Share
News

Two Students Face Criminal Charges for Saying the N-Word to No One in Particular

Share

Two University of Connecticut students are facing criminal charges for allegedly yelling a racial epithet.

On Oct. 11, three students were walking across a parking lot. They were amusing themselves by shouting vulgar words, The New York Times reported.

As the students neared a student housing complex, two of the three decided to yell the N-word, and they were recorded by a student inside.

The video made the rounds of social media and was seen by the campus police, who charged Jarred Karal and Ryan Mucaj, both 21, with violating a Connecticut hate crime law that punishes ridicule based upon creed, religion, color, denomination, nationality or race.

The charge can result in a fine of up to $500 or 30 days in jail or both, The Washington Post reported.

Trending:
Hillary Clinton Jumps Into Trump 'Bloodbath' Frenzy with a Question, Doesn't Want to Hear the Answers

Stephanie Reitz, a college spokeswoman, said the two students are also being investigated for possible violations of the student code of conduct, which could result in their being expelled.

Since the video went viral, some are portraying the Storrs, Connecticut, campus as a seething hotbed of racism.

Do you think the students' actions warranted their arrest?

“It impacts the very essence of our campus culture, and directly impacts many of our marginalized groups,” Tiyah Thompson, assistant treasurer of UConn’s NAACP chapter, said, according to the Wilton Bulletin. “Eliminating all hate speech throughout our academic environment, inside and outside the classroom, throughout residence halls, and anywhere else for that matter, will require effort from all community members.”

In a letter to the college newspaper, the Daily Campus, the NAACP said another incident of racism took place at a fraternity party when fraternity members used a racial slur in talking to a female student.

“If the university does not adequately address and handle these occurrences of racism appropriately, it will create a culture in which racism is tolerated and normalized,” the NAACP letter said. “We demand for your full assurance that you will take appropriate measures to hold the students involved in these heinous acts of racism accountable.”

The NAACP made a list of demands, including a new code of conduct on racism and hate speech, a mandatory course on diversity, and the hiring of more black administrators, faculty, staff and police officers.

“I feel uncomfortable and scared on this campus at this point,” student Areon Mangan said, according to WTNH-TV. “We want change. This is not fair to us. It’s disrespectful and it’s just not OK.”

Related:
Harvard's Star Honesty Researcher Busted in Probe, Investigators Recommend Termination

UConn President Thomas C. Katsouleas condemned the incident as “deplorable and antithetical to the values of our community and the university as a whole.”

The arrests caused a buzz on Twitter, with some questioning the constitutionality of the Connecticut ridicule statute and others condemning university officials.

A professor was among those criticizing the university’s response.

“I have been a professor here for almost three decades and once again I find myself pleading with an apparently uncaring university administration to deal with the university’s not so little white racism problem,” sociology professor Noël A. Cazenave wrote in a letter to the editor in the Daily Campus.

Truth and Accuracy

Submit a Correction →



We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

Tags:
, , , ,
Share
Jack Davis is a freelance writer who joined The Western Journal in July 2015 and chronicled the campaign that saw President Donald Trump elected. Since then, he has written extensively for The Western Journal on the Trump administration as well as foreign policy and military issues.
Jack Davis is a freelance writer who joined The Western Journal in July 2015 and chronicled the campaign that saw President Donald Trump elected. Since then, he has written extensively for The Western Journal on the Trump administration as well as foreign policy and military issues.
Jack can be reached at jackwritings1@gmail.com.
Location
New York City
Languages Spoken
English
Topics of Expertise
Politics, Foreign Policy, Military & Defense Issues




Conversation