August 31, 2022

"One of the puzzling aspects of this incident is that despite Richardson's report that the racial slurs occurred every time she served..."

"... and continued throughout the match, even becoming more threatening as the match went on, no one - not the Duke coaches, BYU coaches, BYU players, officials - called for play to stop and the heckler be ejected. Nor did the fans surrounding the heckler respond by either reporting or confronting the heckler. The only action taken, according to the original report, was that BYU stationed a police officer at the Duke player's bench, where the officer reportedly took no action. With just those facts reported, it makes pretty much everyone except the Duke players appear complicit in the heckling and racial slurs. And BYU is a pretty easy target for those kinds of allegations."


The commenter continues:
Now additional information is released that compounds the mystery. 
1. No one - not any of the BYU players or coaches, Duke coaches (who complained about the lack of action by BYU police, but did not report hearing the slurs), officials, the police officer standing at the Duke bench, or a single fan - has come forward to say they heard the racial slurs. Given the claim the slurs continued throughout the game, this is exceptionally unusual. 
2. To the contrary, the BYU police officer reports that he heard no racial slurs, only players being called out by name. 
3. The specific racial slur was reportedly shouted out every time Richardson served the ball. This type of act, repeated every time a unique part of the match took place (a serve) would be very notable. If Richardson could hear it, it is likely that all of the players, coaches, and officials would also be able to hear it, especially since it was predictably repeated. 
4. Despite Richardson's claim that the racial slur occurred every time she served, ushers and a police officer who were sent into the stands to try and locate the heckler were unable to do so. 
5. The [Utah Valley University] student who approached the Duke player after the game has come forward and admitted he did so, believing it was a friend. He denies making any slurs. 
6. Reviews of video of that same UVU student during the match - who the Duke coaches and players identified as also responsible for the heckling with racial slurs - have not yet been able to confirm he was doing the heckling. To the contrary, the video review shows he was not even present during the second set, and during the later sets show him playing with his phone. 
I have no particular insight into the incident, and I know nothing more than what is being reported. But having interviewed hundreds and hundreds of witnesses over my law enforcement career, and having had the opportunity to observe crowd behavior in venues such as the Salt Palace, Delta Center, and Rice Eccles stadium, there is something here that clearly doesn't add up.

65 comments:

Humperdink said...

I must say, if even me a semi-fascist, heard someone near me use that word once at a game, the ushers would be notified at once. And I suspect my neighbors and I might assist in his ejection.

It should be noted that Jussie Smollett and Bubba Wallace were unavailable for comment.

Maynard said...

Remember when Tea party activists were accused of spitting and making racial slurs against Congressional Black Caucus members as they entered the capitol?

There were dozens of cameras filming the event and no one captured spitting or racial slurs.

Just gettin' over on The Man, again.

tim maguire said...

"Use 500 words to say 'it didn't happen' without ever actually saying 'it didn't happen'."

wendybar said...

IF white supremacy and RACISM is so prevalent, (as the Progressives President keeps on spewing), then WHY do they have to keep making up hoaxes to prove it, and WHERE are the apologies when these assholes cry RACISM?? She should be forced OFF the Basketball team and suspended from school for embarrassing them. This is another divisive Progressive move that keeps on backfiring on them, yet they continue to keep on doing it. Smollett is walking free when he NEVER completed his sentence. The people who trespassed in the Capitol got more time than people who are actually trying to separate us by race in this country.

Curious George said...

She's lying.

reader said...

Nowadays it feels like if somebody didn’t capture it on their phone… it probably didn’t happen.

Also, BYU has been on the receiving end of heckling.

https://www.espn.com/espn/page2/story?sportCat=ncb&page=williams/110225_san_diego_state_aztecs_fans

Crossing 'the line'

Somewhere between San Diego and Provo, Utah, a line has been drawn. On one side of it is "clever and funny," and on the other side is "offensive."

