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Muslim students also accused driver of trying to hit them in crosswalk – he said he just didn’t see them

At least four accusations of anti-Muslim bias at Indiana University have fallen apart upon closer examination, according to a College Fix review of bias reports, police documents, and other public records.

Furthermore, a law firm hired by the university noted school officials did not inform the campus community that two accusations had proven to be inconclusive.

Other reports of harassment and violence lacked corresponding police reports.

“A student reported that a group of students wearing Israeli flags and a Trump flag hit them on the back of their head with a water bottle,” one bias report, obtained by The Fix via a public records request, alleged.

The students “verbally harassed them with several comments including ‘fag’, ‘looked like a low [testosterone] male’ and ‘if you go to gaza they’ll kill you’, and physically assaulted them, when they were standing in Dunn Meadow.”

This incident likely occurred last spring during a high profile pro-Palestinian encampment on campus. The Fix obtained bias reports via a public records request covering the 2023-24 school year. There are no police reports for this attack.

Neither the Indiana University nor Bloomington Police Department were able to find police reports or any record regarding these incidents.

Cedric Harris, IU’s assistant dean for student support and bias education, did not respond to multiple requests for information via email and by phone in the past month. The Fix asked about the evidence and resolution of the incidents described in the bias report.

“We would not have taken a report that occurred in Dunn Meadow as that would have been taken by the IU Police Department, as that is not in our jurisdiction,” a Bloomington Police Department public records manager told The Fix via email. “I also did a search near that area and did not find anything either that our agency was dispatched to.”

Likewise, campus police have no corresponding police report for the claim that “two white male students wearing Israeli flags and Jewish student organization hoodies” yelled “terrorist bitch,” “towel head,” and “go back to where you came from” at a Muslim female student. This also likely occurred last spring.

A local mosque initially said it knew the students involved in all four incidents when asked by The Fix. However, the Islamic Center of Bloomington ultimately did not provide contact information for the alleged victims.

The university does not typically inform students when claimed bias incidents appear to lack evidence.

A lengthy report, commissioned by the university to review its actions surrounding last spring’s encampment and related issues, reported on two other incidents.

“A number of students described to us an incident of a car attempting to run over two IU students wearing hijabs off-campus,” the report by Cooley LLP stated. “Students reported different versions of the events and at least one student had heard that it was later disproven.”

The report detailed an incident where “a female student wearing a hijab was waiting at a bus stop on campus when a truck pulled up and threatened to tear off her hijab.”

A screenshot of pg. 25 of a report compiled by Cooley LLP for Indiana University.

Campus police “investigated and reviewed video footage from around the time of the incident, but was unable to identify the vehicle or the driver.” The university has yet to respond to a College Fix police report request for this incident and another one that occurred in December.

Another complaint alleged that a car had advanced towards two female Muslim students in an attempt to intimidate them. This complaint was brought to the Bloomington PD. The official police report, obtained by The Fix via a public records request, stated that after review of the video surveillance and interviews with the two female victims, law enforcement determined that no crime had occurred.

“BPD investigated the incident but did not bring charges. The driver denied seeing the women in the crosswalk,” the law firm found. “The administration did not make a statement about either incident or communicate the ultimate investigative findings of the police to the community.”

The law firm said it reviewed “hundreds of hours of video footage” and “more than 10,000 documents” along with conducting on-campus interviews. The Fix asked attorney Rebekah Donaleski, who wrote the report, and IU media reps Mark Bode and Vic Ryckaert for further comment. The Fix asked if they saw any proof for the two allegations in the bias reports in their review. None responded to emails and phone calls in the past month.

The Fix also asked the university why it did not inform the campus about these two other allegations described in the law firm’s report being closed.

Neither the IU Divestment Coalition nor the Palestine Solidarity Committee responded to multiple requests for comment via email. The Fix inquired about who the victims of the alleged hate crimes might be and whether they had any more information.

Editor’s note: The article headline has been updated to say ‘pro-Palestinian’ instead of ‘Muslim.’

MORE: Charlie Kirk calls ‘Jussie Smollett’ on black student’s claim he was ‘hatecrimed’ 5 times

MAIN IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: A display of pro-Trump flags in Washington, D.C.; Jeanine Yuen for The College Fix. INSIDE IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: A screenshot of pg. 25 of a report compiled by Cooley LLP for Indiana University; Cooley LLP/Independent Post Action Review.

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