SAN JOSE, Calif. — Three San Jose State University students have been charged with a misdemeanor hate crime and battery for allegedly subjecting their black roommate to racially-charged torment.
The three suspects, Logan Beaschler and Colin Warren, both 18, and Joseph Bomgardner, 19 allegedly taunted their black suitemate, whose name has not been released, from August until October. The trio used racial epithets when addressing the victim, and taunted the victim with Nazi imagery, a Confederate flag, barricaded him in his room and on one occasion, clamped a U-shaped bicycle lock around his neck, ABC News reports.
Described as mild-mannered, the victim went home on weekends to escape the harsh treatment. When his parents took him back to the residence hall one weekend in October, they discovered the n-word written on a dry erase board in his suite. The parents immediately filed charges with SJSU officials.
The suspects have been suspended from the university pending an investigation.