So when the No. 4 Aztecs (27-1) host the No. 7 Cougars (26-2) in a duel for the Mountain West Conference lead, The Show will be doing what it usually does, standing right next to that line ... wherever it is.

Dancing up to it, touching it, teasing it -- even trying to make it laugh -- while trying not to step over it.

Last year, after Fredette scored 33 points and the Cougars beat the Aztecs in their own house, 71-69, SDSU fans were criticized by some BYU fans and media who said they crossed the line.

The cited offenses: 1) dressing up like Mormon missionaries (black slacks, white shirts, ties and bicycle helmets); 2) a sign directed at the ailing Fredette ("Which wife gave you mono?"); and 3) chants toward the BYU bench at the end of the game ("You're still Mormon!"). The chants actually came from other fans at the game -- not those in The Show -- but The Show was hit by the collateral damage.

Apologies were issued for the sign (by its author) and the chant (by the school) but not the outfits, which were termed "classless" by one Sports Illustrated writer. In fact, expect to see even more "missionary" costumes Saturday.

Sebastian said...

"No one has come forward to say they heard the racial slurs. Given the claim the slurs continued throughout the game, this is exceptionally unusual."

Not unusual at all. fakehatecrimes.org is up to #468.

Sebastian said...

"No one has come forward to say they heard the racial slurs. Given the claim the slurs continued throughout the game, this is exceptionally unusual."

Not unusual at all. fakehatecrimes.org is up to #468.

Not Sure said...

Simple solution to this mystery: The heckling came from the ghost of Nathan Bedford Forrest. Nobody but Rachel Richardson could hear it because he was whispering in her ear.

Jupiter said...

They always do this.

Temujin said...

One other aspect. The accuser's Godmother, a judge in the Houston area, currently running for reelection, is the one who amplified this to a national level, hitting on all of the mainstream networks who live for this stuff without checking it out for accuracy. That woman, the Judge, has a very long history of racism. Clearly showing her hate for white people in her tweets. She's arrogant, racist, and...Surprise!- seemingly a race hustler. Making her career through race baiting.

See how this ends. Duke again in the race to the bottom.

Static Ping said...

I was not there so I cannot say about this particular event. I can say that (a) some individuals will claim non-existent discrimination to gain some sort of advantage, and (b) some individuals hear what they want to hear. This statement is obvious but, in some circles, extremely controversial and problematic.

rhhardin said...

I was hoping to find out what the slur was and which offended group the victim was in. Sometimes there's creativity.

gilbar said...

With just those facts reported, it makes pretty much everyone except the Duke players..
NEVER HEARD IT, BECAUSE IT DID NOT HAPPEN

When you're accusing magnetic recording devices of being SO RACIST that They refused to record..
You need HELP. You are Cra Cra CRAZY

gilbar said...

To the contrary, the video review shows he was not even present during the second set, and during the later sets show him playing with his phone.

you cannot GET more racist than that! That racist, was SO RACIST; that he didn't ever have the respect to watch the match!!

Christopher B said...

Maybe in this case absence of evidence really is evidence of absence.

Yancey Ward said...

Another race hoax.

Gracelea said...

This woman has a lot of faith in the power of white guilt to undertake this sort of fraud in full view and earshot of thousands of phones, and recordings by news media.

Are these people (and there seems to be an unending supply of them) just incredibly paranoid/delusional or attention-seeking? What does she gain by this strategy?

gilbar said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
gilbar said...

oh! Richardson, 19, claims she heard a “white male” shout the N-word.

and NO ONE heard anything like that at all.. Strange

gilbar said...

I also see the Godmother (who wasn't there) says that the server was confronted by the 'mentally challenged white male', and told:
"You'd better watch your back on your way to the bus"

So, it Wasn't Just continuous racist slurs, it was Explicit Death threats, threats that were:
a) screamed SO LOUD, that you could heard them in Houston Tx)
b) so quiet, that NO ONE in the arena could hear them

Achilles said...

Racism is the foundation of the Democrat party.

It will always be the primary tool they use to cover for their failed policies.

