Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012, March 31, 2003, Page 6, Image 6

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ANNUAL MEETING
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3:30 p.m. EMU Fir Room
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Crimes
continued from page 1
and Springfield Mayor Sid Leiken is
sued a joint statement supporting Mus
lim and Arab American communities.
“Harassment, discrimination and
hate crimes are not acceptable and
will not be tolerated here,” Torrey
said in the statement.
City of Eugene spokeswoman Jan
Bohman said minorities in Lane
County are expressing concerns
that they may become targets of
hate crimes similar to those that
took place after Sept. 11, 2001.
Eugene has seen a few incidents
of harassment and vandalism this
month that may have been racially
motivated. The first incident of ha
rassment was reported March 24.
Police spokeswoman Pam 01
shanski said a white woman of Sikh
faith was confronted while waiting
for green light at the intersection of
24th Avenue and Hilyard Street
shortly before 7 p.m.
The woman noticed a man in an
other car who was staring at her.
The man then got out and walked to
her passenger side window, circled
around to her driver side window
and pointed at her with both index
fingers in a “weapon formation,” Ol
shanski said.
After the light turned green, the
woman left and called the Human
Rights Commission and then EPD.
No words were exchanged in the in
cident, which left the woman afraid
for her safety.
EPD arrested Jeffrey Marc Cohen,
28, who Olshanski said admitted
taking part in the incident. He was
charged with a bias crime of harass
ment because the victim thought a
bias — her faith — precipitated the
incident. Cohen said he was just
making a “what’s up” gesture, Ol
shanski said.
“There was this assumption after
9-11 that anyone with a turban is
from the Middle East,” she said,
adding that follow-up interviews
are being conducted to determine
the crime. A charge of bias has a
stiffer penalty.
Togo’s and Dunkin Donuts restau
rants also have been vandalized
many times since Sept. 11, 2001,
co-owner Bill Newman said. New
man is a native of Portugal and
"How do you learn
to hate like this f
These are ignorant
people"
Bill Newman
Co-owner Togo's
Joseph Mungra, the other co-owner,
is originally from India.
More recently, Newman said a
drive-through window was smashed
on “Day 1 of this crap,” referring to
the first day of the war with Iraq.
Other incidents included broken
windows and spray-painted mes
sages such as, “Die pigs die” and
“We don’t like you people in our
community.” Newman said that an
Iraqi flag was once thrown into one
of the broken windows.
“How do you learn to hate like
this?” Newman asked. “These are
ignorant people.”
Associate Director of Public Safe
ty Tom Hicks said he does not ex
pect any hate crimes to occur on
campus, adding protests in support
of or against the war should not lead
to hate-crime incidents. He said the
Department of Public Safety is
working with EPD in asking people
to report any incidents.
“In these kinds of circumstances,
there will be people expressing their
points of view,” Hicks said. “Our job
as public safety is to allow free
speech to occur in a civil and re
sponsible manner.”
University Islamic studies Pro
fessor Timothy Gianotti agreed
with Hicks, saying it is unlikely
that any hate crimes will occur on
campus. He added that if any hate
crimes occurred, they would be
condemned by the majority of stu
dents and faculty.
“I have tremendous faith in the
University of Oregon ... and the
larger community,” he said.
Olshanski said EPD is taking a
“no-tolerance stance” and is asking
people to report any incidents. To
insure reporting of hate crimes, the
department has conducted outreach
programs, along with human rights
groups and the FBI, to teach citizens
how to make accurate reports.
Contact the reporter
atromangokhman@dailyemerald.com.
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