2-09-17

Page 1

Thursday

/NorthernIowan

February 9, 2017

@NorthernIowan

Volume 113, Issue 35

northerniowan.com

Opinion 3 Campus Life 4 Sports 6 Games 7 Classifieds 8

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

SLC

Student takes to Facebook to air grievences with CFPD

Students gathered to experience a poverty simulation. CAMPUS LIFE PAGE 4

SLIPPERY SLOPE Columnist says those defending “punching a neo-nazi” are walking slippery slope.

OPINION PAGE 3

GABBY LEITNER/Northern Iowan

Chloe Cumberland, freshman elementary education major, speaks at a press conference Jan. 27. Cumberland posted on Facebook regarding concerns she had with how Cedar Falls Police handled her case. That post went viral, reaching more than 2,000 shares in just a few days.

NICK FISHER

Executive Editor

WRESTLING Panthers fell to Oklahoma but are still undefeated in MAC. SPORTS PAGE 6

A Jan. 24 Facebook post by a UNI student regarding the Cedar Falls Police Department’s handling of her sexual assault case went viral, reaching more than 2,000 shares in just a few days. Chloe Cumberland, a freshman elementary education

GABBY LEITNER/Northern Iowan

Chloe Cumberland, freshman elementary education major, was interviewed by several news organizations at the end of January about her situation.

major, said she was sexually assaulted by an Iowa State University student, who was a former friend, in the early morning hours of Dec. 4, 2016. She claims the Cedar Falls Police Department (CFPD) were apathetic in handling her case. “It’s like they didn’t care,” Cumberland said. The incident Cumberland said her perpetrator contacted her out of the blue, after not having spoken in more than two years, saying he was going to be in town for the weekend. The two had gone to the same high school in Algona. She said she had offered the man a ride home and place to stay in her dorm after he had been out drinking on the Hill. After picking him up, Cumberland said he wanted to get a hotel room; she ended up driving to Suburban Extended Stay Hotel on Viking Road. She said the man discussed seeing her over Christmas break. He proceeded to give her a back rub — which she said no to — then placed his hands under her shirt and ultimately in her pants.

“The only thing I can remember saying is, ‘No, no, no,’” Cumberland said. “Then I finally got him off of me after trying for so long. I grabbed […] everything and I ran out of there — I was bawling.” She said she drove back to Bender Hall and sat in the dorm shower for two and a half hours. “[I just sat] on the ground, because I felt so disgusting,” Cumberland said. She said she wavered on whether to call the police, and decided to do so two days later after visiting with a Riverview center advocate. She didn’t submit a rape kit because of the time spent in the shower, she said. Police declined to take her clothing from the night of the incident, according to Cumberland. Perceptions of apathy Cumberland said her issues with police began with communication problems — she sent a formal statement to one officer and didn’t receive any response until another officer notified her that it was she who should have received the statement from Cumberland in the

first place. After cooperating with the investigation, Cumberland said things hit a standstill when an officer told her that the accused had “lawyered up” and there was little CFPD could do. “[The police officer] said, ‘We talked to the [county] attorney’s office and there’s just really not enough that we have that we can do, and […] if somebody reports him for something like this in the future that’s how that’s going to happen,’” Cumberland said. She said the officer told her that if no one else accuses the same man in the future they would “pretty much” do nothing about her case. Cedar Falls Police Chief Jeff Olson told the NI on Feb. 8 that, since the Facebook post, CFPD had been in contact with Cumberland on a weekly basis regarding her case. He stressed that police cannot meet with a suspect if an attorney denies their request, and that sexual assault cases are “very difficult” because there are rarely witnesses. See CUMBERLAND, page 2

CEDAR VALLEY PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

Now Leasing 2017-2018 1704 E State St. Cedar Falls www.CedarValleyPropertyManagement.com

319-404-9095


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.