College basketball team switches hotels after racist taunts

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University of Utah’s women’s basketball coach said her team was the target of a series of “racial hate crimes” after arriving in Idaho for the NCAA Tournament last week. The incidents prompted the team to change hotels for the sake of their safety, she said.

Utah coach Lynne Roberts told reporters that the team of Black, white and Latina athletes experienced several incidents Thursday night after arriving in the Spokane area for the tournament where they faced Gonzaga University. Roberts didn’t go into detail about the incidents, but said they were concerning enough to request that they be moved from their hotel in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, to a location closer to Spokane.

Roberts added that the NCAA and Gonzaga, the host school, worked to move the team to a different hotel. Neither Roberts nor the women’s athletics department immediately responded to a request for comment.

Utah’s deputy athletics director Charmelle Green, who is Black, told Salt Lake City’s KSL News that the team, along with band members and cheerleaders, were walking to a local restaurant for dinner when someone in a white truck drove up to the group, revved its engine, and yelled the N-word before speeding away.

“We all just were in shock, and we looked at each other like, did we just hear that?” Green said. “We kept walking, just shaking our heads, like, ‘I can’t believe that.’”

The team continued with the evening. Then, as they were leaving the restaurant, two trucks came near them, the drivers revved their engines and yelled the N-word.

“I got emotional and started to cry,” Green told KSL. “I was just numb the entire night.”

Gonzaga University officials acknowledged the situation in a statement shared on social media.

“Gonzaga University has been made aware of the racially disparaging comments made to visiting student-athletes and travel party members in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, in advance of the NCAA Women’s First and Second Round Basketball Tournament games these past several days,” the statement began.

“Hate speech in any form is repugnant, shameful and must never be tolerated. We worked hard to secure the opportunity to serve as the host institution, and our first priority is and must be the safety and welfare of all student-athletes, coaches, families and supporting staff. To this end, we have worked closely with the NCAA and program participants to support the security and safety of everyone involved. We are frustrated and deeply saddened to know that what should always be an amazing visitor and championship experience was in any way compromised by this situation, for it in no way reflects the values, standards, and beliefs to which we at Gonzaga University hold ourselves accountable.”

Idaho = white only spaces

The "brave" idiots in the pick up trucks intimidating college aged girls and running away before getting identified. Really pieces of work.

They might regret their actions once they are caught, cops on their tail



Love doxxing racists

Police in Coeur d’Alene, a northern Idaho town that a local public advocacy organization has described as a “safe haven” for white supremacist groups, are investigating after the University of Utah’s women’s basketball coach said her team was targeted in a series of “racial hate crimes” while in town for the NCAA Tournament last week.

Police Chief Lee White said local law enforcement received a report about the incident the night it happened and are working with the FBI to speak with the victims and witnesses to determine which state or federal laws apply to the situation. He cited federal law, a state law against malicious harassment and a statute against disorderly conduct.

In a statement obtained by NBC News, an FBI spokesperson said, “We are aware of the incident in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho and are in regular contact with local authorities. If, in the course of the local investigation, information comes to light of a potential federal violation, the FBI is prepared to investigate.”

Coeur d’Alene and northern Idaho have become known for its extremism and proliferation of racist groups. The Aryan Nations and other white supremacist groups have terrorized the region since at least the 1970s, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. In 2022, members of a racist hate group called Patriot Front marched through downtown Coeur d’Alene. Thirty-one of them were arrested on suspicion of conspiring a riot, according to The Spokesman Review.

A local far-right activist showed up to Tuesday’s news conference, yelling about the Patriot Front incident. He claimed to be a member of the media but would not say which news outlet he was part of. Attendants at the event booed him.

The Idaho 97 Project, which opposes far-right extremism in the state, has called the region a “safe haven” for white supremacist hate groups.

“We’ve always had extremism in Idaho on some level, going back to Richard Butler and some of those groups in Coeur d’Alene,” Mike Satz, then its executive director, said in 2022. He added to KMTV, “We also have a lot of people who are just moving into the state who are coming here because they see Idaho as a conservative bastion.”