An 18-year-old student from Idaho will not be charged for shouting a racial slur at members of the Utah women’s basketball team in March, according to reports from CNN, Deseret News, and KREM2.
A high-school student named Anthony Myers reportedly confessed to using a racial slur towards the Utah women’s basketball team on March 21. The incident took place while the team was staying in Coeur d’Alene for an NCAA basketball tournament game scheduled at Gonzaga University in nearby Spokane, Washington.
Utah women’s basketball team members experienced the incident while heading to a restaurant. They were then subjected to the same derision upon leaving the establishment.
According to Ryan Hunter, the city’s chief deputy attorney, Myers confessed to using a racial slur and making an obscene sexual statement towards the women. However, Hunter stated that there is not enough evidence to arrest and charge Myers solely based on these statements, as they are protected under the First Amendment.
Hunter explained that shouting at a group of people from a moving vehicle does not infringe upon any state laws related to disturbing the peace or the city’s law against disorderly conduct.
Hunter condemned Myers’ alleged statement as “incredibly racist and misogynistic,” emphasizing that while it is deeply offensive, it does not meet the criteria for a criminal offense.
According to Myers, both the U.S. Constitution and the Idaho Constitution uphold his freedom of speech.
The Coeur d’Alene Police Department conducted interviews with nearly twenty witnesses and carefully analyzed thirty-five hours of surveillance footage to identify Myers and three other individuals who were present in a vehicle when Myers allegedly made the offensive remark.
According to Hunter, Myers initially confessed to using the racial slur but later partially retracted his admission.
On Friday, Hunter concluded that there were no viable charges that could be brought in the case. He then announced this decision on Monday.
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