Alleged hate crimes and reports of racial violence have risen in the weeks since Donald Trump took the election by storm, but recent investigations prove that things aren’t always what they seem. As two Bowling Green State University students are finding out, making things up can come with serious consequences.
Eleesha Long, a 24-year-old African-American student, filed a police report stating that three white men wearing Trump shirts assaulted her and shouted racial slurs as she was collecting yard signs. Long story short, an investigation by Bowling Green police found that the incident never happened.
Long posted the story to Facebook, but never called police and reported the crime. Her post caught the attention of her father who contacted law enforcement shortly thereafter. A Bowling Green State University officer took her to the police station to file a report.Investigators stated that, during the report, Long changed her story multiple times, including where it happened, what happened, and when it happened. Police obtained a search warrant for her Facebook and Verizon history due to the doubt generated by her report.
Evidence revealed that Long was never at the location where the incident occurred. Text messages sent from Long to her boyfriend and mother were full of racial and hateful remarks against Trump supporters. The texts included statements like “I hope they all get AIDS” and “I haven’t met a decent Trump supporter yet.”