Update III: Followed up.

Emily Mitchell, a field representative for Leadership Institute, reports via email that two Arizona State University professors assaulted, injured, and harassed her yesterday over her support of Caucasian-American Men of ASU, an officially-recognized campus group.  Unfortunately for the assailants, she has video.

Mitchell’s hate crime report to the campus LBGTQ group, which is completely on her side on grounds of free speech, is as follows:

At ASU on Friday, September 29, I was verbally and physically assaulted by two professors who refused to reveal their names or departments.  Both told me my club, Caucasian American Men of ASU, “is a racist agenda.”  In truth, the club is about ENDING all forms of racial exclusion on campus by asking for equality.  When I prompted them to read my flyer to learn that we are trying to end racism and sexism, they both refused.  I was called “racist” by one professor “definitely racist,” by the other.  At this point, I pulled out the camera to get them saying this on tape, because I was sure no one would believe me without evidence.  Since my video camera is just a feature of a snapshot-style camera, they may not have realized they were being video taped.

I asked if I could record their viewpoint for educational purposes, and that our group encouraged open debate.  They said “OK,” but as soon as I began, one professor said I didn’t have her permission to take her picture.  She argued with me and then tried to steal my camera, wrangling me for it.  At this point, she managed to hit the big button that stops recording, but of course there is video of her snatching for it.  When she couldn’t pry it out of my hands, she deliberately took her thumb and tried to push the auto-extending lens back into the body of the camera, crunching the device that extends the lens.

I refuse to let go of my personal property, holding on tightly. She continues to crunch her thumb into my camera, and I’m now sure this is deliberate.  In the physical struggle to keep or damage my camera, she digs her hands in so hard her short fingernails scratch my hand until I bleed between my index and middle fingers.  I somehow manage to physically pry her fingers out of my skin and off my camera.

Shaking now, I was determined to get her and the other professor saying what they said to me on video.  I held the camera up while the assailant said, “You can’t take my picture because it’s illegal.  I work with indigenous peoples all the time, and they would never do that.”  After several other tidbits, two I remember verbatim as, “You have a racist agenda,” and “You have problems to work out.”  I realized the camera wasn’t running and I pressed the button harder this time.  Because she damaged the button, when I pressed it, it didn’t immediately begin recording (I now have to press it harder).  At this point, I try to get them to repeat their hate crime speech, and they don’t deny it.  They also refuse to reveal their identities.  The only information they would give me is that they are in “College of Fine Arts.”  I have the videos.

Epilogue:  I spent the rest of the afternoon with CAMASU students trying to make CAMASU a university-recognized group.  At almost 5:00, I went to the College of Fine Arts hoping a secretary could identify the faculty members for me.  A secretary was still there, Sherri Thompson (phone number removed –GPO), and, shaking like a leaf, I explained my situation.  I showed her the videos, and she was so appalled, she called cell phones to get the cell phone numbers of the people needed to immediately file an incident report.  I was advised to go to student health to clean up the wound and put some ice on it.  I have not heard back about the incident report, nor do I know what the consequences or procedures are for that, nor do I know if it’s different from reporting a hate crime.  But I figured I can use all the help I can get finding these women who hurt me so badly, physically and psychologically.

As Sherri was busily orchestrating the report, the Dean of the College of Fine Arts, Dean Kim, walked past us and into his office.  The secretary rushed after him to his office to explain the incident.  I followed.  Sheepishly entering his office, I showed him my injury and the videos.  He was apologetic and appalled, saying he was embarrassed and that it should be taken care of.  However, he didn’t recognize the faculty either.  He also explained that there are many, many faculty members in the College of Fine Arts.

So now I want to press charges, but I have no idea how.  And since I didn’t immediately call the police, and because by the time I would have, they had already vanished, I feel like now I have to get identification myself of these women.  But in order to do that, I will have to visit every department in the College of Fine Arts and ask the secretaries if they recognize the professors.

Should I just go department to department looking for their identification?  How do I find these people who hurt my feelings?  The whole point of our group is to END racism and sexism on campus.  Being called a racist is one of the most damaging insults I could have received, because racism is the very cause I’m trying to obliterate.

I REALLY NEED HELP!  Please help me find the women who accused me of a label without first even listening to me or reading my flyer.

12 News in Phoenix picked up on it and has this video about CAMASU, but not the violent incident.  Google News as of posting only makes mention of CAMASU, but not the incident, despite LI having put out a press release.

Emily has also been working very hard to promote change on the University of Arizona campus; I consider her a close associate.  At minimum, the professor who injured her ought to be fired on the spot.  The second surely doesn’t know anything about First Amendment freedom of the press: you have no right to privacy in your own conduct in a public area.  At least they weren’t political science professors.

Oddly enough, FIRE’s speech code rating of ASU is better than UA: a yellow as opposed to red.  Let’s see if they prove themselves worthy of yellow.

Update: Another press release. CAMASU students are now posting “Wanted” flyers for the two professors, but they are meeting resistance from the police, who contend that the flyers may “interfere in the investigation.” I’m not sure why the police have a problem; vandals are tearing down the flyers anyway.

TEMPE, AZ — Students at Arizona State University (ASU) posted “Wanted” flyers on campus yesterday in an attempt to identify two female professors who harassed and injured a female student recruiter at the Tempe campus.

But other members of the university community were not as willing to help find the two women.

“Within three hours someone had started taking down the flyers,” said Emily Mitchell, the Leadership Institute recruiter who was assaulted.

Members of the new, independent, student group, the Caucasian American Men of ASU (CAMASU), posted and handed out the flyers on Tuesday afternoon. The flyers pictured the two unknown professors who confronted Emily.

This morning ASU Police told Emily that they received “some complaints” about the flyers and requested that additional ones not be posted. And according to Laura Gill, an ASU police officer, the posters could “interfere with the investigation.”

Emily, a field representative for the Leadership Institute’s Campus Leadership Program, has filed a police report but is unable to press charges until she can identify her assailants.”

Emily also went to the College of Fine Arts, where the professors claimed to teach, and spoke with Dean Kwang-Wu Kim. Dean Kim said he did not recognize the pictures of the two faculty members, but was appalled at their behavior.

The initial confrontation occurred on Friday, September 29 while Emily recruited for the CAMASU group. The professors claimed Emily had “a racist agenda” and called her “a sexist.” One professor became aggressive, attempted to steal Emily’s camera, and scratched her, drawing blood.

Emily plans to press charges as soon as the assailant is identified.

To see images of the flyers click here: http://www.leadershipinstitute.org/press/

Update II: On the flip side of things, another Leadership Institute recruiter is being threatened with arrest for…uh…recruiting (without permission!).