Duke rape suspect involved in anti-gay attack
Duke rape suspect involved in anti-gay attack
By Louis Weisberg
Staff writer, Copyright by The Chicago Free Press
A member of the Duke University lacrosse team who was charged last week with rape and kidnapping also faces assault charges in Washington, D.C., stemming from an anti-gay assault there last November.
Jeff Bloxsom, who is reportedly not gay, was walking with a friend in Georgetown early on the morning of Nov. 5 when he suddenly found himself being taunted by three young men across the street yelling anti-gay slurs. One of those men was Duke University sophomore Collin Finnerty, 20.
According to police and media reports, Bloxsom shouted back. Finnerty and his friends crossed the street and attacked them, leaving Bloxsom with a busted lip and bruised chin.
Finnerty was ordered to perform community service, pay Bloxsom’s medical bills and stay out of trouble for at least six months. The new charges against him in the Duke rape case raise the “expectation that everything is back on the table in terms of how the district attorney in Washington will deal with the accused,” Bloxsom’s attorney Chip Royer told the New York Daily News.
Finnerty and Reade Seligmann were arrested April 18 on charges brought by a stripper hired to perform at an off-campus party held March 13 by Duke’s lacrosse team. The alleged victim, a 27-year-old black woman and mother of two, said she was attacked by three white men. The district attorney handling the case said he hopes to charge a third person soon.
DNA tests failed to connect any of the 46 team members to the alleged victim, but a medical examination found injuries consistent with the rape charges.
The case has galvanized national attention and sparked numerous protests. Duke University officials canceled the highly ranked team’s season and accepted the resignation of coach Mike Pressler after the release of a vulgar email sent by a team member soon after the assault is said to have taken place.
The school said Pressler was warned last year that his players had too many violations of the campus judicial code and he needed to “get them in line.”
By Louis Weisberg
Staff writer, Copyright by The Chicago Free Press
A member of the Duke University lacrosse team who was charged last week with rape and kidnapping also faces assault charges in Washington, D.C., stemming from an anti-gay assault there last November.
Jeff Bloxsom, who is reportedly not gay, was walking with a friend in Georgetown early on the morning of Nov. 5 when he suddenly found himself being taunted by three young men across the street yelling anti-gay slurs. One of those men was Duke University sophomore Collin Finnerty, 20.
According to police and media reports, Bloxsom shouted back. Finnerty and his friends crossed the street and attacked them, leaving Bloxsom with a busted lip and bruised chin.
Finnerty was ordered to perform community service, pay Bloxsom’s medical bills and stay out of trouble for at least six months. The new charges against him in the Duke rape case raise the “expectation that everything is back on the table in terms of how the district attorney in Washington will deal with the accused,” Bloxsom’s attorney Chip Royer told the New York Daily News.
Finnerty and Reade Seligmann were arrested April 18 on charges brought by a stripper hired to perform at an off-campus party held March 13 by Duke’s lacrosse team. The alleged victim, a 27-year-old black woman and mother of two, said she was attacked by three white men. The district attorney handling the case said he hopes to charge a third person soon.
DNA tests failed to connect any of the 46 team members to the alleged victim, but a medical examination found injuries consistent with the rape charges.
The case has galvanized national attention and sparked numerous protests. Duke University officials canceled the highly ranked team’s season and accepted the resignation of coach Mike Pressler after the release of a vulgar email sent by a team member soon after the assault is said to have taken place.
The school said Pressler was warned last year that his players had too many violations of the campus judicial code and he needed to “get them in line.”
posted by Carlos T Mock at 4:25 PM
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