SAN JOSE — Three former San Jose State University students, accused of racially-motivated harassment of their roommate which involved clamping a bike lock around his neck, were convicted of battery on February 22 of this year.
After the ruling, one student, Joseph Bomgardner, was found not guilty of a lesser charge of misdemeanor hate crime.
Jury was split during deliberations over whether two students, Logan Beaschler and Colin Warren, were guilty of a hate crime. Honorable Judge Thang Nguyen Barrett declared a mistrial on those counts, leaving the DA’s Office with the choice to either re-charge the suspects or dismiss the case in lieu of the assault conviction.
District Attorney Jeff Rosen said of the case, “The act of clamping a bike lock around someone’s neck is a violent act. As a community let’s acknowledge that this violence did not occur in a historical or societal vacuum. Prejudice is not a prank.”
“Today’s decision was partially disappointing, but not dispiriting. Our resolve to fight hate crimes remains unwavering.”
According to court records, the charges were brought after a student living in the SJSU dorms was harassed by the defendants between the months of August and October of 2013. During this time, Beaschler and Warren adorned their wall with a confederate flag and regularly referred to the victim as “Three-Fifths,” believed to be in reference to the Three-Fiths Doctrine of old which decreed slaves as “three-fifths of all other persons.”
When the victim protested the moniker, they began referring to him as “Fraction.”
Beaschler (20) of Bakersfield, Bomgardner (20) of Clovis, and Warren (20) of Woodacre face a maximum of six months in county jail when sentenced on March 14th.
