Idaho police have identified an audio recording of “clearly audible” racial slurs while investigating racist behavior directed at the Utah women’s basketball team two weeks ago.
The Coeur d’Alene Police Department said in a statement that it is still determining the “context and conduct” surrounding the use to determine whether a violation occurred. The Facebook page.
“While we are still reviewing the evidence, it appears that racial slurs have occurred on more than one occasion,” police said.
Investigators collected 35 hours of video from businesses in the areas where the incidents occurred and have audio and video to corroborate what the Utah team members reported, police said.
The incident occurred March 21 before Utah’s first- and second-round NCAA tournament games against Gonzaga in Spokane, Wash. The basketball team was based in Coeur d’Alene, about 30 miles east of Spokane. Local hotel rooms.
Utah said the basketball team, band and cheerleaders went to a restaurant for dinner and a car revved its engine and someone yelled the N-word at the group. After dinner, around 6 p.m. local time, two pickup trucks revved their engines and raced through the group, according to a police report. According to police reports, the cars turned around and the occupants yelled the N-word at the group.
Utah worked with the NCAA and Gonzaga to go to a hotel in Spokane the next day. Utah athletic director Mark Harlan, deputy athletic director Sharmele Green and women’s basketball coach Lynn Roberts from Spokane said they were “very disappointed” to be assigned to the hotel.
“We will work with NCAA leadership to make clear that walking away from the venue is unacceptable and contributed to the impact of this incident,” he said in a statement.
According to 2020 U.S. Census Bureau data, Coeur d’Alene residents are predominantly white, with less than 1 percent black (more people self-identified as Asian or Native American, and 5 percent said they were Latino). The city has a history with extremist groups. The mayor said in 202231 extremists are arrested after being found in a car with a smoke bomb near an LGBTQ pride event.
(Photo: Myk Crawford / NCAA Photos via Getty Images)