COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho (AP)— Police are investigating racist crimes directed at the Utah women’s basketball team while they were in town for the NCAA Tournament last month. They have discovered an audio clip in which a racial slur was plainly audible.
The Coeur d’Alene Police Department stated in a Facebook post on Wednesday that it is investigating the “context and conduct” surrounding the slur’s use to determine if there was a violation of law. Police said they are still evaluating evidence from the March 21 occurrences, but it appears that a racial slur was used multiple times.
BYU Athletics says investigation found ‘no evidence’ of racist heckling
Police said they’ve collected about 35 hours of video from businesses in the area, and that video and audio corroborates what members of the basketball program reported. Police said detectives are working to locate any additional evidence and get information on suspects. Detectives also are trying to identify a silver car that was in the area at the time.
Following Utah’s loss to Gonzaga in the second round of the tournament on March 25, Utes coach Lynne Roberts said her team had experienced a series of hate crimes after arriving at their hotel in Coeur d’Alene. Utah and other teams played their games in Spokane, Washington, but the Utes were staying about 35 miles away in Coeur d’Alene.
According to Roberts, the March 21 occurrences left players and coaches unsettled and afraid for their safety, so they moved to a new hotel the next day.
According to Tony Stewart of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, the Utes were heading from their hotel to a restaurant when a pickup truck carrying a Confederate flag approached and the driver began shouting racist rhetoric. After the team exited the restaurant, the same driver returned, “reinforced by others,” Stewart added, revving their engines and yelling at the players once more.
Utah claims it submitted a police complaint the night of the incidents. Last Monday, Coeur d’Alene police chief Lee White stated that approximately 100 people were present that night. If someone is detained, he has stated that they could face two state charges: malicious harassment and disorderly conduct. White also stated that he was collaborating with the FBI.
Far-right radicals have been present in the region for many years. The Southern Poverty Law Center reported that at least nine hate groups operated in Spokane and northern Idaho in 2018.
When a resolution condemning racism and hate speech in response to the event with the team was introduced in the Idaho Senate last week, several Republican senators questioned the claims or claimed to be unaware with the scenario. They discussed for around 30 minutes before voting to support the proposal.
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