Prosecutors decline to charge man suspected of yelling slurs at U of U women’s basketball team
COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho (ABC4) — Coeur d’Alene prosecutors have declined to charge the 18-year-old man suspected of yelling racial slurs at the University of Utah women’s basketball team earlier this year.
The city attorneys said the suspect, Post Falls High School Student Anthony Myers, admitted he used the N-word and referred to a sex act when yelling the players because he was trying to be “funny.”
His words were deemed to be protected speech under Idaho law.
“Our office shares in the outrage sparked by Anthony Myers’s abhorrently racist and misogynistic statement, and we join in unequivocally condemning that statement and the use of a racial slur in this case, or in any circumstance,” the charging decision states. “However, that cannot, under current law, form the basis for criminal prosecution in this case.”
What happened?
On March 21, members of the University of Utah women’s basketball team, coaching staff, and athletic department, as well as members of the University’s band, cheerleaders, and dance team were staying in Coeur d’Alene for the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament in Spokane, Washington.
Just before 10 p.m. that evening, Robert Moyer, a financial booster for the team traveling with them for the tournament, reportedly contacted the Coeur d’Alene Police Department to report an incident of racial harassment directed against the team that had happened a few hours prior.
In that report, Moyer claimed that two lifted pickup trucks revved their engines and sped by the team in a harassing manner, shouting the N-word several times.
Based on that report, the CDA Police Department said they began a three-week investigation where they interviewed nearly two dozen witnesses and watched hours of surveillance video. They confirmed Myers made the offensive statement — “which he subsequently confessed during interviews with law enforcement,” the report states.
According to the report, prosecutors reviewed several criminal offenses, including disturbing the peace, disorderly conduct, and malicious harassment. However, the report states there was “insufficient evidence” that Myers acted with specific intent to intimidate or harass, as his “intent was to be funny.”
“Needless to say, what Anthony Myers said was incredibly offensive to any reasonable person and that is unequivocally inexcusable,” the report states.
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