September 7, 2019

USA: A University of Illinois Transgender Student Who Identifies As Female Accused Of Tying A Noose And Leaving It In A Residence Hall Elevator Was Charged Tuesday With A Felony Hate Crime.

CBS42 News, Birmingham local
written by AP staff
Tuesday September 3, 2019

URBANA, Ill. — A University of Illinois student who is accused of tying a noose and leaving it in a residence hall elevator was charged Tuesday with a hate crime.

Andrew Smith, 19, found some rope in the elevator in Allen Hall over the weekend and tied it into a noose, Champaign County Assistant State’s Attorney Kristin Alferink said during the arraignment.

University spokeswoman Robin Kaler said students in the hall on the Urbana campus reported finding the noose early Sunday. Their find quickly blew up on social media and, seeing that, a woman who says she was with Smith when he tied the noose reported him to school authorities.

Smith, of Normal, was arrested Monday and charged the next day with felony hate crime and misdemeanor disorderly conduct charges.

Alferink said Smith told university police that he “only spent about 30 seconds thinking about his actions” and that even after checking social media, didn’t think his actions were serious enough to turn himself in.
I don't understand. Did Smith deliberately want to make the rope she found in the elevator look like a noose to taunt Black students? Or was she just fiddling with the rope and making a knot while waiting to reach her floor? Did Smith have malicious intent? That's what I want to know. Because this could very well be a fake hate crime and the Black students could be outraged and offended for something they are PERCEIVING TO BE a racist act and it may not have been at all. (emphasis mine)
Defense attorney Audrey Thompson on Tuesday declined to comment on the charges. She described her client during the arraignment as a sophomore with enough credits to graduate this year and a GPA of 3.79.

Smith enrolled at the University of Illinois in fall 2018 and is majoring in math, according to Kaler.

“The university does not condone acts of intolerance, bias, or prejudice,” Kaler said in a statement Tuesday. She said support staff are available for students who feel overwhelmed because of the noose.

Judge Roger Webber set Smith’s bond at $5,000 and scheduled another hearing for Oct. 22.
I looked for news reporting on this matter of the arrest. I found one few seconds clip from a local Chicago station. It was all the rage before the arrest and now that the person arrested is a transgender person, everything went radio silent on the matter. I don't know exactly what transpired that's why I wanted to get more information about it.

She's innocent until proven guilty of a crime. She was charged with a felony hate crime, but has not yet been found guilty in a court of law. I want to see a picture of how she tied the rope. Because the women that was in the elevator with her didn't mind at all when she witnessed her pick up the rope found in the elevator and tie a knot. It wasn't until other students saw the rope in the elevator, then posted it on social media. Did these other students tamper with the knot that she tied and make it look like a noose? The woman that was with her in the elevator came forward AFTER the other students made the noose story go viral on social media. This smells like a Jussie Smollett case. It's probably just a string she was fiddling with waiting to reach her floor in the elevator and not even a rope. Jussie Smollett said rope was put around his neck made into a noose. When we saw the actual rope, it was clothesline string that he had his 2 friends make it look like he was being lynched. (emphasis mine)

UPDATE 9/8/19 at 1:36pm: Added tweets below.

Posted by Princess Mononoke at 5:47 PM

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