ABC reports that Charlie Rogers, a lesbian and former basketball player, is being accused by police in Lincoln, Nebraska of falsely reporting a hate crime. According to the report, Rogers has been arrested and charged. Jim Peschong, the Lincoln Police Chief, is quoted as saying about gloves found at the scene and homphobic words allegedly cut into Rogers' skin by three masked men:
"The University of Nebraska Medical Center found DNA evidence that matched Ms. Rogers' inside the gloves.... [No] male DNA markers found inside the gloves.... The cutting lines were too straight to be accomplished during a struggle, and ... the cuts were all in areas where the victim could have inflicted them herself."
KETV interviewed organizers of a vigil that had been held to bring awareness to Rogers' alleged attack. One of those people, Beth Rigatuso, replied emotionally that:
"It doesn't diminsh the fact that hate crimes happen all the time, all across the U.S.... I would not change for one moment, my response to this, because these things happen. I'm not going to let it stop me from speaking out and being strong."
Rigatuso remarked to KDVR about the $1,800 raised by the vigil:
''We’d like to get the funds returned to us so we can establish our own fund to support victims of anti-gay violence.''
Rogers was questioned about the purported hoax by KETV a month ago. She wept as she explained her side of the story and her feelings about the doubts that surrounded her claim at that time:
"Being a victim in a situation like this, or a survivor, and then having your integrity questioned, I guess -- it feels very victimizing again. It feels very saddening. It makes an already difficult situation difficult.... I'm a person, you know, with feelings and concerns.... It feels like, I don't know, it feels like a punch in the stomach, like a betrayal."
