Back in July, former University of Nebraska women’s basketball player Charlie Rogers told police that three men broke into her home, held her down, carved horrific homophobic slurs into her body with knives, and tried to burn her home down with her in it because she’s a lesbian. The national response was incredible, as activists and support groups flocked to Nebraska to show their support as an ultimate stand against terrible, unacceptable homophobic acts and hate crimes such as this, and Rogers became the brave new face of survival and the universal need for equality.
Then yesterday happened.
But the Lincoln Police Department said Tuesday that “the physical evidence conflicted with Charlie Rogers’ version of events” and that “extensive investigation revealed numerous inconsistencies.”
Rogers was arrested Tuesday, police said. (Via CNN)
To her credit, Rogers will plead not guilty and her attorney called these charges a “kick in the gut”. It should be noted that this is her second attorney, though, as the first one quit because “things have changed”.
According to the Lincoln Police Department complaint, Rogers, 33, provided information “she knew to be false” with the intent to “instigate an investigation of an alleged criminal matter.”
Rogers reported to police that she was lying on her bed when the alleged attackers held her down and carved “derogatory words” into her arms and abdomen and “a cross” in her chest. She told police she was then rolled onto her stomach where more cuts were made.
But according to a deposition from Lincoln police investigator Lynette Russell filed as part of the complaint, Rogers bedspread was “evenly placed on the bed and no apparent sign of a struggle.” A DNA lab test found no evidence of blood on the bedspread.
Russell also described a pair of white gloves found at the scene that Rogers had said were not hers.
“Ms. Rogers DNA profile was the major contributor to the DNA located on the inside of the gloves,” Russell said.
Furthermore, the deposition said, the FBI sent photos of Rogers’ cuts to a forensic pathologist, who believed the wounds to be self-inflicted.
“This opinion is based partially on the fact that the cuts appeared superficial and symmetrical, avoided sensitive areas of the body,…are accessible to the victim and follow the victim’s frame of reference for reading and writing,” the deposition said.
What do you even say to something like this? If she’s not lying, the police still have no clue who the attackers may have been, and then we still have this stigma that investigators kicked this poor woman while she was down. But if she’s a liar, not only has she completely taken advantage of the sympathy and good will of hundreds of thousands of people, but she also willingly accepted money from advocacy groups.
Either way, this is the perfect example of why I have a sign on the ceiling above my bed that reads: “Don’t watch the news today.”
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