San Jose State University is in more hot water as a fourth student is suspended for alleged hate crimes against a black student.
The student at the California University was suspended following similar fates for three others, San Jose State University President Mohammed Qayoumi announced in a statement late Friday.
Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Erin West said Logan Beaschler and Colin Warren, 18, and Joseph Bomgardner, 19, have been charged with misdemeanor hate crime and battery against their black roommate.
The three freshmen students are accused of using racist terms to refer to the black man, displaying Nazi symbols and a Confederate flag in their suite, and trying to put a U-shaped bicycle lock around his neck, causing him minor injuries when he fought back, according to authorities.
On Saturday, civil rights activists called for prosecutors to charge the three San Jose State University white freshmen with more serious charges.
The president of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) called on prosecutors to file felony hate-crime and false imprisonment charges in the case, on Saturday, according to the Los Angeles Times .
“This is not simple hazing or bullying,” Reverend Jethroe Moore II, president of the San Jose/Silicon Valley NAACP, said in a statement. “This is obviously racially based terrorism targeted at their African-American roommate.”
“This is outrageous” Reverend Moore added, according to the Mercury News . “This form of bullying cannot be tolerated.”
Civil rights groups have organized protests at San Jose State University , where the case has shocked the student body. One such event took place on Friday, while another one is scheduled for Monday.
On Monday the NAACP will call for San Jose State University officials to conduct an investigation into why the alleged abuse wasn’t stopped earlier.
Officials learned about the case last month, when the black young man’s parents were told by his son that he alegedly found a racial slur written on a dry erase board in the dorm room he shared with the three suspended men.
It is not clear whether the fourth San Jose State University student suspended, will be charged or what the charges may be.
Also on Monday at a news conference, Qayoumi and Moore will discuss pending criminal charges against the students.
As a result of the alleged harassment, the college plans to host a public forum about racial tolerance at San Jose State University in December.
