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‘At no time did any juveniles yell obscenities, or direct attention to any homes in the area’: police
There is no evidence that a black Virginia Tech University sociology professor was the victim of a racist attack, the Christiansburg, Virginia Police Department recently announced after an investigation into the allegations.
Professor Onwubiko “Biko” Agozino, a self-described scholar-activist with interests in the race-class-gender articulation, said he believed he was targeted earlier this month after several young white men in trucks pulled up in front of his house blaring music and throwing snow and ice from one vehicle.
“Dr. Biko Agozino (who recently ran for delegate in the 42d district) and his family were targeted at their home by a group of 8 white young men riding in four 4 different trucks,” according to a statement by New River Valley Indivisible, a progressive organization.
“The young white men parked in front of Dr. Agozino’s home and unleashed a torrent of racial slurs, including the N-word, and threw ice bricks onto the property, blocking his driveway. This hateful assault was accompanied by the blaring of music, specifically Drake’s ‘Energy,’ in a calculated effort to terrorize and intimidate Biko and his family,” the statement continued.
The allegation made headlines and was quickly condemned by Democratic congressional candidate Adam Murphy, who said in a statement to local media that “hate has no place in the 9th Congressional district” and “this was calculated effort to terrorize and intimidate.”
Josh Stanfield of the Substack Virginia Politics Revealed wrote he had seen the video of the incident and that it “matches much of the description in the NRV Indivisible statement.”
But the Christiansburg Police Department released a statement Feb. 12 stating that is not what happened.
“After several interviews, including a third-party eyewitness, and a detailed investigation, detectives found that a group of juveniles were attending an organized function at a home in the area,” the police said.
“Before departure, two juveniles attempted to clear frozen snow and ice out of the bed of a truck, but were unable to completely remove, due to the slope of the vehicle. Upon departure, the juveniles stopped at a flat spot on the street, where a juvenile pushed out the remaining frozen snow and ice,” the statement read.
“There have been incorrect reports that this may have been a targeted incident toward a specific residence or person based on racial bias,” the statement continued, adding that the department does not typically comment on investigations involving juveniles but weighed in “due to a number of inaccurate accounts of the event, including details from public figures.”
“At no time did any juveniles yell obscenities, or direct attention to any homes in the area while clearing the snow and ice,” the department stated.
In response to a College Fix inquiry, Professor Agozino provided his original video of the incident:
Agozino also provided The Fix with a copy of his response to police, which thanked officers for their effort, but hoped their conclusion would not have the “unintended consequence of emboldening the suspects or others to attempt similar conduct against [him] or against others in the community where more serious reports of hate crime have recently been made.”
The professor labeled the incident “suspicious,” and stated it is “unacceptable” for white men to not only play, but sing along with, music that contains the n-word:
As you may know, crime is not defined by ‘mens rea’ or criminal intent alone. For instance unreasonable or reckless behavior may not intend any harm but the reasonable man test will prove such conduct wrong even if no harm was intended. The police do not wait until a drunk driver injures himself/herself or some other person before intervening to improve public safety. In the case of hate crime and all types of crime, the general advice to the public is if you see something suspicious, say something to law enforcement. That is what I have done in this case.
I sincerely hope that your investigation may serve as a deterrent or de-escalator against future suspicious behavior of this kind. Surely, it is unacceptable for a group of young white men to play and chant along with loud music using the racial slur of the N word and proclaiming that they have lots of enemies while one of them threw ice in front of the driveway of a Black family. My family is justified to feel concerned and threatened by this and we thank you for taking it seriously enough to investigate.
The professor told The Fix he had nothing further to add to his statement at this time.
According to his faculty page, Agozino “values inclusive excellence and diversity with critical attention focused on people of African descent and other marginalized groups around the world.”
Stanfield did not respond to a Fix request for comment.
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