Drago said...

The lefty/NeverTrumpers forgot to include a claim the heckler used "this is MAGA country!" in the litany of "verbal abuse".

All good lefty/NeverTrump hoaxes include at least one good "This is MAGA country" elements.

CWJ said...

Remember the "Dinger" incident involving the Colorado Rocky's? This one seems a bit more imaginary though.

Misinforminimalism said...

Maybe Richardson thinks that "Richardson" is a racial slur?

Joe Smith said...

I'm not a litigious person, but BYU should sue her ass off.

Tired of black people making up 'hate crimes.'

Menahem Globus said...

I don't know who attends these games but that type of behavior by a BYU student would have severe repercussions at school, at home, and at church. I'm guessing the Duke students imagined it because they've been brainwashed to expect it. Mormon country does not equal the Democrat run South. Or the Duke people could just be lying because they got beat and are lousy losers.

Dan from Madison said...

So far this one smells just as bad as when that girl in Madison claimed that some frat bros tossed lighter fluid on her and lit it.

mikee said...

David Berkowitz heard voices nobody else could, too.

Beasts of England said...

Until indisputably proven, all alleged race incidents are hoaxes.

Jason said...

...And then he went outside and FROLICKED IN THE RAIN!

Randomizer said...

This incident is puzzling because it doesn't sound real. Either Richardson misheard something that was shouted or she made it up. It just isn't plausible that someone with a phone would not have recorded repeated racist shouts.

Comedian Bill Burr, talking about racist tropes in movies explains that real racism is quiet. Bill Burr

Michael K said...

There seems to be a serious shortage of racial hate crimes.

Leland said...

If only one person heard a tree fall in the woods and all the trees are still standing, did it make a sound?

What's emanating from your penumbra said...

I read that even the referee was taunting the black players with a noose around his neck. So disgusting! Trying to cover it up by attaching a whistle to the end, but whitey wasn't fooling anyone.

Enigma said...

Back in the day quite a few people saw angels, had visions, or experienced stigmata. Today they'd likely be considered mentally ill, but Christian themes and imagery made them revered or even saints.

Today anyone who hears, sees, or imagines racism is sainted. So, some mentally ill people imagine racists hiding in every shrub, fire hydrant, dog's body, and tennis ball.

Jupiter said...

"If Richardson could hear it, it is likely that all of the players, coaches, and officials would also be able to hear it, especially since it was predictably repeated."

Actually, a lot of blacks have extremely sensitive hearing, and can hear all kinds of things whites can't hear. Better get used to it.

gilbar said...

So sounds like she was BAD at serving; and had put the volleyball into the net (once? twice?).
And the 'mentally challenged' white guy was heckling her about THAT. He
admitted yelling at the players that they "shouldn’t hit the ball into the net."

I'm visualizing
a) the girl was BAD at serving
b) the girl was hitting the net
c) the 'mentally challenged' white guy was shouting "Net! Net!"*
d) she decided that the reason she was bad at her job was because of C)

Net! Net!* don't like it? How about "Netter! Netter! get of the court you stupid Netter" ??

Deevs said...

What's emanating from your penumbra:

I bet it was a dog whistle at the end of that noose.

Another old lawyer said...

There are people who are still trading and making money on pushing the "Hands Up, Don't Shoot" lie.

Rabel said...

The banned student should call this guy ASAP.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

I have no particular insight into the incident

I do: the story is bullshit

If the taunting had actually happened, then there would have been significant action at the time, and there would be reams of video / audio evidence

Greg The Class Traitor said...

There used to be a lot of claims of police misbehavior. So cops got chest cams

Then the claims went down, because now there was video evidence of what did/ dint' happen, so people could no longer successfully make up complaints.

The only reasonable rules is video / audio recording, or it didn't happen

Greg The Class Traitor said...

Randomizer said...
This incident is puzzling because it doesn't sound real. Either Richardson misheard something that was shouted or she made it up

She a Twitter active leftie whose Godmother is pushing the story, and who's running for political office.

