Gay Lincoln Woman Assaulted, Slurs Cut into Skin

[sd'sker]

Sounds suspiciously like lots of other hoaxes that are becoming more common these days. If true, the perps need to be caught and punished - severely. Two things that bother be about the case, the lady was tied up and her house was set afire. That could have killed her. I consider murder a more serious crime. Second thing - the fire only caused $200 in damages. Curious and curiouser...

 

What are the "lots of hoaxes" you're talking about?

Are there many cases I'm unaware of several LGBT people claiming to be assaulted but actually making it all up?

 

I said nothing about LGBT hoaxes...Here are some of the hoaxes I was talking about. 1) Tawana Brawley: everyone knows about this one in 1987. 2) Charles Stuart: Stuart and his pregnant wife Carol were driving in Boston in 1989, a black gunman supposedly forced his way into the car and shot them both, hitting Carol in the head and killing her eventually. After suspicions rose, Stuart committed suicide. 3) Susan Smith: In October 1994, in South Carolina, Smith drowned her sons by putting them in her car and letting it roll into John D. Long Lake. She called the police and stated that an armed black man had hijacked her car with her two sons inside. After an extensive manhunt, Smith confessed that she had killed her sons. 4) Duke Lacrosse Team 5) Harvard Hate Mail Hoax: Hate-filled emails were supposedly received by four people at Harvard in April 2007. The source of the emails was one of the people who "received" them. 6) Black Church Arson: In 1996, the Southern Poverty Law Center claimed white supremacists were burning black churches across the south. In fact, the increase was in white church arsons. 7) University of Wisconsin-Parkside Black Hit List: A black student supposedly found a noose hanging in a dorm suite and a "hit list" of black students in February 2012 that were targeted "to die." The black student who who found it was the person wrote it and hung the noose.

 

There are many others. Google "black noose hoax" and you will see...as for LGBT hoaxes, google "LGBT hoaxes."

 

so these "commonly daily" hoaxes are occuring over the course of 1987 to 2012? More specifically 7 occurences over the course of 25 years? Of course, I know you said these are just examples (the majority seeming to be "black noose hoaxes" which have nothing to do with the LGBT community). So you must have thousands or even hundreds more currently related attempts to substantiate a reason why we should consider this recent claim as dubious, correct?

exactly what i was thinking. going back to '87? for 7 examples? maybe 7 this year to date would make me wonder. but with what was presented, a hoax would not be the first place my mind would go to when discovering this story.

[The Dude]

Turns out the victim is a friend of a friend of mine.

[Yossarian]

Sounds suspiciously like lots of other hoaxes that are becoming more common these days. If true, the perps need to be caught and punished - severely. Two things that bother be about the case, the lady was tied up and her house was set afire. That could have killed her. I consider murder a more serious crime. Second thing - the fire only caused $200 in damages. Curious and curiouser...

 

What are the "lots of hoaxes" you're talking about?

Are there many cases I'm unaware of several LGBT people claiming to be assaulted but actually making it all up?

 

I said nothing about LGBT hoaxes...Here are some of the hoaxes I was talking about. 1) Tawana Brawley: everyone knows about this one in 1987. 2) Charles Stuart: Stuart and his pregnant wife Carol were driving in Boston in 1989, a black gunman supposedly forced his way into the car and shot them both, hitting Carol in the head and killing her eventually. After suspicions rose, Stuart committed suicide. 3) Susan Smith: In October 1994, in South Carolina, Smith drowned her sons by putting them in her car and letting it roll into John D. Long Lake. She called the police and stated that an armed black man had hijacked her car with her two sons inside. After an extensive manhunt, Smith confessed that she had killed her sons. 4) Duke Lacrosse Team 5) Harvard Hate Mail Hoax: Hate-filled emails were supposedly received by four people at Harvard in April 2007. The source of the emails was one of the people who "received" them. 6) Black Church Arson: In 1996, the Southern Poverty Law Center claimed white supremacists were burning black churches across the south. In fact, the increase was in white church arsons. 7) University of Wisconsin-Parkside Black Hit List: A black student supposedly found a noose hanging in a dorm suite and a "hit list" of black students in February 2012 that were targeted "to die." The black student who who found it was the person wrote it and hung the noose.

