1 arrest made in robbery, battery of Asian students

An arrest was made Monday in the robbery battery case that took place at 4:06 a.m. Sunday, where allegedly a group of African-Americans used racial slurs, and attacked and robbed a group of Asian students.

IU police executed a search warrant at 4 p.m. Monday on the residence of suspect Terry Lee Campbell, Jr., 18, in Forest Quad, according to an IU Police Department press release.

Campbell was not at his residence. At 9:58 p.m. officers received a tip that Campbell was at Read Center and arrested him without incident for the initial charges of robbery and battery with serious bodily injury.

The investigation will continue with additional arrests anticipated.

In response to the incident, two freshmen, William Zhao and Chika Agwu, are hoping Sunday’s “crisis” can bring people together.

Zhao, who is Chinese, and Agwu, who is Nigerian, are members of the U.S.­­-China Alliance. They are good friends: one happens to be African-American, the other Asian.
But they said they want to get different IU clubs together, sit down and create a promotional event to re-energize the campus in light of this event.

Members of the U.S.-China Alliance have organized an urgent callout meeting at 7 p.m. Nov. 3 in the Asian Culture Center, where Zhao and Agwu said hopefully some kinks will get worked out.

The callout meeting invites everyone to discuss the incident and what should be done in its wake.

The Asian-American Alliance will be there to talk about causes of violence against Asian-Americans.

With the work the U.S-China Alliance is doing, Zhao said he wants to take this issue to the entire campus.

“We do not want to just work within the organization,” Zhao said. “We want to promote around campus.”

Zhao and Agwu said they realize that the crime makes African-Americans look bad.

Obviously, a handful of people do not represent an entire black community, Agwu said, just how a black organization can not be a spokesperson for all black people.

“I don’t like the way its been publicized,” Agwu said, adding how it is natural for people to form judgements of people, but it’s whether or not you take action on the judgement.

This is the first time being in the United States for a lot of international students, Zhao said. They come from a place where they are not used to seeing black or white people, which makes them cautious being in the U.S.

Eric Love, director for the IU Office of Diversity Education, agrees with Zhao. It makes it even more difficult when students are visiting here from another country, Love said.

“This incident might hinder that even more,” Zhao said.  

Zhao and Agwu said they want to break down the walls that divide races and groups of people and create an environment where people can live together and learn from one
another.

“It’s a good feeling when I’m walking and people say hi or wave to me,” Zhao said. “It makes you feel at home.”