minutes, come out. As they got into a car, men shouted, Bissey said."Some of them were saying things like, 'I want my money back,' " Bissey said.He recalled the racially charged statements at least one man was yelling at the victim."When I was outside, one guy yelled at her, '... Thank your grandpa for my cotton shirt,' " Bissey said.After a few minutes, everything seemed to calm down, he said. One of the women headed back into the house, saying she forgot her shoes.Days later, Bissey learned one of the young women reported being raped.
I'm disgusted. The lacrosse team has already forfeited two games. I hope they forfeit the rest of the season.
Update 3/26 11:45 AM: This story is about to get a lot bigger -- Drudge has a link up, and I suspect the national media won't be far behind.
Update 3/28 8:30 AM: I want to be absolutely clear that all the players are innocent until proven guilty, as a commenter notes. The DNA results may be back in as little as a week, so we need to sit tight for at least that long before any serious decisions are made.
absolutely awful...as a long time lacrosse fan, I'm ashamed at these recent events. This is definitely going national given the clout of the school and the details of the alleged crime. Look for this to further propagate the stereotype of lax kids being spoiled, rich white kids
Posted by: | March 26, 2006 at 11:52 AM
Duke must disband this team. If team loyalty prevents someone from speaking up and identifying these criminals, there is no hope. Sickening.
Posted by: Raleighite | March 27, 2006 at 10:01 AM
Disgusting, absolutely awful, horrific... yes. Assuming that it is true. It seems that everyone is ready to crucify these boys before ANY evidence has yet been mustered. As of now, it is the uncorroborated statement of the two strippers against those of the entire team. I am not going to try and claim that I have any insight as to what happened, BUT, neither should anyone else. The fact of the matter is that we simply don't know and CAN'T know until more evidence is gathered. THAT is why we have a police force as well as a judicial system. Before we start staging protests outside these boys houses, and having professors send out emails to their entire classes telling their students to "everytime you see them, shame the lacrosse boys into fessing up", maybe we should wait just a little bit?
If it is determined by a jury that these boys did what the strippers allege then they should be punished to the full extent of the law, but the fact of the matter is we just can not know that yet, and they are entitled to a constitutional presumption of innocence just like everyone else... no matter how much your bleeding heart wants to assume that a group of priveleged white boys in the south vicitimized two black women. It seems that there is a penchant for getting outraged in this country, we all seem to jump at any opportunity to do so. However, it is not our job to determine guilt or innocence in these situations, that is why we have a judicial system. There have been times in the past when people took it into their own hands to make those decisions, but I think its fair to say that most of us don't consider lynch mobs or witch trials high points in American history....
Posted by: jwc19 | March 28, 2006 at 01:33 AM
Continually referring to the alleged victims as "strippers" makes your position quite clear. Nice try, though.
Yes, they're "innocent until proven guilty" but there is OVERWHELMING evidence that they did what the women say they did. And their silence is quite damning.
Posted by: Raleighite | March 28, 2006 at 10:25 AM
Hmmmm??? Whenever an Black athlete is accused of some criminal conduct, particularly of a sexual nature, it is a fact until he his proven innocent.
Yes, to continually refer to the "alleged victims" as "strippers" some how minimizes the criminal behavior of these "good kids", and that is how they'll be charaterized in the media, as "good kids'.
Yes, these are most likely a group of rich, spolied, white boys who will get every benefit of the doubt right up to the last minute.
There are no surprises here and the outcome is almost predictable, this level of predictability is just one of many rewards that come with white privilege. Angry? Upset? Naw, honest discourse is good for the soul and we'd all be much better off if we engaged in more of it.
Posted by: AFF | March 28, 2006 at 12:22 PM
Another update:
http://www.newsobserver.com/1005/story/422878.html
Duke University announced at a press conference this evening that the university’s lacrosse team will not participate in competition until DNA tests the team’s captains say will vindicate the players are complete.
Posted by: Raleighite | March 28, 2006 at 10:28 PM
i cant believe the innapropriate reaction to this case...
just wait because you all owe these men an appology
Posted by: | March 30, 2006 at 05:18 PM
If the team players were Black the media would portray them as out of control barbarians and if the dancers were White the media would portray them as the innocent victim that was brutally raped. The media would villianize the Black men.IN this case some people probably think that because the dancers were Black then they were whores who had it coming and the White player were just "good kids" who made a mistake.