 

There are many others. Google "black noose hoax" and you will see...as for LGBT hoaxes, google "LGBT hoaxes."

 

so these "commonly daily" hoaxes are occuring over the course of 1987 to 2012? More specifically 7 occurences over the course of 25 years? Of course, I know you said these are just examples (the majority seeming to be "black noose hoaxes" which have nothing to do with the LGBT community). So you must have thousands or even hundreds more currently related attempts to substantiate a reason why we should consider this recent claim as dubious, correct?

 

You keep insisting that I somehow said that there are many instances of hoaxes involving LGBT "victims" when I said no such thing. Correct? The one common factor in these are the that the perps set themselves up to be a victim when in fact they were not. I also said that, if true, someone needs to be charged with murder - tying someone up and then spreading gasoline on the floor and lighting it seems almost as serious to me as calling someone a name. Of course, that's just me.

[Yossarian]

Sounds suspiciously like lots of other hoaxes that are becoming more common these days. If true, the perps need to be caught and punished - severely. Two things that bother be about the case, the lady was tied up and her house was set afire. That could have killed her. I consider murder a more serious crime. Second thing - the fire only caused $200 in damages. Curious and curiouser...

 

What are the "lots of hoaxes" you're talking about?

Are there many cases I'm unaware of several LGBT people claiming to be assaulted but actually making it all up?

 

I said nothing about LGBT hoaxes...Here are some of the hoaxes I was talking about. 1) Tawana Brawley: everyone knows about this one in 1987. 2) Charles Stuart: Stuart and his pregnant wife Carol were driving in Boston in 1989, a black gunman supposedly forced his way into the car and shot them both, hitting Carol in the head and killing her eventually. After suspicions rose, Stuart committed suicide. 3) Susan Smith: In October 1994, in South Carolina, Smith drowned her sons by putting them in her car and letting it roll into John D. Long Lake. She called the police and stated that an armed black man had hijacked her car with her two sons inside. After an extensive manhunt, Smith confessed that she had killed her sons. 4) Duke Lacrosse Team 5) Harvard Hate Mail Hoax: Hate-filled emails were supposedly received by four people at Harvard in April 2007. The source of the emails was one of the people who "received" them. 6) Black Church Arson: In 1996, the Southern Poverty Law Center claimed white supremacists were burning black churches across the south. In fact, the increase was in white church arsons. 7) University of Wisconsin-Parkside Black Hit List: A black student supposedly found a noose hanging in a dorm suite and a "hit list" of black students in February 2012 that were targeted "to die." The black student who who found it was the person wrote it and hung the noose.

 

There are many others. Google "black noose hoax" and you will see...as for LGBT hoaxes, google "LGBT hoaxes."

 

so these "commonly daily" hoaxes are occuring over the course of 1987 to 2012? More specifically 7 occurences over the course of 25 years? Of course, I know you said these are just examples (the majority seeming to be "black noose hoaxes" which have nothing to do with the LGBT community). So you must have thousands or even hundreds more currently related attempts to substantiate a reason why we should consider this recent claim as dubious, correct?

 

Plus, you misquoted my post - I didn't say "common daily." i said "becoming more common these days." I realize it's easier to frame an argument when you misquote in order to have someone say what you want to hear. Especially when you can actually amend what I actually posted.

.

[bennychico11]

You keep insisting that I somehow said that there are many instances of hoaxes involving LGBT "victims" when I said no such thing. Correct? The one common factor in these are the that the perps set themselves up to be a victim when in fact they were not. I also said that, if true, someone needs to be charged with murder - tying someone up and then spreading gasoline on the floor and lighting it seems almost as serious to me as calling someone a name. Of course, that's just me.

