ARAB /NAZI STUDENTS BEATEN AT COLLEGE

[mord]

http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070123/NEWSREC0101/70123005

[mord]

http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070123/NEWSREC0101/70123005

Update: 'It was the most horrific experience of my life'


 Print  Email this Article From Staff Reports
ADVERTISEMENT
 
 Nelson Kepley/News & Record
Guilford College's campus MORE ONLINEMore Guilford College links:

• Christopher Barnette

• Michael Robert Six

• Michael Bates1:40 p.m. Campus officials had planned to give a statement at 1 p.m. But they decided instead to first meet with a gathering of students who wanted to talk about what happened.

The mood on campus has been a mixture of shock and anger, said Nathan Ellis, 19, a sophomore.

"It's kind of devestating," Ellis said. "It's a real close community. It's a real small school."

1:05 p.m.: "It was the most horrific experience of my life," said Omar Awartani, one of students attacked, in a Tuesday phone interview. "This was a horrible, unprovoked hate crime."

Awartani was back at N.C. State Tuesday, where he was attempting to resume a class schedule. He said he was diagnosed with a concussion and had trouble walking on his own for several days after the attack. Even now, he said, his injuries have left him unable to concentrate without prescription pain killers.

"These people who beat me I had never seen before in my life," said Awartani. "They just began insulting us," he said, calling them "dirty," "terrorists" and using a racial epithet. "We tried not to fight them, we did not insult them back, but they beat the hell out of us."

Awartani said he and his two friends had attended a Quaker school in Ramallah on the West Bank before coming to the United States. He never would have expected such an attack in this county, he said, much less at a Quaker University.

"We were beaten because of who we were, because of what they thought about us," said Awartani. "We were never even given a chance to defend ourselves."

12:25 p.m.: Guilford College released an updated statement this afternoon. Click here to read the statement, which includes a summary of the college's response in the 72 hours following the incidents.

Some excerpts from the statement:

* The altercation in the Bryan Hall courtyard lasted less than five minutes.

* The students were acquaintances and residence hall neighbors with no history of conflict.

* At least some of the students were under the influence of alcohol.

* About a dozen students participated either in the fight or attempts to break it up.

* Individuals refused medical treatment immediately after the incident, but at the urging of college staff, received medical attention the following afternoon.

* There is an open community forum scheduled for Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. in Joseph M. Bryan Jr. Auditorium on campus.

* "In the wake of this unnecessary and unfortunate incident, the college has chosen to take the opportunity to reaffirm its core values as well as its commitment to the peaceful resolution of conflict. This is an educational moment for the entire community, and Guilford is well positioned to respond with its emphasis on critical thinking, analysis, inquiry, communication, consensus-building, problem-solving and transformative leadership."

College administrators plan to give a statement at 1 p.m. today.


Story by Joe Killian:

On Monday, three Guilford College students were arrested in connection with a group assault that occurred on campus, according to court documents.

Police said Faris Khadar, Osama Sabbah and Omar Awartani were victims of the attack.

Khadar and Sabbah are Guilford College students. Awartani is an N.C. State student who was visiting friends.

The documents, which were reviewed late Monday, said those arrested are accused of beating three Palestinian students with fists, feet and brass knuckles while calling them "terrorists" and using racial slurs. The documents also indicated that the attack involved "at least 15 members of the football team."

The court documents said two of the Palestinian students were severely injured during the assault at Bryan Hall, a dormitory on the Guilford campus.

Court documents said the attack occurred late Friday, while a statement on the Guilford College Web site indicated it happened early Saturday morning.


 
Those arrested were Michael Bates, 20, of Reidsville; Michael Robert Six, 20, of Greensboro; and Christopher Barnette, 19 of Semora.

According to Guilford College's Web site all three are members of the Guilford College football team.

Barnette is the second NCAA Division III All-America player in the school's history and is considered an NFL prospect. Six is the team's second leading tackler.

Bates and Six were charged with three counts of assault and battery each. Barnette was charged with two counts of assault and battery. All three were charged with ethnic intimidation.

All three were released Monday on $2,000 bond.

"Such behaviors have no place at Guilford and will not be tolerated in a community that values the peaceful resolution of conflict," the Guilford statement read.

The statement stressed that the college will hold its own judicial process in addition to the criminal charges.

Ty Buckner, a college spokesman, said all three students are enrolled at the school and will be while the school's judicial process runs its course.

[azrom]

good 

[fjack]

Too bad this doesn't happen more often.

[Lewinsky Stinks, Dr. Brennan Rocks]

So far I haven't heard a peep about it. Odd. I'm sure not for long though.

Regarding the incident itself, I smell a rat. I'm wondering if either the details of this alleged attack have been extremely exaggerated or the so-called victims did something to provoke it in some way. The Islamic faith teaches its devotees to lie to and about infidels. You could count in a single Cheerio the number of occasions where I think we should take the story of a Muslim at face value.

[fjack]

This may be another 'duke rape case' or a 'tawana bhwana banana' hoax. Beware of muslims when the open their mouths and talk.

[MassuhDGoodName]

I only wish I could afford to hire the most prestigious attorneys in the U.S. to represent those three righteous gentile students!

[cjd]

So far I haven't heard a peep about it. Odd. I'm sure not for long though.

Regarding the incident itself, I smell a rat. I'm wondering if either the details of this alleged attack have been extremely exaggerated or the so-called victims did something to provoke it in some way. The Islamic faith teaches its devotees to lie to and about infidels. You could count in a single Cheerio the number of occasions where I think we should take the story of a Muslim at face value.

Chaimfan I think your right. I smell the same rat. Something just don't add up with this story it normally would be played up big.