Posted by: bumblebee | March 30, 2006 at 07:38 PM
Before pre-judging the lacrosse players, people making and reading hysterical and prejudicial comments in the media should consider the Tawana Brawley hoax - the story of a 15 year old found in a garbage bag covered with feces and racial slurs written on her body, who claimed she had been sexually assaulted by a group of white men one of whom was alleged to have been a white police officer. In that matter the girl had claimed she had been in the garbage bag for four days, but before the grand jury evidence showed she suffered no symptoms of malnourishment or exposure, and had, in fact, brushed her teeth shortly before being found. Privileged white athletes are unfortuately perfect targets for setting up racial hysteria and selling news. Giving merit to the claims by national publication before the DNA tests come back identifying the alleged rapists is despicable.
Posted by: Amicuriae | April 01, 2006 at 01:27 PM
Sigh, people still want to live off Tawana Brawley. The truth alone is enough to condemn these boys. A party off campus mixing alchohol with minors, lewd sexual conduct, racial slurs cooberated by 3rd party, and the vow of silence. If you really want to talk black, these kids wouldve been expelled by now. They wouldnt need a rape conviction.
Posted by: Streetdreamer | April 02, 2006 at 07:31 AM
Boy, must piss off some people that the DNA didn't match any of those "guilty players"...maybe because they didn't do it??
Posted by: Alex | April 11, 2006 at 01:41 PM
glad i went to caltech. i certainly wont be hiring any duke graduates after looking into this. 1/3 of the lax team had arrest records/suspended sentances for misdemeanors.
i must say, hard to hide the egregiously bad conduct of one of the duke lax players saying he was going to...oh well its so shocking, i cant repeat it, but here's the link. and this blog defends these cads?
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0405061duke1.html
in what 70 % of rape cases dna isnt recovered and if you read the police report, at the very least the poor girl was robbed. the medical staff reported injuries consistent with rape. the police were able to verify her stories. if the lax players were wearing jackets and condoms, perhaps dna evidence would not be as easily recoverable.
duke is a national disgrace, glads its not my alma mater.
at the very least besides bad judgemet, vulgarity, and lewdness a robbery took place.
and the teams lack of cooperation with the police is telling.
but dont worry, im a rich well educated, white elite, and i know the way the system works, 'daddies' lawyers will get the boys off while a bunch of racists jerks on this web make execuses for the criminals that attend duke.
what a fine example of bigotry this blog is. what a damning email sent by duke student.
Posted by: jj | April 12, 2006 at 05:30 AM
I am a Durham resident. I am not a Duke grad, I'm not affiliated with Duke and, truth be told, I'm not even a Duke fan.
Two men in Durham are currently under arrest for shooting a third man on a public bus in January. There were witnesses and they were arrested. The police say it was gang-related, and may have been a pre-mediated homicide. The bail of both was set at $250,000, until one recently got his reduced to $25,000. When Kobe Bryant was accused of rape, the press reported the alleged sexual activity of his accuser with other men within a few weeks.
Two Duke students are now accused of rape. Their bail is $400,000 each. NPR (incorrectly) reported today that both had been accused of killing the woman they raped. There are local protests at least weekly. The entire team is disgraced, the university is disgraced, and public officials are holding meetings at the university attended by the alleged victim to assure the student body there and the public that justice will be done. No such meetngs have been held at Duke to assure students and the public that a national institution and a student body of tens of thousands will not continue to be villified based on the allegations of one person.
Anyone who claims that this case represents favoritism toward the accused is either ignorant of the facts or hopelessly politicized to the point of irrationality.
Posted by: | April 19, 2006 at 08:32 PM
Regarding Kobe Bryant's accuser...she was wearing panties to the hospital that had another man's DNA on them...Regarding this case, there are multiple individuals that know what went on and they are remaining silent. This could all be ended if at least one soul existed amongst the party attendees. Based upon what I read, if she arrived at 11:30pm she was probably given a date rape drug if she accepted a drink. That would explain her poor decision to re-enter the house. However, those photos are questionable since it shows her standing one minute(1230) and exactly one minute later(1231) she is stumbling down the stairs. She entered the house to retrieve a shoe. There is something questionable in those photos; the dancers advise they left a short time after dancing(1155 start) and being threatened with a broomstick approx 1202. Twenty-six minutes or so is a long time outside before she went back in to retrieve her shoe(according to the photos). According to the accused she re-entered the home a few minutes after leaving..1202 approx. The photos show her passed out about 1237. She didn't look impaired 7 minutes earlier. If she supposedly arrived impaired according to the players, how did she perk up an hour later? Find the articles with the timestamp on the photos... And the DNA was tampered with...anyone that believes that it wasn't is dreaming. Why the DA didn't send the samples to some place out of state is beyond me...
Posted by: SuddenImpact | April 20, 2006 at 10:16 PM
How an NCAA championship contending sports team can have its season ended solely on the word of a drug-addled,dipsomaniac,whore boggles the mind.Would Duke have stopped the basketball season?
Posted by: Tom Dockery | September 07, 2006 at 12:06 AM