Indiana University police are reporting that a group of Asian-American students were attacked, assaulted, and robbed by a group of African-American youths — who yelled anti-Asian slurs moments before the attack — on the Indiana University campus on Sunday morning.
The attack happened near the Forrest Quad Tower early Sunday morning and a student who spoke to Fox59 heard the commotion, but he told us he didn’t get a good look at the people.
“When I went by I couldn’t really tell, it was dark. People had their hoods up,” said Devon Sullivan.
“People {were} yelling and screaming at each other. Then it sounded like somebody got hit really bad and that’s when I came around front and told somebody about it.”
Officers say the attackers were African-Americans, four males and two females. Police say they believe just three of them are the main suspects.
Investigators are calling it an isolated incident but they’re treating this as a hate crime, given the circumstances.
“I’ve also been in touch with our local FBI office. I have shared the case with them. If they want to pursue any civil rights violations, they’re looking at that as well,” said IU Police Chief Keith Cash.
This incident is terrible not just because of the inherent violence, but how incidents like these have strained inter-ethnic tension between the African- and Asian-American communities on other campuses. Hopefully there will be a measured on-campus response that will help coalition-building and communication at IU in the coming days.
