Men Rev Engines & Yell the N-Word at NCAA Team Playing in Spokane
The details of this story are both shocking and disgusting at the same time.
Women's Team Playing in the NCAA Tournament in Spokane Harassed by Racists
Details are coming out about two different incidents involving the Utah women's basketball team and multiple encounters where they were harassed by groups of men in trucks. The team was in the Spokane area competing in the NCAA Tournament but staying at a hotel in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, about 30 minutes from where they played. The first night the team arrived, they had multiple shocking encounters with men in trucks described as racist hate crimes. That Thursday night, the team was walking together towards a restaurant to go eat and a white truck came up behind them and pulled up close to the team. The truck then revved its engine, the driver yelled the N-word out the window, and then drove off quickly. It wasn't just the team that witnessed the harassment, but also their cheerleaders and other students and staff traveling with the team. The second encounter which happened later that evening was much more scary.
Two Trucks Were Waiting Outside the Restaurant Hours Later
The team describes being at the restaurant for around two hours, then as they were leaving they noticed two trucks seemingly waiting outside. As the team left the restaurant, people in the trucks both revved their engines threateningly and yelled the N-word at multiple people. The team gathered together in a group and escorted each other back to the hotel, many describing being numb or very emotional and afraid after the event. The Utah team's head coach Lynne Roberts said in an interview about the event, "You think in our world, in athletics and the university settings, it's shocking. There's so much diversity on a college campus and so you're just not exposed to that very often. And so when you are, it's like, you have people say, 'Man, I can't believe that happened.' But racism is real and it happens, and it's awful." The coach also described being very unhappy with their NCAA experience in Spokane saying, "The fact that we were sent to a place that wasn't even the state that the university who is hosting resides was incredibly problematic," The NCAA Tournament has been coming regularly over the years to Spokane, but you have to wonder if this might be the last time after these racist events. You can read more about this story along with quotes from the players affected at KSL.com.