A black college student who last month claimed she was a hate crime victim — which resulted in protests on the campus of Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville — has been accused of making up the whole thing.
What are the details?
Kaliyeha A. Clark-Mabins, 19, was charged Friday with three counts of disorderly conduct for telling campus police that two notes were posted on her dormitory room door reading “BLACK PEOPLE DON’T BELONG” and “DIE BITCH,” the
St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported, citing charging documents.
Campus Reform posted the charging documents identifying Clark-Mabins as a black female. The college’s police department added in a statement that the Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office charged Clark-Mabins with filing a false police report and that the resulting disorderly conduct counts against her are class 4 felonies.
The Post-Dispatch said no lawyer was listed for Clark-Mabins, adding that she couldn’t be immediately reached for comment.
Campus police added that its investigation — which also involved the U.S. Secret Service — concluded that two individuals originally accused have been cleared of any involvement.
University officials said they were “saddened by the harm” the accused pair “endured because of false accusations,” the Post-Dispatch reported.
The paper said the school added: “Although false reporting of racial and bias incidents is isolated and rare, this case should remind every member of our community how important it is to preserve and protect due process and fairness in our procedures and communications.”
Here’s a video report that aired prior to the revelation that the hate crime accusation was fabricated:
SIUE police investigate racial incident on campus
youtu.be
What’s the background?
Campus police on Jan. 23 said they received a report of a hate crime involving the posting of handwritten notes on the dorm room door in Woodland Residence Hall, along with an alleged anonymous text message thread from the fall of 2021 containing threatening and racially hostile content.
Students then launched protests in the wake of what appeared to be white-against-black hate crimes,
KSDK-TV reported.
David Daniel, a senior and vice president of the Black Student Union on campus, told the station the school’s administration sent a campus-wide email about a bias incident. Soon images of the sticky notes were being shared — and KSDK said text message images contained racial slurs and threats, including the N-word and “lynch.”
Daniel then organized a demonstration during which students chanted and held up posters, the station said, adding that in one clip students were seen facing the college chancellor and other staff.
“They say it’s under investigation, but I feel like [the accused] shouldn’t be on campus period,” Daniel added to KSDK. “Because you threatened to lynch students on this campus.”