18-Year-Old Escapes Hate Crime Charges for Racist Slur Against Utah Women’s Basketball Team

After investigating an incident in which an 18-year-old allegedly shouted a racist slur at members of the Utah women’s basketball team during the NCAA Tournament in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, the local prosecutor has announced that hate crime charges will not be brought against the individual. According to Ryan Hunter, the deputy attorney for the city of Coeur d’Alene, whilst the use of the slur was “detestable” and “incredibly offensive”, there was insufficient evidence to suggest that the suspect posed a physical threat to the women or their property. As a result, Hunter declared that the conduct fell within the bounds of First Amendment protection and could not be prosecuted under Idaho’s malicious harassment statute. The alleged incident occurred in March, when the Utah team was staying at a Coeur d’Alene hotel prior to competing at the NCAA Tournament in nearby Spokane, Washington. Witnesses claimed that a truck pulled up and the driver shouted a slur at the group as they walked to dinner; following their departure from the restaurant, the same driver returned, accompanied by others who revved their engines and repeated the insult. University of Utah officials have declined to comment on the prosecutor’s decision. During interviews with almost two dozen witnesses and reviews of numerous hours of CCTV footage, police discovered considerable discrepancies regarding the assailant’s appearance and the precise timing of the incident. Despite identifying the occupants of a silver vehicle involved in the second occurrence, police were unable to capture any audio of the abuse on the recordings. The 18-year-old suspect purportedly admitted to authorities that he had uttered a slur and an obscene remark towards the team. Prosecutors considered potentially bringing charges of malicious harassment, disorderly conduct, or disturbing the peace, yet ultimately concluded that they lacked sufficient evidence to support any of these options given the limitations of Idaho’s hate crime legislation, which requires proof of intent to intimidate or harm. The hateful language failed to conform to the requirements of Idaho’s disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace ordinances, which primarily focus on the volume and nature of noise or disruption in particular locations and times.