Augsburg student assaulted? Think again.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

An Augsburg College student and Sarah Palin supporter from Alaska was beaten on election night while walking to her dorm and was called a racist by a group of four young women because she had on a McCain/Palin presidential campaign button, authorities and the victim said.

Annie Grossmann, a freshman on the Minneapolis college's hockey team, suffered blurred vision and is thought to have had a concussion from a punch in the eye, but declined medical attention, she said.


http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/34305774.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUr

OK, I'm an Augsburg alum and have been back there over the years, and the idea that four black women could beat Annie up and she wouldn't be able to identify them doesn't ring true to me.

Augsburg is a SMALL college that takes up a relatively small space, so much so that I always knew who the freshmen were each year: They were the kids I hadn't seen before. In particular, if FOUR black students had beaten me up, I would have known at least one of them.

While there are plenty of Twin Cities commuters, a LOT of the students are from rural areas. It's not as if they've never seen hunters before, so the story of having to throw a "PETA activist" (not just a tender-hearted fellow student, but a "PETA activist") out of her room sounds like Republican persecution complex.

The Strib has disabled comments on this (as they do now with anything that has racial overtones), but I don't know how to write an LTTE without sounding like I'm outright calling this young woman a liar.

[Love Bug]

1. I read that article

and it said they are sure those women who allegedly assaulted Annie weren't students. I've never been on Augsberg's campus but I wonder how open is the access that anyone can walk on the skyway between buildings?

I'm real skeptical of her story, especially considering how she refused medical attention. If she was assaulted I feel bad for her and of course don't approve but I'm not really buying her story. It's too pat. Something just doesn't pass the smell test here.

[Randomthought]

2. the story doesn't ring true

Why did she refuse medical attention? Why weren't police called immediately?
Ms Grossman seems to be looking for attention. How many pictures of her accompanied the story? Two I think. If she is trying to keep a "low profile" having a long article with two photos seems to be counter productive.

[dodger501]

3. Another 'B' Girl?

Can't wait to see how this story shakes out.

[dflprincess]

4. The refusing medical attention sounds real odd to me

especially if she took a punch to the eye. How many people wouldn't want to make sure their eye was okay?

I'm thinking she's afraid a medical professional might figure out her injuries were self inflicted or don't match her story about how she got them in some other way.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. I just got off the phone with the reporter

as someone with firsthand knowledge of Augsburg.

He seemed real resistant to my questions and rather incurious about the discrepancies. He said, for example, that he contacted her parents, siblings, and other relatives, and they all confirmed the story. Well, yeah, I suppose they would. I asked about the other students and her roommate (and one's roommate typically knows a lot about one), and he seems not to have been curious about them, either.

It was a frustrating conversation. For example, I mentioned that right-wing websites were predicting that black people would attack white people if Obama won. His response was, "I don't think those black people were reading right-wing websites."

:banghead:

[Randomthought]

6. this stinks to high heaven

Dawn Grossmann, a Delta Junction City Council member and chairwoman of a state commission that oversees public service funding in Alaska, said some professors and fellow students gave her a hard time for backing the GOP ticket. Citing academic privacy restrictions, Shelman said he could not confirm the other incidents the Grossmanns mentioned.

Dawn Grossmann has met with Palin for government business purposes and sent her daughter Palin campaign T-shirts. Bruce Grossmann said that Annie has also met Palin, is "very proud of Sarah Palin" and considers her "a role model"

[qb]

7. Walsh sounds like another Strib reporter with an agenda... and an attitude.

He reminds me of another guy who used to write for the Strib - I forgot his name but he had a right-wing slant and would get very defensive whenever someone questioned his objectivity.

[Janice325]

8. Has this hit the MSM, even though it's after the election?

The story stinks, IMO. However, if the story were true, shame on the perps.(But, I don't think the story is true).

[MrsMatt]

9. I'd have to give her the benefit of a doubt

My husband was jumped by a group of young men near Augsburg years ago (he was a student at the U at the time, and would park on the street where it was free). He was crossing the street and this group was crossing too, and one of them sucker punched him, and they all started beating up on him. They were scared off by a couple of students who were coming out of the dorm to investigate the yelling.

He was not only unable to indentify how many men there were, but he also was unable to give the police any sort of description - he was asked if they were black (he's white) and he really didn't know. They could have been asian, white or black - the whole incident happened so fast. I think he was in shock.

He also refused medical assistance - he had minimal insurance, and was worried about the cost of the ambulance ride and trip to the ER.

So in light of my husband's experience, I guess I don't find her story too far-fetched.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

10. But this supposedly happened on the campus

more specifically, on a pedestrian bridge between dorms (presumably Urness and Christensen). It's not easy for non-students to get access to that area, and it is even less likely that a group of four black women would lurk there looking for McCain supporters to beat up.

You're right about the neighborhood not being the safest, though.

[kikiek]

11. It may be true she was assaulted, but I don't buy the politically motivated part.

[MrsMatt]

12. I'm a bit sceptical also

about it being politically motivated.

[Name removed]

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