Craziness

Yesterday, Carla mentioned hearing in the news that someone was beat up on the MSUM campus. It turned out it was the intern that was working for them (they are in our old office, which is across the hall from our current office). I found this article on the Forum website this morning: Possible hate crime incites students (a snippet follows since you have to register (for free) to read the articles)

Local college students are speaking out about an assault on a Minnesota State University Moorhead senior last week that police are investigating as a hate crime.

Paul Marquardt, 23, of Edina, Minn., said he was attacked Thursday night by four men slinging homophobic slurs at him as he walked to his car. The men shoved him down and he was knocked out, waking up a few minutes later, face down in the dirt.

In response to the attack on Marquardt, a local gay rights group has organized a march Thursday on MSUM’s campus to raise awareness and stop hate crimes.

Moorhead Deputy Police Chief Bob Larson said such attacks are unusual and police have no suspects and little to work from in the ongoing investigation.

Marquardt said he has no idea what the men look like.

Then on the news tonite, they had a story about it … that things didn’t add up. And I found this article on the Forum’s website … Police refute hate crime claim (again, a snippet of the article)

Moorhead police said late this afternoon they do not believe a hate crime occurred on the Minnesota State University Moorhead campus.

On Friday, MSUM senior Paul Marquardt, 23, of Edina, Minn., told police he was attacked by a group of people Thursday night who yelled homophobic slurs at him as he walked to his car.

He said the men shoved him down and he was knocked out.

Moorhead police, noticing some discrepencies in what Marquardt was telling people, questioned him further and Marquardt eventually stated he was not confronted by attackers and did not hear anti-gay comments.

Police said Marquardt maintains he was pushed down and injured by persons unknown.

Now, I have met this guy, but don’t really know him. I do know that from what others have said, he’s not the “brightest bulb on the tree”. If he did give a false report, that’s just sad … and wrong. It should be interesting the next time he comes in to work.