 

I'm just trying to figure out how you leap from a few incidents spread over the course of 25 years, which you say are "becoming more common these days" (but I guess not common enough that you can agree we substitute the phrase "common daily"...so I guess really it's not that common? )...how do you get from that to assuming this story is suspicious? Where in this story do you see a commonality with the others you listed where "perps set themselves up to be victims?"

[Yossarian]

You keep insisting that I somehow said that there are many instances of hoaxes involving LGBT "victims" when I said no such thing. Correct? The one common factor in these are the that the perps set themselves up to be a victim when in fact they were not. I also said that, if true, someone needs to be charged with murder - tying someone up and then spreading gasoline on the floor and lighting it seems almost as serious to me as calling someone a name. Of course, that's just me.

 

I'm just trying to figure out how you leap from a few incidents spread over the course of 25 years, which you say are "becoming more common these days" (but I guess not common enough that you can agree we substitute the phrase "common daily"...so I guess really it's not that common? )...how do you get from that to assuming this story is suspicious? Where in this story do you see a commonality with the others you listed where "perps set themselves up to be victims?"

 

What made me suspicious was the fact that the attackers threw gasoline on the floor and set it afire - the fire was still burning when the police arrived, and caused $200.00 in damage. Something doesn't seem right about that. Meanwhile, everyone seems to think that the "hate crime" part of this is somehow worse than attempted murder. It has gotten to the point where even questioning a victim's story is usually thought to be a hate crime in itself.

[carlfense]

What made me suspicious was the fact that the attackers threw gasoline on the floor and set it afire - the fire was still burning when the police arrived, and caused $200.00 in damage.

. . . according to the police. If the incident just happened over the weekend they don't have the official damage estimate for restitution at this point.

 

If that's the only thing that has you suspicious you can probably lay it to rest. The real damage amount will be forthcoming.

[knapplc]

I'm not saying I think this attack was faked, far from it. But we've seen faked stuff before, and the LPD is handling this case in a manner which I've never seen before. No description of the suspects, nothing at all. Even very simple things like race, height, body shape, voice descriptions, etc. No reference whether the victim knew the attackers or not, no description of the times this may have started/ended, nothing.

 

They are asking for zero help from the public, near as I can tell. In a situation like this, I would think - even just to protect Lincoln's LGBT community - they would release something. What if these guys are interested in attacking someone else? Whom should potential victims look out for? That's pretty pertinent information, and we're getting nothing.

 

The LPD's official explanation for this is that they don't want to bias testimony from potential suspects when caught. Again, I have never heard that before, not in other assault cases, not in bank robbery cases, nothing. They are quick to offer descriptions, methods and any other facts to the papers so the public can assist with any information they may have.

 

There are many things about this case that are, at best, very odd. Certainly it's a unique situation in this town and perhaps that explains the unique methods they're using to handle this case, but pointing out that this is not normal is perfectly OK in my book.

 

 

Here's the latest from the JournalStar:

 

The woman told police three masked men came in but gave no further description, Lincoln Police Officer Katie Flood said. Investigators have no suspects.

 

Police said Monday they still were investigating the case but declined to release details of what they think happened. If police zero in on suspects, investigators want details about the crime to come from their memory, not from what they've read or seen in the media, Flood said.

 

"We don't want to provide too many details," she added.

 

 

To say that this lack of information is unusual is an understatement. They almost never have information releases like this.

[Yossarian]

I'm not saying I think this attack was faked, far from it. But we've seen faked stuff before, and the LPD is handling this case in a manner which I've never seen before. No description of the suspects, nothing at all. Even very simple things like race, height, body shape, voice descriptions, etc. No reference whether the victim knew the attackers or not, no description of the times this may have started/ended, nothing.

 

They are asking for zero help from the public, near as I can tell. In a situation like this, I would think - even just to protect Lincoln's LGBT community - they would release something. What if these guys are interested in attacking someone else? Whom should potential victims look out for? That's pretty pertinent information, and we're getting nothing.

