EAST LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — The Michigan State University Police Department is investigating an assault as a possible hate crime.
It happened Monday afternoon right in front of the library and in broad daylight.
MSU Police say a group of seven young men who are not affiliated with the university followed and attacked two students after an argument.
Police are still trying to figure out exactly what happened, but officials say the students may have been attacked because of their sexual orientation.
“These students were just like us walking around, living their lives and they got attacked,” said Gabriella Matheney, a freshman psychology major. “It was just really scary because it can happen to anyone.”
Police say the incident happened at around 5:45 p.m. Monday, and they sent out an alert to students a short time later.
Since then, campus investigators say they were able to work with police to identify everyone involved.
Officials added that when their investigation is complete, they will turn it over to the Ingham County Prosecutor to decide on criminal charges.
MSU officials also sent out a statement about the incident to students, saying that violence like this is unacceptable, and they are working to make campus feel like a safe place.
Still, students say were shaken up by the news.
“I mean that’s messed up, that’s a horrific thing that happened right here,” said Nate Zazeckis, a freshman business major. “So, there are a lot of people outside and just talking and I think that’s what it should be like, and not having people get jumped randomly for going to the library at whatever time of day.”
People also said that as the weather gets nicer, they’ve noticed more people walking around on campus who may not be students.
“We had a time when we were in the Brody neighborhood and there was someone on drugs who was just sitting in there and bothering people who were coming back from clubs and winding down for the day, said Laila Padmore, a freshman nursing major, “Campus security is around, but they are never there.”
“I feel like they are never where they need to be,” Matheney added.
MSU Police would not confirm if there is surveillance video of the incident.
But last year, the school did announce that it plans to add thousands of new cameras on campus, and a detailed description of the suspects was provided after the incident.
Moving forward, prosecutors could decide to charge the men with hate crimes in court, since the state recently updated the definition of the crime to include sexual orientation as a protected category.
