Suspects in attack of Chinese PhD student at UW-Madison not charged with hate crimes

Publish date: 2024-05-18

A group of teen suspects accused of brutally attacking a Chinese doctorate student with the University of Wisconsin-Madison in June have not been charged with hate crimes.

The 26-year-old victim, who suffered minor injuries, recalled his traumatic experience along University Avenue on the night of June 14 in a Weibo post. He described coming across a group of men who surrounded him, struck him in the face, shoved him to the ground and repeatedly punched and kicked him.

A Chinese male student was beaten by FIVE random young men yesterday on University Ave. close to @UWMadison campus. We feel extremely disappointed about what happened to him. And this isn’t the first Asian hate crime at UW-Madison. @uwchancellor #StopAsianHate #HateCrime pic.twitter.com/G6o0RNhlDo

— Luhang SUN (@luhang_sun) June 16, 2022

Four suspects have been arrested in connection with the incident, as well as other similar cases involving White and Hispanic victims. Save for their alleged 15-year-old accomplice, Alijah C. Johnson, 19;, Cashius E. Carter, 18;, and Abdoulah C. Traore-Flores, 17, have all been charged with multiple counts of battery and disorderly conduct — all misdemeanors.

Carter has also been charged with one count of criminal damage to property. The trio, who were all listed as African Americans on court records, pleaded not guilty to their charges during a court appearance on Aug. 18.

The group is also accused of targeting another Chinese student — an undergraduate — before attacking the Ph.D. student. The victim claimed that a group of people repeatedly threw bananas at him, causing injuries.

The attacks against the pair of Chinese students convinced the university’s Asian American community that they were racially motivated. However, campus police and officials are not investigating the incidents as potential hate crimes, since the group is also accused of attacking White and Hispanic victims two days earlier.

Up to 200 people – many of them Asian students at UW-Madison – have protested against the university’s treatment of the cases, but to no apparent avail. Just weeks after the incidents involving the same group, a man reportedly targeted an Asian staff member with racial slurs.

The trio of suspects are scheduled for a pre-trial conference on Oct. 3. As of press time, it’s unknown whether the 15-year-old suspect will face any charges related to the attacks.

Featured Image via Weibo (left) and Madison Police Department (right)

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