 

The LPD's official explanation for this is that they don't want to bias testimony from potential suspects when caught. Again, I have never heard that before, not in other assault cases, not in bank robbery cases, nothing. They are quick to offer descriptions, methods and any other facts to the papers so the public can assist with any information they may have.

 

There are many things about this case that are, at best, very odd. Certainly it's a unique situation in this town and perhaps that explains the unique methods they're using to handle this case, but pointing out that this is not normal is perfectly OK in my book.

 

 

Here's the latest from the JournalStar:

 

The woman told police three masked men came in but gave no further description, Lincoln Police Officer Katie Flood said. Investigators have no suspects.

 

Police said Monday they still were investigating the case but declined to release details of what they think happened. If police zero in on suspects, investigators want details about the crime to come from their memory, not from what they've read or seen in the media, Flood said.

 

"We don't want to provide too many details," she added.

 

 

To say that this lack of information is unusual is an understatement. They almost never have information releases like this.

 

Uh...what knapplc said. Something odd is going on...

[knapplc]

Police aren't ruling anything out yet:

 

Police not ruling out possibility hate crime was staged

 

...

 

Police continue to investigate Sunday’s reported hate crime but say they haven’t ruled out the possibility that the 33-year-old woman staged the attack.

 

Chief Jim Peschong told the Journal Star investigators were not certain an attack took place, but he said Tuesday it was too early to tell whether the attack was a hoax. Police have no suspects, the chief said.

 

Capt. Jim Davidsaver said later the FBI had joined the investigation, and an agent was at the department Tuesday.

 

The article goes on to say that a friend of the victim says it would be out of character for her to make something like this up.

[Enhance]

I saw this woman's interview on the news last night - it was pretty convincing.

[knapplc]

Charlie has come forward to speak about this, so it's time to bring everything out in the open.

 

The woman at the center of this story is Charlie Rogers, Husker hoops star from the 1990s.

 

 

Charlie played for Nebraska from 96-00, graduating in 2002. Here's her story:

 

The 33-year-old lesbian woman who told police she was brutally attacked last weekend spoke to an Omaha television station Thursday.

 

Charlie Rogers, 33, spoke with KETV, Omaha’s ABC affiliate, saying the attack changed her life forever.

 

Rogers told police three masked men broke into her house early Sunday morning, bound her with zip ties and carved anti-gay slurs into her skin before trying to light her house on fire.

 

Police are investigating the reported attack as a hate crime, but have been unable to rule out that Rogers’ report is a hoax.

 

LINK

 

She spoke to Omaha's KETV about this:

 

LINK

[NUance]

You'd have to think the attack had something to do with her being a former college athlete in addition to being gay. And not just some random hate crime on a lesbian. Or at least it seems likely her local fame played some role in it.

[knapplc]

I don't know if it had anything to do with the fact that she's a Husker. That was a dozen years ago. An earlier LJS article said:

 

According to Thorfinnson, the woman’s attackers painted a message on her wall telling her to stay away from children.

 

The woman was seen at a gay pride event earlier this summer lip-syncing to a song while a child danced in a tutu.

 

During the festivities, the woman was honored, Thorfinnson said. She wanted to champion tolerance and make the world a better place for future generations of gays and lesbians.

 

They have amended this story. Originally it said that the men mentioned seeing her at the festival dancing with the child. They have since posted a correction:

 

Correction

 

An earlier version of this story contained an inaccuracy from a source about a gay pride event preceding the reported attack.

 

LINK

[Apathy]

I grew up watching Charlie Rodgers play basketball for South Sioux City while dominating the Class B rankings and the state championship for years. There were several people from the South Sioux area including my family and I who would rent a charter bus to go down to Lincoln and watch her play at Nebraska.

 

My family knows the Rogers and have for years and I can attest you all that Charlie Rogers would NEVER make something up this bizarre or hoax anything of this magnitude. That just doesn't seem like the girl I've known for over a decade or the way the Roger family would raise their daughter.