LSU IN SHOCK

Students react to rape charges in Madison Brooks case, LSU response

BY GABBY JIMENEZ @gvjimenezz

The death of Madison Brooks, a 19-year-old political communication sophomore who was hit by a vehicle on Burbank Drive, has shocked the LSU community. Since her death, two men have been charged with raping Brooks prior to dropping her off near Burbank where she was killed.

Kaivon Washington, 18, and a 17-year-old were charged with third-degree rape. Everett Lee, 27, and Casen Carver, 18, were charged with principal to thirddegree rape, according to arrest documents obtained by WBRZ.

Brooks asked for a ride home and sat with Washington and the 17-year-old in the backseat of the vehicle, where she was allegedly raped, WBRZ reported. Brooks gave several different home addresses, and the men and unnamed minor eventually dropped her off near the Pelicans Lake subdivision off of Burbank Drive, where she was hit by a ride share vehicle at around 3 a.m. Jan. 15. She later died in the hospital.

The driver of the rideshare vehicle was not impaired, WBRZ reported.

According to WBRZ, Baton Rouge attorneys are working with the NAACP representing two of the suspects. They said there is video evidence refuting allegations of rape. Washington claimed he and the unnamed minor had consensual sex with Brooks after leaving Reggie’s, a bar in Tigerland, WBRZ reported.

WBRZ’s report said Brooks’ blood-alcohol level was 0.319, nearly four times the legal limit. According to the American Addiction Centers, a person can become unconscious at a BAC of around 0.300. Louisiana law says that third-degree rape can occur when the victim, through intoxication, is incapable of resisting or understanding the nature of the act.

Washington told police that he, the other suspects and Brooks left Reggie’s bar early Sunday after a heavy night of drinking. He said he and the 17-year-old sat in the backseat with Brooks, with Carver and Lee in the front.

The Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control issued an emergency suspension for Reggie’s bar Tuesday, citing the “seriousness of the allegations and the potential threat to public safety,” according to The Advocate. The suspension will remain in place until a hearing next month.

LSU President William Tate IV released a statement Monday shortly after the four men were arrested.

“Madison was a daughter, a granddaughter, a sister, a niece, a classmate, and a friend to many of you,” Tate said. “By all accounts, she was an amazing young woman with limitless potential. She should not have been taken from us in this way. What happened to her was evil, and our legal system will parcel out justice.”

“All but one of the suspects involved in this horrific scenario were underage yet were able to consume alcohol at a local bar,” the email continued. “As such, our action plan starts with a deep and relentless focus on any establishment that profits off our students by providing alcohol to underage individuals. In the coming days, we will call a meeting with these business owners to discuss how their responsibilities directly impact the safety of our students. We will work openly against any business that doesn’t join us in efforts toward creating a safer environment for our students. Enough is enough.”

Tate said the administration will share additional “action items” in the coming days.

“President Tate’s message Monday was directed at perpetrators and establishments that enable them to weaponize alcohol against our students,” said Cody Worsham, LSU’s interim vice president of communications. “The subsequent actions of the ATC on Tuesday have already helped us enact real change, and the justice system will handle the accused.

“Honoring Madison’s life requires us to take every possible step to protect students. Coming down hard on bars that are serving minors in our community is one many strategies the President is proposing. We invite the entire Baton Rouge community to join us as we unite against all forms of violence and develop further strategies toward its prevention.” terrified that LSU doesn’t seem to care about the issues that we’re facing,” Ferguson said. “I wish I could be angry, but anger doesn’t convey the feeling of fear that’s emanating around campus.”

The LSU administration has not been responsive to previous calls for action, Ferguson said. He said there was little response in 2021 when student organizations on campus called for the removal of French professor Adelaide Russo, who allegedly ignored sexual assault complaints against a student within the French department while she served as the department chair.

Similarly, he said Feminists in Action received no response when they released a statement in November calling for the university to renew their contract with Sexual Trauma Awareness and Response, a Baton Rouge nonprofit that helped the university reorganize the Title IX department following a 2020 USA Today report that exposed LSU’s mishandling of sexual misconduct complaints.

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Many students and sexual assault advocates criticized Tate’s message on social media for focusing on underage drinking, it misses the larger issue of rape culture at LSU and in the Baton Rouge area. LSU College Democrats and Feminists in Action released a joint letter addressed to Tate on Twitter Tuesday.

The letter says that while Tigerland businesses need to do more to protect patrons, the LSU administration should direct its energy toward addressing sexual violence in the community.

“These four individuals were arrested for ‘third-degree rape’ and ‘[principal] to rape,’ not underage drinking nor driving under the influence. The unaffiliated driver that struck her was unimpaired,” the letter read. “We are emphasizing these details because we can reach no other conclusion than to center blame on the rapists that discarded her near the scene where she was hit. LSU must focus on sexual violence instead.”

“Tate has completely failed to meet the moment,” said international trade and finance junior and former LSU College Democrats president Cooper Ferguson, who wrote the letter. “Instead of addressing the issue of sexual violence and greater violence in the Baton Rouge community, he instead blames the victim in this incident and says that Tigerland and the victim are at blame for alcohol consumption. Tigerland does have many faults, but the situation is completely separate from that incident.”

“I’m terrified. I’m terrified for the safety of my peers, I’m terrified for the safety of myself. I’m

“The alcohol did not kill [Brooks]...I mean, if any person who was not a rapist would have picked her up and brought her to a hospital, she wouldn’t have been dead. But because rapists did that, it’s why she’s dead,” said Morgan Lamandre, the president of STAR.

Lamandre recommends LSU engage with Tigerland bars to discuss other ways to keep patrons safe, including providing training to bartenders to spot potential predators.

“People want to have a reason or somebody to blame for sexual assault when the truth is, it’s just the rapist…You could be in all those situations, but unless you encounter a rapist, you’re not going to be raped,” she said.

Landon Zeringue, a political communication sophomore and vice president of LSU College Democrats, said the case was “a million times worse” than Tate conveyed.

“It’s disgusting,” Zeringue said. “It’s something that doesn’t even come up in the email…And it’s tied to a prevalent rape culture on this campus and in this community that makes people feel unsafe…[Tate is] making the scapegoat of alcohol and underage drinking, fully aware this situation could happen at any age.”

Anthropology and sociology junior Myrissa Eisworth serves as the president of Feminists in Action. Eisworth, who has experienced sexual assault, described learning about the details of the case as “heartbreaking.”

“When all of the articles first started coming out…I cried about them,” Eisworth said. “But at this point, I don’t have the energy to be so sad anymore. Now I just want [the LSU administration] to actually do something.”

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