She made it up

Dude1394 said...

People calling other people racist are lying until proven otherwise. That is rule number one.

Another old lawyer said...

From looking at the box score of the match, it appears to me that Richardson played poorly.

https: // goduke.com / sports / womens-volleyball / stats / 2022 / byu / boxscore /20626

Based upon a few minutes of research (disclaimer - no background with volleyball box scores), I read her stat line for the match to be:

- No aces in serving, but 2 errors;

- 3 service reception (receiving?) errors;

- 24 attempted kills (hit would result in point if successful), with 4 successes but 6 errors (attempt resulted in point for BYU), for a -.083 percentage.

You'd expect her to play badly if she was upset by racist heckling. That would be a straightforward explanation but that's not necessarily the only explanation. Did she complain to her coaches or teammates during the match when she claims she was hearing it?

Temujin said...

You have to be taught that America is filled with hateful White people who gather together at their homes and think of ways to scare, hurt, insult, maim, and prevent Black people from moving forward in their lives. You'd have to believe that all White people think this way to believe that people in the crowd in 2022 were shouting racial epithets at her.

On the other hand, there's always a looney (and they come in all colors, races, genders, religions, etc) in the crowd. And it's possible one person was shouting crap.

Why would she say it otherwise? Maybe there were people shouting and she heard what her head was trained to hear?

I don't believe that if even one person had shouted something racist, the other kids around him/her would not have stepped on it quickly. Any one of us would have.

In our recent years, these things have a very regular cycle and ending that they follow. My inclination is that this is yet another one of those. But then. why would this young woman have said she heard it? Is there more behind the story than what is out front? I suspect there is.

Mark O said...

Is BYU now the Duke Lacrosse team?

Howard said...

Maybe when you think someone is either swearing at you or calling you a racial slur but it's not really happening it's an internal form of tourette syndrome.

PoNyman said...

I've been waiting for the Queen of Hoax Identification to weigh in and she has delivered.

As an ex-Mormon who occasionally likes a good ribbing of the Mormon church or its affiliates, my hoax alarm was ringing loudly on this one. As the saying goes (might be just me) nothing gets Ex-Mormons and Mormons on the same team faster than an Evangelical entering the room. Second might be something like this.

The media was working for days off of a single testimony and Duke and BYU seemed to have put the muzzles on everyone while investigating what was going on. Both Duke and BYU have experience with reacting too early to events before getting better information (Duke Lacrosse anyone?) so it makes sense to slow it down. Though BYU did misstep it appears with the banning the person, but that's a quick remedy.

The Media seem to have fallen for another one. It'll be great to read the book on today's media in 20-30 years.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Rachael Richardson sounds a bit like an old friend of mine's older sister. She was a sweet natured gal, but rather matronly. Claimed she couldn't go anywhere in public because of "all them men undressing me with their eyes!". Any man who spoke to her that she didn't already know triggered a full fledge virginity panic lockdown, even though that was a cause lost long ago.

It's amazing what people will tell themselves just to avoid having to face up to certain facts.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Funny how most of these things turn out to be hoaxes.

Dave64 said...

Telepathy? The Vulcan mind meld? schizophrenia?

Ambrose said...

Ms. Richardson has had it drummed into her from an early age that she lives in an evil irredeemably racist country and that all whites hate her. She may very well have believed she heard those voices.

whiskey said...

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1565051463935606785.html

MayBee said...

Is it possible that someone yelling "Richard-son" sounded like the N word? That "ichar" part in the middle could sound like it if someone was yelling out her name.

MayBee said...

Is it possible that someone yelling "Richard-son" sounded like the N word? That "ichar" part in the middle could sound like it if someone was yelling out her name.

Tina Trent said...

A separationist Sikh threatened a Hindu in a Taco Bell this morning. He used specific slurs no Americans would know and yelled in two Indian dialects.

The Sikh identified himself as a South Asian Indian.

