Critical Mass Blog - More fake hate
Kerri Dunn isn't the only actor currently performing hate crimes against herself on the campus stage. Rayan Malik, an international student at the University of New Brunswick's St. John campus, has admitted to faking a racially-motivated assault against himself.
Malik told police and the media that he was attacked by four white men outside the university library on Sunday morning. He said the four men emerged from behind parked cars and called out to him. When he ignored them, he said they grabbed his arms and punched him repeatedly and bloodied his nose, calling him an '[expletive] Middle Eastern brown person.'
Malik then said he was assaulted again on Sunday night, as he was going into another university building to work on a story for the student paper. He claimed a group of men grabbed his jacket, pushed him to the ground and began punching and kicking him repeatedly in the stomach and head.
Saint John Police Cst. Jay Henderson says Malik described the first attack in written and video-taped statements on Sunday afternoon. He then called police again Sunday evening, and made another statement about the second attack.
The media picked up the story on Monday, and Malik conducted lengthy interviews with television and print media about both incidents. Stories about the attacks appeared on the radio and evening newscasts around the province.
Henderson says police became suspicious when they examined Malik for bruises and found none. Investigators checked school security cameras and a security swipe card system students use to enter and leave buildings on campus – and discovered Malik was not where he said he was.
Police then found Malik's jacket, which was not torn or dirty, as he claimed it was.
Officers called Malik back on Wednesday, and held him for questioning for approximately five hours, until he admitted he made up the entire story.
The incident prompted the university to promise better security around buildings on weekends.
Last Thursday, Malik pled guilty to public mischief and to misleading police officers. Malik's defense is that he was trying to raise awareness of racism. It's far more likely that he has just increased public cynicism about the very issues he wants people to care about.
But Dunn's and Malik's efforts may not have been entirely in vain. Other aspiring hate crime hoaxers can learn from their mistakes.
Lesson Number One: Don't get caught planting the evidence in broad daylight (Dunn was found out because witnesses saw her drive her already-graffitied car into the school parking lot, and then watched as she proceeded to slash her own tires).
Lesson Number Two: don't report that you have been severely beaten when you haven't got a scratch on you. |
