Authorities seek calm on 2 campuses after white-on-black killing
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Authorities appealed for patience Monday from two college communities reacting in shock, fear and anger after a white University of Maryland student was arrested in what police called the unprovoked stabbing of a black Bowie State University student.
Police and the FBI are investigating the killing of Richard Collins III as a possible hate crime, because the suspect, Sean Urbanski, became a member of a racist Facebook group several months ago.
Hundreds filled an auditorium Monday night at Bowie State University, where friends, family and students who completed ROTC with Collins remembered his selflessness, humor and courage.
“This is a beautiful sight, just to see everybody here united to uplift the family,” said Yasmeen Jordan, the senior class president.
Urbanski, who was denied bail Monday, was intoxicated during the slaying early Saturday. Police are awaiting results of drug tests.
Defense attorney William C. Brennan argued that since the 22-year-old had no criminal record, he should be allowed to live at home with a GPS monitor and receive alcohol abuse treatment while his case goes forward. The judge declined, for now.
Collins, 23, who was visiting friends at the College Park campus, had just been commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army and would have graduated Tuesday from Bowie State.
Lt. Col. Joel Thomas, who runs the ROTC unit at Bowie State, described Collins as intelligent, athletic, personable and with all the makings of an outstanding military leader.
“Richard cared deeply about his friends, cared deeply about others and he was exactly what we are looking for when we’re selecting officers for the United States Army,” Thomas said.
The killing roiled both campuses, which are nearby each other in suburban Washington. Bowie State, a historically black school, is having its commencement Tuesday in the same stadium on the College Park campus where Maryland held its ceremony Sunday.
“If I’m a person of color, I would certainly look at this as something that could happen to me. In fact, I know on Facebook our students are saying that,” University of Maryland Police Chief David Mitchell said.
Gordon Johnson, who runs the FBI office in Baltimore, answered Mitchell’s call for help investigating the stabbing as a possible hate crime after authorities learned that Urbanski was added to the “Alt-Reich: Nation” Facebook group by an administrator in February.
The group, which was taken down after the stabbing, had about 1,100 members and included racist, sexist and antiSemitic photos and posts. Police said Sunday that they hadn’t found any posts from Urbanski in the group.
“If the evidence leads us to conclude this was a hate crime, then we will have no hesitation whatsoever handling it as such,” Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Angela Alsobrooks said at a news conference.
She said she understands people’s concerns, but it’s too early to draw conclusions, and prosecutors “need something probably more than a Facebook post.”