He is being charged as a white male committing an anti-Asian hate crime.


Birches said...

BYU Athletics needs to fire their PR team immediately. They through their fans under the bus immediately. Nothing worse than getting lectured by the AD about how deplorable you are when NOTHING HAPPENED.

Joe Smith said...

'He is being charged as a white male committing an anti-Asian hate crime.'

'Hate crimes' should be unconstitutional.

Punish the action, not the intent or speech...

DKWalser said...

I just watched the entire broadcast of the BYU/Duke women's volleyball match. I saw no evidence supporting Richardson's claims. Is it possible that someone shouted a racial slur? Yes. There was no evidence that such a slur was uttered, but there is also no proof that it was not.

However, it is obvious that some of Richardson's accusations are at least an exaggeration of what happened. There are two reasons to believe this. First, BYU's student section is at one end of the volleyball court (it's on the left end as you watch it on the broadcast). The person accused of shouting the racial slur every time Richardson served sat in this section (even though he is not a student at BYU). Second, there were more than 5,500 fans in attendance at the match. The Smith Fieldhouse is a small arena and it gets VERY loud during volleyball matches. It is particularly loud when the opposing team is serving.

What do we learn from these two facts? Richardson claimed that she heard this racial slur shouted at her each time she served the ball. She served from both ends of the court. You simply cannot hear a single person in the student section when you're at the opposite end of the court! You cannot hear a single voice standing at the net. The rest of the crowd simply makes it impossible to distinguish what a single person is saying. It's simply too loud. So, unless a whole host of fans were shouting the racial slur at the same time, Richardson -- at the far end of the court -- could not have heard the slur even if it had been shouted. Believe me, I've attended games at the Smith Fieldhouse. For the most part, you cannot hear the person right next to you. There's no way you can tell what a single person is shouting from across the court!

Again, that does not mean that the slur wasn't shouted at her. It simply means, that if it was shouted at her, she has exaggerated her claims.

If you'd like to watch the match for yourself, it can be found here: https://www.byutv.org/player/b5d02b2d-e30b-4aa2-a779-5c8e9c008bd8/byu-volleyball-w-duke-vs-byu-82622. It was a good, early season, match. I'm sure both teams will be more polished by the end of the season.

wildswan said...

Once when I was working retail in Virginia at Christmas in the Nineties and facing a long line at the cash register, an elderly African-American's turn came, and he said: "...question... I'll ... over here" and stepped out of line. I didn't even have time to say or do anything (such as asking: "What did you say?"), the whole line instantly erupted, shouting "He doesn't have step aside, what's wrong with you, serve him." They were all white and they were furious because long before the Nineties but in the lifetimes of all of us there, African-Americans in Virginia had had to wait for lines to clear before they got served or had questions answered and it was thought I was reverting and had just ordered this man aside. The man stepped back and said: "I have a long QUESTION and I just thought I'D WAIT OVER THERE till you were less busy." He did have a long question and the whole time I spent answering it the line observed me closely to make sure I wasn't skimping. There was no impatience or boredom, they were busy monitoring. Every time I looked up, eyes were fixed on me - like looking into a bag of crawdaddies. I think of this experience when I hear of a whole crowd of Americans, supposedly disregarding someone shouting a racist insult over and over.

Jupiter said...

If she had been raised in a normal family, when she wanted to make an excuse for her subpar performance, she might have claimed she was sick. "I had a bad cough and a sore throat the night before the game, and a fever and a headache during the game. I thought I might throw up every time I served". No one would question her, and no one would report her to the media. At most, they'd ask if she was receiving medical care.

But she wasn't raised in a normal family.

Tomcc said...

Looking at the team pictures, it appears that there is at least two other Black women (and maybe three) on the team. Any idiot could potentially get away with one nasty slur, but "every time she served"? Nah.
Perhaps we've entered the phase of discourse where any phrase or word I don't like is hurtful and therefore punishable.

walter said...

Yeah but.."If it rings true, it is true".